Connected TV (CTV) bot fraud is surging, as consumption grows alongside it, causing concern for advertisers looking to place ads within the video environments, according to research from digital media measurement platform DoubleVerify (DV).
The analysis of almost 5.5 trillion media transactions across more 1,000 customers in close to 100 countries found that, while CTV consumption and quality verification has grown by 252% in the UK year-over-year, bot fraud was up 69% in 2022. DV also detected that the number of fraud schemes and variants had tripled since 2020.
DV compared protected advertisers’ fraud rates against a campaign where verification was not in place, and found that the unprotected campaign experienced almost 18 times more fraud (11.2% vs. 0.6%).
The EMEA region saw a 15% reduction in fraud/SIVT violations in 2022. However, the region saw brand suitability violations spike to 10.6% – a 13% increase over 2021, and the highest of any region.
“Based on our research, in order to drive consistent performance, it is essential that advertisers engage verification across all campaigns and environments,” said Collette Spagnolo, Vice President of Marketing Analytics at DoubleVerify. “When verification is turned off or not applied, an advertiser becomes vulnerable to the swings in quality caused by unpredictable news cycles and increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.
“Moreover, always-on protection helps the industry maintain a common and consistent gauge of media quality everywhere, as verification techniques evolve to encompass emerging channels for content consumption. Having coverage, protection and insight into all channels is critical.”
Away from the fraud, the research also found that, as advertisers turn increasingly to attention-based measurement, EMEA campaigns stand out in their ability to grab attention with high levels of exposure and engagement across display and video placements.
“Today, the average person is exposed to between 6,000 to 10,000 ads a day. As such, attention has emerged as a vital, yet, an increasingly scarce resource. Attention-based metrics such as exposure and engagement have emerged to help marketers better understand the overall relevance and resonance of an ad experience — and how that experience translates to driving high-value business outcomes,” said Nick Reid, SVP and Managing Director at DoubleVerify.
