When it comes to digital marketing in Raleigh NC, Red Shark Digital has your back and strives to ensure that you not only see results, but get the best bang for your buck! Especially during these uncertain times, we strive to ensure that you do not experience ad fraud in the CTV and OTT market. With OTT and CTV on the rise, especially since most people are teleworking, it is critical that you utilize a marketing company with exclusive partnerships to avoid encountering any ad fraud whatsoever. One thing advertisers have to remember is that while digital marketing is the way to go, especially right now, you have to play your cards correctly to avoid the treachery that is ad fraud.

The CTV & OTT Playing Field

Did you know that over the past eighteen months, CTV and OTT advertising has seen a spike of 232%? Even though traditional TV advertising still surpasses CTV advertising in numbers, the user switch from traditional television to smart television and OTT devices is stable and grows exponentially- mainly due to the shift in lifestyle preferences. In the United States, more than 200 million users opted for OTT video content in 2019, and approximately two-thirds of them watched it via their connected television. CTV and OTT offer more opportunities to ad buyers and incentivize them to move media budgets away from traditional television, but there are some red flags you must be wary of to avoid being taken advantage of.

Ad Fraud and CTV/OTT

The perception of CTV as a fraud-free environment contributes to the current fraud situation. Even though IAS has verified hundreds of millions of ads and saw lower levels of fraud in CTV and OTT compared to other digital environments, there are a number of scams that still occur.

So, you may be asking, how does ad fraud work in the CTV market? In most cases, neither party is aware of the potential scam. Media buyers believe they purchase licensed, top-notch CTV video inventory while publishers are confident they’ve sold the standard ad display inventory. Unfortunately, many publishers and media buyers fall victim to this tactic when they try to purchase directly or through emerging media outlets. This is why we at Red Shark Digital only partner with DSPs that offer premium inventory and utilize the official trade desks and no third party providers.

Types of OTT/CTV Ad Fraud

In order to understand how to avoid ad fraud in CTV advertising, it’s important to be aware of the forms in which they present themselves:

Bot Networks: Bot networks are considered one of the most popular methods that you will find. With this, the con artists of the marketing world utilize bots to squeeze money from unsuspecting advertisers showing higher traffic than what should be recorded.

Device Fraud: These cases occur when fraudsters install bots on devices to crawl apps and websites, imitating human behavior. Bots on devices can even engage with the ads or generate fake clicks. They appear to be easily detected within a short period by spotting a high number of ad requests from the same device.

App Fraud: This type of scam is closely linked to bots and devices. An app’s activity levels are observed within a day to determine whether any fraud has occurred.

Domain Spoofing: This type of ad fraud is used to conceal the fraudulent traffic of a website and make it look legitimate.

Geographic Misrepresentation: Fraud occurs when scammers claim to be selling U.S.-based inventory, although the impressions are generated in a different location. This scheme can be lucrative because CPMs in the United States are higher than in other countries. When disguising the traffic as legitimate, those playing you are able to net a larger profit margin.

How Red Shark Digital Ensures Brand Safety

Proper Placement and Selection: It’s essential to get brand-safe content on the streaming service, not screensaver apps. We partner with a credible DSP to purchase inventory directly from trusted publishers.

Performance Reports: We don’t rely on quick methods to monitor your effectiveness on CTV and employ key metrics to measure campaign effectiveness. We run weekly performance reports ensuring that everything appears legitimate. We also analyze all data to understand what may be needed to address delivery or performance-based issues.

Anti-Fraud Protocols: As mentioned earlier, we partner with some of the best DSPs around to ensure that ad fraud is a thing of the past! We have open communication with our team and our partners to ensure that if any red flag is apparent, that it is dealt with immediately.

Get to Buyin’

Don’t let ad fraud scare you away from this great tactic. You just have to ensure you are working with an agency that has your best interests at heart. If you are looking for digital marketing services in Raleigh NC, contact us today!

Red Shark Digital is a superior full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in Web Design, SEO, Branding, and Digital Advertising. With offices across North Carolina including Raleigh, Greenville, and Wilmington, our team of digital marketing specialists are able to create catered solutions for your business needs. Our clients have allowed us to push the boundaries of web and creative design, while building innovative results for their company and their brand. These clients have encompassed multiple industries including higher education, healthcare, and major commercial franchises. Our wide range of clientele has allowed us to craft specialized strategies for businesses of all sizes while conveying our knowledge across a variety of platforms. We always strive to connect brands to customers, learn what we can do for your business today.

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