Introduction

Connected TV advertising is a booming business but there is a dark side that is not discussed by most advertisers and this is ad fraud. When you place your serious budget in CTV advertising, you must understand that online fraudsters are becoming increasingly advanced on a daily basis, and they are targeting your campaigns in particular.

I have been doing a report on the recent statistics of CTV ad fraud, and the figures are alarming. However, there is a positive piece of news here: the correct strategies and instruments will help you safeguard your investment and make sure your advertisements are seen by actual viewers. I would take you through all the details you need to know about preventing ad fraud in CTV advertising.

The Scale of CTV Ad Fraud: What the Data Shows

First, we can discuss numbers because it is more likely to realize why it is important to know the extent of the matter. The reports provided by Pixalate Q2 2025 show that the global invalid traffic (IVT) with ad fraud in CTV reached 18%. It implies that almost a fifth of impressions will be false or null.

According to 2025 Global Insights by DoubleVerify, 57% of marketers advertising on CTV fear to waste their own ad dollars through fraud and in 2024 bot fraud constituted 65% of all fraud in CTV settings. They are not the small percentages we are discussing here, this is millions of dollars of wasted advertising dollars.

As global open programmatic CTV advertisement volume has reached 5 billion dollars, any percentage fraud will be a colossal loss to advertisers.

Understanding CTV Ad Fraud Types

The CTV advertising has its own set of fraud issues, unlike its traditional digital counterparts. I would like to micro-divide the most popular ones that you will come across:

Application Spoofing and Bundle ID Fraud

This is most likely the most common CTV ad fraud. False applications pose to be the authentic applications, which are premium applications, to charge a bigger CPM. They make use of stolen bundle IDs/app identifiers to deceive ad buyers to believe that they are buying an inventory of a reputable source.

Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) Fraud

SSAI fraud is especially devious since it is more difficult to notice. There is manipulation of the server-side ad insertion system through which the fraudsters generate fake viewing sessions or intercept legitimate connections with devices. This kind of fraud tends to go undetected since there might be no verification tags in SSAI environments.

Bot Traffic and Invalid Traffic (IVT)

Advanced bots mimic the actual viewing activity on CTV channels. These are not the usual web bots but they are specifically programmed to replicate the patterns of viewing the connected TV, thus making them significantly difficult to detect through standard methods.

Made-for-Advertising (MFA) Apps

These are applications created with the main purpose of displaying advertisements but are not authentic entertainment or utility. Although this is not necessarily technically fraudulent, MFA apps have very low value to the advertisers, as the user activity is often little or even no.

Geographic and Device Spoofing

The VPNs and proxy networks are used by the fraudsters to mask traffic as originating in high-value geographic areas or high-value device types in order to be able to charge high prices on low-value inventory.

Why CTV advertising Fraud is Particularly Challenging

The CTV advertising poses its own peculiarities, and it is more challenging to detect the fraud than on the other digital platforms:

Minimal Client-Side Measurement: CTV devices are not always equipped to use JavaScript tags or even conventional tracking pixels, so it is more difficult to confirm ad delivery and viewability.

Server-Side Complexity: Server-side ad insertion is used to deliver many CTV ads, which introduces the concept of that being opaque in the process of measurement, and makes it more difficult to detect fraudulent activity.

Fragmented Ecosystem: CTVs advertising ecosystem has various intermediaries, such as SS, ad exchanges, and aggregators, which compose complicated supply chains in which fraud can conceal itself.

Proven Strategies to Combat CTV advertising Fraud

Now we will move on to the action. The following are the best fraud prevention tactics I have encountered to work in actual CTV campaigns:

1. Premium Inventory and Direct Relationships

The surest method of preventing CTV advertising fraud is to deal with premium inventory sources. This means:

• Creating direct contact with popular streaming platforms and publishers.
• Arranging deals through the use of private marketplace deals (PMPs) with known inventory.
• Having stringent permit lists of authorized applications and publishers.
• Eschewing open discussions when it is budget-wise.

2. Multi-Layer Verification Systems

Carry out pre- and post-bid verification:

Filtering prevents suspicious inventory before spending is done (pre-bid). Install filters of known fraudulent applications, suspicious IP addresses and uncertain supply sources.

Post bidding Audits what you have received. Validate impressions with the aid of third-party measurement tools to identify anomalies and rear patterns suggesting fraud.

3. Advanced Analytics and Anomaly Detection

Keep an eye on the key performance indicators that might alert of fraudulent activity:

• Abnormally high or low completion rates.
• Inequality in geographic distribution in relation to targeting parameters.
• Bot network Suggestions: Type of devices.
• Patterns of frequency in terms of looking at the same devices multiple times.
• Patterns in time of viewing unnatural patterns.

4. Supply Chain Transparency

Show the demand of your CTV advertising supply chain. This includes:

• Seller.json files will be required by all partners.
• The use of ads.txt verification where possible.
• Mapping out all middlemen in your supply chain.
• Periodic checking of sources of supplies and quality of their traffic.

5. Cross-Device and Cross-Platform Correlation

Key Metrics for Fraud Detection

In order to prevent CTV advertising fraud successfully, keep the following important metrics:

Invalid Traffic Rate: Monitor the rate of impressions that are classified as being fraudulent or suspicious. The rates that are regularly larger than 20% must cause instant inquiry.

Viewability and completion rates: a high completion rate may be good but high completion rates (over 95) may mean that there is bot traffic which aims to pass as real.

Geographic Performance: Watch impressions being received by your target regions. Cases when the traffic is unexpected in non-targeted areas usually point to fraud.

App Performance Distribution: Be aware of the abrupt burst of traffic of new apps or marked shifts in the performance ranking of apps.

Cost Efficiency Metrics: Follow cost-per-completed-view and cost-per-engagement metrics. Fraud entries tend to have artificially low engagements though high completion rates.

Implementation: Building a Fraud-Resistant CTV Campaign

The following is a step-by-step process of applying fraud prevention in your CTV advertising campaigns:

Planning Phase

Begin with setting up your fraud tolerance and budget expenditure towards verifying tools. Generally, a 2-5 percent investment in fraud prevention will save 10-20 percent in wasted dollars.

Make detailed lists of authorized sources of inventory and have up-to-date blocklists of suspected bad apps and sources of supply.

Campaign Setup

Attach your selected verification tools prior to the launch of the campaign and make sure that they will accommodate SSAI measurement and are capable of sending real-time warning on suspicious activity.

Setting up pre-bid filters according to industry benchmark and historical performance data to some of your target markets.

Active Monitoring

Set up routines of daily monitoring with the emphasis on the detection of anomalies. Establish automated alerts on measurement values which are out of normal ranges.

Make deep weekly campaign performance dives, checking quality of supply sources and detecting new schemes of fraud.

Optimization and Response

Quickly react, but wisely, when fraud is detected. Block suspicious sources of inventory, but explore patterns and then make general changes that may affect legitimate performance.

Future Trends in CTV advertising Fraud

CTV advertising fraud that is constantly developing, and to be ahead of the game, it is necessary to understand the trends:

AI-Powered Fraud: Fraudsters are currently leveraging machine learning to develop more advanced bots that are more likely to simulate human behavior patterns.

SSAI Vulnerabilities: As the range of inventory shifts over to server-side ad insertion, fraudsters are devising new methods of attacking such environments.

Privacy-Compliant Fraud: Fraudsters are adjusting to privacy-compliant measurement systems, as privacy limitations increase.

Related Devices Growing: Additional devices are becoming part of the connected TV as capable and the bottomless list of targets to defrauders grows.

FAQ

Q: How much should I budget for CTV ad fraud prevention?
A: Most experts recommend allocating 2-5% of your media budget to fraud prevention tools and verification. The ROI is typically 3-5x, as you’ll save significantly more in prevented fraudulent spend.

Q: Can small advertisers afford fraud prevention tools?
A: Many fraud prevention platforms offer scalable pricing based on spend levels. Even basic protection is better than none, and some tools offer pay-as-you-go models suitable for smaller budgets.

Q: How quickly can I detect if my CTV campaigns are experiencing fraud?
A: With proper monitoring tools, you can detect obvious fraud within 24-48 hours. More sophisticated fraud might take several days to identify through pattern analysis.

Q: Is it possible to eliminate CTV ad fraud completely?
A: Complete elimination isn’t realistic, but you can reduce fraud to very low levels (under 5%) with comprehensive protection strategies. The goal is minimizing fraud to acceptable business levels.

Q: What should I do if I discover my campaigns have been affected by fraud?
A: Document the fraud, immediately block the fraudulent sources, contact your supply partners for credits or refunds where contractually possible, and adjust your prevention strategies to avoid similar issues.

Taking Action Against CTV Ad Fraud

CTV advertising fraud is not leaving but neither should your investment in this emerging channel. The trick is to treat it as a strategic endeavor and with the appropriate mix of quality inventory, checking services and continuous check.

Begin by reviewing your existing CTV advertising system. Monitor your supply base, review your performance indicators with red flags, and install minimum basic fraud detection equipment. The fraud prevention investment is recovered in a short period of time by the improved campaign performance and decreased expenditure wastage.