Advertising fraud is a common issue within online platforms, and connected TVs are no exception. According to Pixalate, which tracks ad fraud across Roku and Amazon Fire connected TVs, sports and news-focused CTV apps were the primary target of “ad spoofing” in January.
The firm’s list includes Tubi, Fox News, Bally Sports alongside several local news apps. Ad spoofing is a form of invalid traffic (IVT) that occurs when one app masquerades as another app. An advertiser might think they are buying a premium spot on an app such as PBS, Pixalate explained, when the ad actually appeared on a lesser-known app.
Pixalate found Fire TV was the CTV platform with the most prevalent ad spoofing. Apps such as TVBAnywhere, FilmRise British TV and Denver-based KUSA exceeded spoofing rates of 75%, while spoofing rates for other apps ranged between 10-40%.
As for Roku, average spoofing rates across 10 apps remained in the 10-20% range, down from 20-30% at the end of 2022.
Bally Sports’ inclusion in Pixalate’s CTV ad fraud list comes as recent reports separately indicated Sinclair’s Diamond Sports Group, which runs the Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs), is headed for bankruptcy. Roku was also the first platform to distribute the Bally Sports+ streaming service that launched last September.
Diamond Sports operates nearly two dozen Bally Sports RSNs, which cover over 40 teams across MLB, NBA and the NHL. Should Diamond file for bankruptcy, it’s unclear whether it will end contracts with the teams or stop paying the teams while keeping the contracts in place.
Amid Diamond’s financial issues, MLB is considering taking back Bally Sports’ local TV rights for its games, per a report from Front Office Sports last week. MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden told the outlet while the league would prefer “for the RSNs to be able to fulfill the agreements they signed with the clubs,” MLB is also thinking about backup options.
“This is a situation we have been monitoring for a long time,” Garden said. “We have been contingency planning to ensure that no matter what happens with the RSNs, fans will be able to continue watching their favorite teams in their local market.”
As for the other apps that topped Pixalate’s ad spoofing rankings, Fox’s Tubi has boasted noticeable ad revenue growth in the past year. The free ad-supported streaming service (FAST) also reached 1.3 billion hours of total viewing time, as of last September.
Local news sources, which are frequently included on FAST platforms, also populated the list. This includes VUit, a FAST service which recently added several CBS local streaming channels to its lineup.
Ad spoofing isn’t the only fraud-related issue for CTV. According to DoubleVerify, ad fraud frequently occurs when viewers power down their TV without quitting the CTV app. When that happens, ads can play while the viewer isn’t actively using the device, so advertisers don’t have a clear idea of how often an ad is viewed.