DoubleVerify (DV), one of the prominent software platforms for digital media solutions, has recently detected a large-scale ad impression fraud scheme targeted to audio traffic inventory called “BeatSting.” Since DV’s Fraud Lab recognized the fraud family in 2019, it has stolen about 20 million dollars from advertisers, and the BeatSting platform has about one million dollars in revenue per month. BeatString has been a part of server-side ad insertion (SSAI) fraud schemes, targeting connected TV (CTV) inventory since 2019. The fraudsters first spoof residential IP addresses and audio applications and set up a fake SSAI server, making false audio ad requests to attract advertisers. Then, if an advertiser from the legitimate audio channels bids on this accretive inventory and makes a profit, the money goes to them instead of the audio tracks.
Although the DV Fraud Lab had already reported fraudulent attacks in 2021, the activity continued into the following year, generating fake audio traffic on audio platforms on a much larger scale. With dedicated data scientists, analysts, and mathematicians, DV’s Fraud Lab detects and analyzes digital ad frauds and their latest fraud schemes. It isolates the fraud applications, websites, and devices and secures DV clients in real-time through continuous analysis, research, and scenario management.
Chief Executive Officer at DoubleVerify, Mark Zagorski, said, “Fraud always follows the money, and increasingly, that money is flowing to digital audio, a rapidly emerging channel where digital advertising standards are still evolving.” He added, “CTV continues to experience this phenomenon, and, increasingly, audio is quietly becoming a new channel of interest and attack.”
DoubleVerify (DV), an advertising service, provides digital media analytics and measurement solutions to make digital advertising systems, brands and agencies, marketplaces, and publishers more secure and preserve fair value exchange between digital media sellers and buyers. Many Fortune 500 advertisers rely on DV for unbiased data analysis, high-quality campaigns, and global advertising return on investment (ROI). It specializes in ad prominence, viewability, impression quality solutions for brand marketers, impression delivery, brand safety and fraud protection, and accountability and transparency for digital media.
