Smaato, Protected Media Work to Ensure Quality of Online Advertising

Smaato, a leading global real-time advertising platform for mobile publishers and app developers, announced ahead of the weekend that it has implemented Protected Media’s in-app and video ad fraud protection technology to protect its network of 90,000+ publishers and app developers, as well as the 10,000+ advertisers on its platform.

The partnership will provide Smaato with advanced cyber security tools, including sophisticated evaluation of the legitimacy of ad impressions with precise data verification.

Smaato is taking these proactive, preventive measures for fraud protection, in order to safeguard its mobile in-app ad formats which are in high demand. The percentage of in-app ad spending on the Smaato platform has grown from 80% to 96% of the total in the last year, while in-app video ad requests have increased by a remarkable 14X. Advertisers like that in-app inventory experiences significantly less ad blocking than desktop and mobile web; however, without proper management it provides a new opportunity for fraud.

Over the past six months, Protected Media has seen in-app fraud, where fraudsters mask low-quality apps to look like premium publishers, rise to almost 10 times the previous rate across its installed base.

According to Forrester, while video accounts for 45% of total ad spend, it’s linked to 64% of all ad fraud, and also requires additional fraud prevention in-app. Protected Media’s innovative technology paired with Smaato’s rigorous standards for its publishers delivers the antidote to fraud.

“At Smaato, advertisers receive high-quality traffic for all of their mobile ad campaigns across our vast publisher base, and this partnership ensures that quality and value are maintained,” said Georg Fiegen, COO of Smaato. “With Protected Media, we can ensure that the traffic on our exchange is viewable, brand-safe, transparent and protected from fraud.”