AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Oracle today announced the discovery of "StreamScam,"
the largest known connected television (CTV) ad fraud operation
exposed ever. The StreamScam operation exploited flaws in CTV ad
serving technology to fool advertisers into paying for ads that
were never delivered to households. The operation spoofed more than
28.8 million U.S. valid household IP addresses, including
approximately 3,600 apps and 3,400 unique CTV device models. The
usage of valid household IP addresses demonstrates the
sophistication of StreamScam compared to previous CTV ad fraud
operations. By comparison, the largest prior CTV ad fraud operation
had been ICEBUCKET, which involved two million spoofed household IP
addresses, 300 app IDs, and 1,000 CTV device IDs.
StreamScam perpetrators capitalized on vulnerabilities in the
technology used to improve the video viewing experience in CTV.
Known as Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI), the technology combines
content and ads into a single video stream that can play seamlessly
with no delays on end-user devices, such as Roku, AppleTV, and
FireTV.
Oracle Moat tallies the number of ad impressions that are
inserted into video streams by SSAI servers as well as the number
of ad impressions that actually play on end-user
devices. Using Moat technology, Oracle discovered that the
StreamScam perpetrators built a network of servers that sent ad
impression events to Moat and advertisers without actually sending
ad and video content to users. They forged household IP
addresses, app IDs, and device IDs in the measurement events to
make it appear that ads had played in those environments when in
fact they did not.
"Where advertising dollars go, criminals will follow, and
rapidly-growing channels like CTV are presenting new opportunities
for ad fraud and theft," said Mark
Kopera, head of product for Oracle Moat. "In a quickly
evolving landscape of risks and opportunities, it's critical for
marketers to work with trusted partners that have the knowledge,
experience, and scale to identify and block new threats as they
emerge. We look forward to working with companies across the
digital advertising ecosystem to expose and work to prevent this
and other emerging types of ad fraud, as well as protect
advertisers' vital campaign resources."
Moat's investments in research to improve CTV measurement and
detect sophisticated ad fraud in CTV environments enabled it to
identify the fake impressions and classify them as invalid.
Advertising spending in the CTV space is growing dramatically,
as consumer behavior shifts from traditional linear broadcast to
multi-device and on-demand viewing. According to eMarketer, U.S.
CTV ad spending will total $8.11
billion in 2020 and will increase to $11.36 billion in 2021.
"We commend Oracle Moat for its work to find and address
vulnerabilities in the fast-growing CTV space, and we plan to share
information about this specific attack through an upcoming industry
briefing together," said Mike
Zaneis, CEO of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG).
"To address these new types of threats in digital advertising, TAG
has expanded its threat sharing capabilities through the TAG Threat
Exchange to quickly disseminate information about new and emerging
threats in areas like CTV ad fraud. We look forward to continuing
to work with Oracle Moat and other participating companies to build
an impenetrable barrier against the criminals who would profit from
ad fraud."
"Sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) detection technology has
been critical for us in the fight against ad fraud," said
Jim Keller, EVP Digital Sales and
Advanced Advertising, Discovery, Inc. "Oracle Moat has helped us,
and our clients, detect invalid traffic, track viewability and most
importantly, protect media spend."
To help educate and inform the broader industry of the
StreamScam discovery and discuss mitigation, TAG and Oracle
will be holding an industry briefing for TAG members in
January 2021. TAG members will
receive access to actionable information from Moat to help identify
StreamScam in their data and avoid campaign fraud. Companies should
also work with their agencies and technology partners to determine
the impact of the fraud. Moat customers can contact their client
representative to get additional information.
About Oracle Moat
Oracle Moat is a comprehensive
analytics and measurement platform that provides a suite of
solutions across ad verification, attention analytics,
cross-platform reach and frequency, ROI outcomes, and marketing and
ad intelligence. Working with publishers, brands, agencies and
platforms, Moat helps reach prospective customers, capture consumer
attention, and measure the outcomes to unlock business
potential.
About Oracle
Oracle offers suites of
integrated applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in
the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:
ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com.
Trademarks
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks
of Oracle Corporation.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oracle-exposes-largest-ctv-ad-fraud-operation-ever-301194996.html
SOURCE Oracle