Protected Media launches OTT supply side ad verification

In a market first, TV manufacturers, OTT TV channels and TV advertising platforms can now provide demand partners with fraud-free digital CTV ad marketplaces

TEL AVIV — Protected Media, the leading provider of ad fraud detection solutions, announced the launch of its groundbreaking SDK for CTV and OTT. With the new SDK OTT traffic can be verified at the source for the first time, providing media buyers with clean marketplaces in which to purchase fraud-free, viewable inventory.

The SDK is unique as it verifies each impression which is then digitally signed. The data attaches to the impression as an identifier which can be authenticated by anyone along the distribution flow at a trusted Protected Media server. The SDK also provides a constant live data source to facilitate the artificial intelligence powering Protected Media’s Prebid Solution.

Protected Media’s OTT SDK is available for content owners, OTT operating system providers and technical OTT platforms. The use of the OTT SDK by supply side partners removes that burden of validating traffic from the advertisers, and places it in the hands of the supply side who can use verification as a tool to boost CPMs and protect their own reputation.

With OTT ad revenues predicted to double by 2020, trends indicate that OTT is ripe for exploitation and supply side stakeholders have no protection from opportunistic cyber criminals who regularly exploit vulnerabilities in the ad tech stack.

“OTT and CTV audiences are growing rapidly,” explains Joe Hirsch, CEO at SpringServe, the leader in video ad serving and a Protected Media customer. “While there is an abundance of high quality traffic sources, it’s important to remember that there are unscrupulous groups who attempt to make money with suspicious activities. For this reason, we work with Protected Media. We believe that a robust IVT detection solution is a critical component for protecting buyers from bad actors.”

“Our advertising monetization platform serves millions of OTT ads every day,” says Thomas Engdahl, President CEO of Vidillion, Inc. “As a technology provider with access to data for which demand-side verification vendors cannot reach, we understand that advertisers need a verified, fraud-free marketplace to increase trust and transparency in the OTT programmatic space. That’s why we’ve chosen to integrate Protected Media’s multilayered ad protection technology into the Vidillion Advertising monetization platform.”

In a unique position as a supply side verification vendor, Protected Media empowers customers to define data parameters for analysis.

“The OTT space has a unique set of challenges when it comes to verifying that traffic is indeed fraud free,” adds Asaf Greiner, CEO at Protected Media. “Besides being a nascent vertical which is fragmented and extremely complex, there are additional components which make it a more sophisticated space to navigate. For example, the use of Server Side Ad Insertion for ad stitching means that it’s impossible to implement third party verification code onto creatives.”

“For this reason, our solution is built to be baked into the OTT ad tech stack – we work with groups who can place our verification technology into parts of the funnel that no one else can access. Our expertise in cyber security, together with access to the technology underpinning the OTT platforms, means that we provide the market’s first evidence based, granular solution for verifying OTT traffic.”