Ad fraud, especially in new channels, continues to be a threat for the ad industry.
A new study by media verification and measurement company DoubleVerify reveals that white noise apps are secretly siphoning millions of dollars each year from unsuspecting advertisers.
“On the surface, these apps seem safe and legitimate,” DV notes in a blog post. “But DV discovered that they generate fake streaming data by selling audio impressions where ads were never actually played.”
The company says it used its technology to detect the fraud after noticing a pattern among certain apps that didn’t align with typical white noise or sleep app usage. While legitimate apps see more use at night, the fraudulent apps identified by DV showed a spike in usage during the day which is inconsistent with “real” users.
Why This Matters:
DV estimates that unprotected advertisers — advertisers not using fraud protection — are buying over 45,000 monthly impressions on each of the nefarious apps. Using a conservative audio CPM estimate of between $5-$7, DV claims the potential loss is at least $225,000 per app, per month.
DV reports identifying “dozens” of such apps engaged in this type of fraud. At this rate, 10 of these apps would drain nearly $30 million annually from advertisers. That’s a big number.
Notably, two of the apps flagged, “Deep Sleep” and “Deep Sleep Kids,” are no longer available on Google Play. The publisher, SNK Digital (LinkTree link), has also taken down its website and LinkedIn page.
While the company’s website is down, here’s a partial and prescient screenshot from July using the Wayback Machine:
Experts React:
According to DV’s blog post:
“Fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated, using tactics such as spoofing residential IP addresses and mimicking audio apps. They set up counterfeit SSAI servers to fabricate audio ad requests, creating the illusion of active users and inventory desirable to advertisers. These fraudulent requests are then sent to supply-side platforms (SSPs), ad exchanges and ad networks. When an advertiser wins a bid for this inventory, their ad spend goes to waste on a non-existent opportunity. This fraudulent activity not only wastes advertisers’ money but also diverts funds away from legitimate audio channels and publishers.”
In response to the research, Eric Tilbury, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering and Ad Operations at Inuvo, tweeted: “Absolutely never buy audio from the open exchange… Audio is best purchased from direct trusted sources.”
Our Take:
The fraud numbers from DV are especially worrying given how fast digital audio advertising is growing. The space jumped nearly 20% last year, hitting $7 billion in revenue, up from close to $6 billion in 2022. It’s been one of the fastest-growing segments in online advertising for two years running. So, advertiser trust is crucial. Protecting ad dollars from fraud and ensuring campaigns are actually delivered is obviously necessary to support continued growth. Unfortunately, the scamming found here raises some serious red flags.
