CTV that's NOT CTV - "see Fou yourself" FouAnalytics | Dr. Augustine Fou

Editor's Note

FouAnalytics is a syndicated column by Dr. Augustine Fou—one of the leading independent voices in ad fraud detection and digital marketing measurement—applying methodological rigor to the programmatic advertising supply chain. This piece exposes how cheap Connected TV (CTV) impressions are routinely spoofed on mobile apps, display slots, and data centers, giving marketers the forensic insights needed to eliminate wasted ad spend and verify true living-room delivery.

You bought a lot of CTV impressions for cheap CPMs through a DSP? Well, you just got ripped off. Let's take a closer look at a few examples as seen in FouAnalytics. All of this is happening at scale, and large advertisers are getting seriously ripped off, but they could not see this in the existing reporting from the platforms or the reports of legacy verification vendors.

CTV on websites and apps

Your CTV ads didn't run on a big screen in a household. They ran on websites (e.g., campaign 1 below) or mobile apps (e.g., campaign 2 below). When your video ads run on websites or mobile apps, they probably have sound off, probably in a display ad slot like 300x250, and probably not viewed at all by the users who left the page in under 15 or 30 seconds. Even if your reports tell you that 80–90% of your ads were viewed to completion, that's because the bad guys invoked the complete.gif tracking pixel to deliberately falsify the reporting.

Direct buy CTV, but with undisclosed audience extension

Don't assume that if you do a direct buy, it is fraud-free. Below is an example of a direct buy at full CTV prices, but yet 80% of the impressions went to websites and mobile apps, NOT CTV devices. This was because the seller was doing audience extension without disclosing that to the client. The client threatened to pull all spend from this CTV seller, so they finally did the right thing and turned off audience extension for this client's campaigns.

CTV on wireless, mobile

Large-screen connected TVs are usually in the living rooms of households. They are connected to Wi-Fi or Ethernet that gets internet access through the cable modem in the household. But in the following example, we see the ASNs (names of ISPs) are wireless carriers like T-Mobile, Verizon, Cellco, Surf Air Wireless, et cetera. That means your CTV ads did not run on the large screens in the household.

We typically see 5–25% of CTV impressions running on wireless IP addresses rather than household ones. Of course there may be a few instances where you'll let this slide — e.g., the kid on the iPad watching Disney+ in the back seat of a car. But then again, is that the right audience, does that deserve a high priced CTV ad, etc.?

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Because your "CTV" campaign might actually be running in a hidden mobile app slot—and the platform selling it to you won't tell you. Every week, FouAnalytics uses forensic campaign data to expose supply path waste, fake data center traffic, and audience extension arbitrage, giving media buyers and budget owners the independent proof needed to protect their investments.