DoubleVerify rebuts inaccurate & misleading adalytics report on “declared bots” and verification technology

DoubleVerify has issued a formal response to Adalytics’ March 28, 2025 report and associated media coverage, correcting multiple inaccuracies and misrepresentations related to the detection and billing of General Invalid Traffic (GIVT). The report focuses on alleged discrepancies in GIVT detection and avoidance, and suggests “advertisers were billed by ad tech vendors for ad impressions served to declared bots.”

Key Takeaways from DV’s Response:

The Report’s Core Claims Regarding DV Are Inaccurate – The report incorrectly suggests advertisers are billed for GIVT impressions and that pre-bid verification “doesn’t work”. In reality, GIVT is removed post-bid from billable counts—per MRC and TAG standards and DV pre-bid solutions remove both GIVT and SIVT (true “ad fraud”) at scale.
All 115 Examples Reviewed—DV Detected All Eligible Impressions – The DV Fraud Lab reviewed every impression cited and all eligible impressions were accurately identified and managed.
Methodology Relies Heavily on a Mischaracterized Bot – Most of the report’s examples involve URLScan, a non-declared, headless browser bot. Adalytics repeatedly misrepresents this as “declared bot” traffic, a mischaracterization according to URLScan’s own CEO. Additionally, URLScan is not on the IAB Spiders & Bots List.
Adalytics Conflates GIVT with SIVT – To exaggerate GIVT’s impact, Adalytics blurs GIVT with SIVT, two distinct categories of invalid traffic. This inflates perceived GIVT waste and misrepresents fraud detection effectiveness. GIVT and SIVT are standard, industry accepted definitions, as defined by the IAB, MRC, etc.
Verification Works Even When Pre-Bid Isn’t Active – DV accurately filters impressions post-bid when pre-bid filtering is not enabled or supported. This enables advertisers to not be charged for invalid traffic.
GIVT Detection by DV Is Accurate for Known Bots & Data Centers – DV’s recent testing confirmed 100% detection post-bid for all GIVT from Known Bots and Known Data Centers cited in the report.
Not All Served Ads Are Billable – Just because an ad appears doesn’t mean the advertiser paid for it. DV only includes valid impressions in billable counts, per industry standards—meaning invalid traffic is filtered appropriately, even if the ad renders.
DV Leads in Combating Real Ad Fraud (SIVT) –DV has uncovered major fraud schemes, worked with federal agencies, and was instrumental in supporting the Department of Justice and FBI in the industry’s only documented ad fraud conviction of Russian cybercriminal Aleksandr Zhukov. There is no public record of Adalytics having any comparable, action-oriented record of combating SIVT.
The “Mystery Bot” Raises More Questions –Adalytics won’t name the third bot in its study—making a true “peer review” impossible and further undermining the transparency of its findings.
Pre-Bid Solutions That Deliver Real Value – DV’s pre-bid solution doesn’t just filter IVT. Every day, we analyze billions of potential ad placements as part of a broader pre-bid protection framework that quietly delivers real, measurable value. DV’s pre-bid technology also powers more than 2,000 data segments across, not just fraud and invalid traffic, but also viewability, brand safety and suitability, contextual, and other pre-bid campaign settings, giving advertisers superior coverage, proven protection, and powerful performance across all devices and formats.

DV’s priority is protecting its clients and the digital ad ecosystem through accurate detection, meaningful insights, and transparency. The Adalytics report mischaracterizes how invalid traffic is managed and how verification works. DV is setting the record straight.

DoubleVerify expands invalid traffic and viewability measurement to Spotify Video Ads

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