Pixalate Unveils Monthly Publisher Trust Index: Ad Industry’s First Mobile & CTV App Ranking System Based on Traffic Quality; Launches free diagnostic report for publishers

New global Pixalate Top 100™ indexes analyze two trillion data points across the programmatic ecosystem including 5+ million apps and 35+ app categories to create 200 unique reports across the Google, Apple, Roku, and Amazon app stores

London(24 May 2021)

Pixalate, a global ad fraud intelligence and marketing compliance platform, today launched the world’s first Publisher Trust Index, a global approach to quality measurement and monthly rankings of the world’s mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps, designed to bring unprecedented transparency to the programmatic advertising ecosystem. 

While traditional ranking systems use a quantitative-based approach, Pixalate uses proprietary algorithms to measure a range of quality metrics, including brand safety, invalid traffic (IVT, or ad fraud), programmatic reach, viewability, and more. The Pixalate Top 100™ rankings span 35+ different app categories, including IAB 2.2 taxonomies, across four regions: North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.

The Publisher Trust Indexes feature more than 200 unique Pixalate Top 100™ rankings for mobile and CTV apps. The top five rated apps on each major app store in North America in April 2021 are: 

• Google Play Store: WeatherBug, Spotify, The Weather Channel, MyFitnessPal, and ibis Paint X

• Apple App Store: The Weather Channel, Words with Friends 2, MyFitnessPal, WeatherBug, and Spider Solitaire

• Roku Channel Store: Hulu, fuboTV, Philo, Univision NOW, and NewsON

• Amazon Fire TV Channel Store: Philo, Pluto TV, CNNgo, fuboTV, and Sling TV

“Despite their critical role in the digital ad supply chain and proximity to the end-users, publishers are too often overlooked when it comes to mitigating risk and improving traffic quality,” said Jalal Nasir, CEO at Pixalate. “Empowering publishers to identify and assess their ad fraud and privacy compliance risks will create a more transparent and trustworthy programmatic ad supply chain.”

App publishers will have the ability to request a free “Publisher Diagnostic Report” to gain powerful insights and understand how buyers evaluate their business. The report provides publishers insights to better manage their reputation and improve quality. Once verified as the registered owner of an app, publishers will receive the report detailing risk factors identified with suggestions to address any issues.

Both publishers and ad platforms are demanding greater transparency into the programmatic advertising supply chain. Pixalate partners, including Comcast’s XUMO, Criteo, Verizon Media, and PubMatic already understand the benefits of having access to a new industry standard regarding publisher quality. 

“I’ve worked in the advertising industry for 20 plus years, and the Publisher Trust Index that Pixalate is introducing will truly be a game-changer,” said Jerrold Son, Executive Director, Ad Operations at XUMO. “As a company that is laser focused on maximizing the CTV space, we need a resource like this to make sure that we’re operating with the highest quality insights possible. Many industries have already taken massive steps toward increasing transparency, and Pixalate is helping to drive that with this new offering.”

"Connected TV and mobile app advertising are both growing, but for buyers to fully embrace the potential opportunity, we need to enhance access to high-quality, brand-safe inventory," said Eric Bozinny, Senior Director, Marketplace Quality, PubMatic. "Pixalate's Publisher Trust Index is an important tool for advertisers that want to expand their CTV or mobile app footprint beyond a handful of household names. These rankings will shine a light on the broader portfolio of premium apps that can deliver on the programmatic promise of scale and efficiency."

“Pixalate’s Publisher Trust Index, and its free Publisher Diagnostic Report, are a great toolset to help identify invalid traffic for mobile and CTV app publishers,” said Francois Zolezzi, Head of Supply Quality, Criteo. “Understanding the problem is the first step in stamping it out. The Pixalate reports bring transparency to ad-related quality issues, and we’re excited to partner with them.”

“As ad spend on channels like CTV grows by leaps and bounds, advertisers need greater transparency into their programmatic buys,” said Patrick McCormack, Vice President, Global Partnerships at Verizon Media. “At Verizon Media, trust and transparency are paramount, and insights like Pixalate’s new CTV and mobile app ratings help drive further visibility into the programmatic ad supply chain.”

Visit pixalate.com/rankings to see the latest ratings for the top CTV and mobile apps for free, and [website] for the full [link]report methodology, including a comprehensive list of {link]metrics analyzed.

About Pixalate

Pixalate, a global ad fraud intelligence and marketing compliance platform, works with brands, publishers, and platforms to deliver full-scale ratings and ad inventory quality measurement. We work 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value. Pixalate offers the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and OTT/CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and OTT/CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com 

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Publisher Trust Indexes (collectively, the "Indexes"), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. The Indexes examine programmatic advertising activity on mobile apps and Connected TV (CTV) apps (collectively, the “apps”). As cited in the Indexes and referenced in the Indexes’ key findings reproduced herein, the ratings and rankings in the Indexes are based on a number of metrics (e.g., “Brand Safety”) and Pixalate’s opinions regarding the relative performance of each app publisher with respect to the metrics. The data is derived from buy-side programmatic advertising transactions, as measured by Pixalate. The Indexes examine global advertising activity across North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM, respectively, as well as programmatic advertising activity within discrete app categories. Any insights shared are grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources in the Indexes and herein should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and neither this press release nor the Indexes are intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any person, entity or app. 

Definitions

As used in the Indexes and herein, and: (i) per the MRC, the term “'Fraud' is not intended to represent fraud as defined in various laws, statutes and ordinances or as conventionally used in U.S. Court or other legal proceedings, but rather a custom definition strictly for advertising measurement purposes;” and (ii) per the MRC, “'Invalid Traffic' is defined generally as traffic that does not meet certain ad serving quality or completeness criteria, or otherwise does not represent legitimate ad traffic that should be included in measurement counts. Among the reasons why ad traffic may be deemed invalid is it is a result of non-human traffic (spiders, bots, etc.), or activity designed to produce fraudulent traffic.”