This Invalid Traffic Policy (“Policy”) defines what LtvAdx treats as invalid traffic (“IVT”) on CTV, FAST, and linear inventory, how we detect and filter it, and how it affects advertiser billing and supply-side payouts. It is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Service, our Advertising Policy, and our Monetisation Policy.
Effective date: July 12, 2026 | Last updated: July 12, 2026
1. Purpose and standards
Advertisers should pay only for ads genuinely delivered to people watching real screens, and Publishers and Operators should be paid only for genuine audiences. LtvAdx aligns its invalid-traffic classification with recognized industry frameworks, including the Media Rating Council (MRC) Invalid Traffic Detection and Filtration Guidelines, the IAB/ABC International Spiders & Bots List, IAB Tech Lab supply-chain standards (app-ads.txt, sellers.json, schain), and Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) anti-fraud principles, adapted to the specifics of server-side ad insertion and CTV delivery.
2. What counts as invalid traffic
Consistent with MRC guidance, we classify IVT in two tiers. Both tiers are non-billable and non-payable.
2.1 General invalid traffic (GIVT)
Traffic identifiable through routine list-based and parameter checks, including:
- Known crawlers, spiders, and bots on the IAB/ABC International Spiders & Bots List, and other declared non-human user agents requesting VAST tags or firing beacons.
- Unauthorized data-center traffic — requests from hosting providers that are not authenticated SSAI or stitcher infrastructure registered for the inventory.
- Non-existent or malformed device identifiers, impossible device/app combinations, and requests failing basic parameter validation.
- Duplicate, replayed, or out-of-order beacon sequences (for example completion beacons without start beacons), and activity-based anomalies such as physically impossible ad-request frequencies from a single device or household.
- Pre-fetch or cache-warming requests that never correspond to a rendered ad break.
2.2 Sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT)
Traffic requiring advanced analytics or multi-signal analysis to identify, including:
- Device and app spoofing: emulated CTV devices, falsified device models or IFAs, and traffic misrepresented as originating from premium apps or channels (app laundering).
- SSAI falsification: server-side systems firing impression or quartile beacons for ads never delivered to a real player, or inflating stream concurrency.
- Botnets, device farms, and hijacked devices generating ad requests.
- Unattended-playback abuse: looping streams on idle devices, playback while the TV is off (power-state abuse), or muted/hidden rendering with no possibility of human exposure.
- Manipulated measurement: falsified household identifiers, spoofed geo or consent signals, fabricated or replayed attribution postbacks, and misdeclared content or schain metadata used to disguise the true supply path.
- Incentivized or coerced viewing schemes organized to inflate impressions or completions.
3. Detection and filtration
- Serve-time filtration. Known-invalid sources (GIVT) are filtered in real time at the ad server and exchange before an impression becomes billable, including at bid-request level for OpenRTB demand. Filtered requests are excluded from billing and payout counts.
- SSAI authentication. Because legitimate SSAI traffic originates from data centers, LtvAdx distinguishes registered, authenticated stitcher infrastructure from unauthorized server traffic; supply partners must integrate per our documentation for their SSAI traffic to be treated as valid.
- Post-serve analysis. We continuously analyze delivered traffic for SIVT patterns using statistical, behavioral, device-graph, and network-level signals. Specific detection signals are confidential to preserve their effectiveness.
- Reclassification. Impressions and completions initially counted as valid may later be reclassified as IVT during the reconciliation window described in Section 4.
4. Effect on advertiser billing
- Advertisers are not billed for traffic filtered as GIVT at serve time; it never enters billable counts or wallet deductions.
- Where post-serve analysis reclassifies traffic as IVT within 30 days of the end of the calendar month in which it was served (the “Reconciliation Window”), the associated spend is credited back to the advertiser's wallet.
- IVT credits are issued as wallet credits, not cash refunds, unless required by law or agreed in an order form.
- Advertisers must raise suspected-IVT disputes in good faith within the Reconciliation Window, with supporting data. Reports from third-party verification vendors are considered where the vendor's methodology is MRC-accredited or otherwise transparent; LtvAdx measurement remains the billing system of record.
5. Effect on publisher and operator payouts
- Earnings are calculated only on traffic that passes filtration; IVT never accrues revenue share for any party in the split.
- Earnings attributable to traffic reclassified as IVT within the Reconciliation Window are reversed pro rata across the supply-side split. If already paid, we may offset the amount against future payouts or invoice for repayment (clawback).
- We may withhold payouts, in whole or in part, while investigating anomalous traffic in good faith. Withheld amounts attributable to valid traffic are released promptly once cleared.
- Supply partners whose traffic shows sustained elevated IVT rates may have inventory limited, demand restricted, or accounts suspended, independent of intent.
6. Participant obligations
- Do not generate, purchase, or knowingly benefit from invalid traffic, and do not attempt to probe, reverse engineer, or evade LtvAdx filtration.
- Publishers and Operators must maintain accurate app-ads.txt, sellers.json, and schain declarations, integrate SSAI and SCTE-35 per documentation, and monitor their own upstream traffic sources.
- All parties must cooperate promptly with IVT investigations, including providing server logs, stream concurrency data, or traffic-acquisition information reasonably requested.
- Suspected fraud on the platform should be reported to trust@ltvadx.com.
7. Enforcement
Depending on severity, evidence of intent, and history, enforcement ranges from traffic-level filtration (no account action) to earnings reversal, payout withholding, inventory or campaign suspension, and account termination under our Terms of Service. Deliberate fraud results in immediate termination, forfeiture of associated earnings to fund advertiser make-goods, and, where appropriate, referral to law enforcement and industry bodies.
Enforcement decisions may be appealed at policy@ltvadx.com within 30 days with supporting evidence.
8. Measurement transparency
Dashboard and API reporting reflect filtered (valid) traffic. Our documented measurement methodology, including how VAST beacons are validated and how SSAI traffic is authenticated, is available in our Documentation. We review our filtration approach periodically against evolving MRC and TAG guidance.
9. Changes and contact
We may update this Policy as fraud techniques and industry standards evolve; material changes will be posted here with an updated effective date.
Questions: policy@ltvadx.com | Fraud reports: trust@ltvadx.com | Legal: legal@ltvadx.com