---
title: "SIVT fraud detection: What is incentivized manipulation of measurements?"
description: Pixalate, an MRC-accredited company for SIVT detection & filtration for desktop & mobile web impressions, defines the incentivized manipulation of measurements.
---

[Pixalate Blog ](https://www.pixalate.com/blog)

# [SIVT fraud detection: What is incentivized manipulation of measurements?](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/mrc-definitions-sivt-incentivized-manipulation-measurements)

 Written by [Tyler Loechner](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/author/tyler-loechner) | Jul 24, 2017 6:03:56 PM

*[Pixalate is an MRC-accredited company](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-accreditation-sivt-invalid-traffic-givt-detection-filtration-mobile) for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic ("SIVT") desktop and mobile web impressions.*

According to the Media Rating Council’s (MRC) standards for [Invalid Traffic Detection and Filtration Guidelines](http://mediaratingcouncil.org/101515_IVT%20Addendum%20FINAL%20(Version%201.0).pdf), there are two types of invalid traffic:

- [GIVT](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-givt-invalid-traffic-detection-filtration) (General Invalid Traffic)
- [SIVT](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-invalid-traffic-detection-filtration) (Sophisticated Invalid Traffic)

One example of SIVT is the “incentivized manipulation of measurements.”

### **What is “incentivized manipulation of measurements” in the MRC definition of SIVT?**

****

According to the MRC, the incentivized manipulation of measurements is considered SIVT.

An example of manipulating measurements to incentivize is the over-reporting of site or app visitors to attract advertisers. The “fraudulent incentivized promotion of an entity, without its knowledge or permission” is also included the[MRC’s](http://mediaratingcouncil.org/101515_IVT%20Addendum%20FINAL%20(Version%201.0).pdf) definition, “excluding cases where the entity paying for the incentive is the entity being promoted.”

For example, an advertising platform may acquire ad spaces on a website with whom it has no direct relationship and then drive traffic to that site in order to ensure it can resell those ad slots at a profit.

MRC-accredited ad fraud detection and prevention companies must be able to identify and filter out where applicable the incentivized manipulation of measurements.

### **What are some other examples of SIVT?**

The incentivized manipulation of measurements is just one example of [Sophisticated Invalid Traffic](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-invalid-traffic-detection-filtration) (SIVT) as defined by the MRC. To learn about some of the other examples of SIVT, click on any of the examples below:

-      [Differentiating human and IVT traffic when originating from the same or similar source](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-differentiating-human-ivt-traffic-same-source)    
-      [Bots and spiders or other crawlers masquerading as legitimate users](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-bots-spider-crawlers-fake-legitimate-users)
-      [Hijacked devices, user sessions, ad tags, and ad creative](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-hijacked-devices-user-sessions-ad-tags-creative)
-      [Hidden/stacked/covered or otherwise intentionally obfuscated ad serving](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-hidden-stacked-obfuscated-ad-serving)
-      [Invalid proxy traffic](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-invalid-proxy-traffic)
-      [Adware and malware](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-adware-malware-examples)
-      [Falsified viewable impression decisions](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-falsified-viewable-impression-viewability)
-      [Falsely represented sites](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-falsely-represented-sites)
-      [Cookie stuffing, recycling, or harvesting](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-cookie-stuffing-recycling-harvesting-fraud)
-      [Manipulation or falsification of location data](https://blog.pixalate.com/mrc-definitions-sivt-manipulation-falsification-location-data-fake-false)

[View full post](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/mrc-definitions-sivt-incentivized-manipulation-measurements)

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