Pixalate’s CTV STI 2.0 rates sellers by arbitrage risk and invalid traffic (ad fraud) risk across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, and LG Smart TV in the United States; Google AdExchange, Xandr Monetize, Index Exchange among leaders
LONDON, June 9, 2026 — Pixalate, an ad fraud and privacy compliance platform, today released the Q1 2026 Connected TV (CTV) Seller Trust Index (STI) 2.0 rankings. STI 2.0 ranks 20+ open programmatic CTV ad sellers across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, and LG Smart TV in the United States. The index is free, public, and updated quarterly.
For each seller, the model measures:
In CTV, 4.1% of U.S. inventory was resold rather than sold publisher-direct in Q1 2026, far below web (20.8%) and mobile (16.2%), per Pixalate's Q1 2026 Web and Mobile Seller Trust Indexes.
The share of ranked SSPs that are primarily arbitrageurs fell on every platform versus Q4 2025 — Amazon Fire TV (31% to 14%), Samsung TV (18% to 9%) and Roku (14% to 7%), with Apple TV and LG dropping to none.
The following tables show the top-ranked sellers in the United States based on CTV Seller Trust Index scores for Q1 2026. Full rankings for all 5 CTV platforms are available at pixalate.com.
|
Rank |
Seller |
Risks |
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration |
SIVT Ratio |
GIVT Ratio |
Likely Fraudulent Bundle ID Traffic Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Google AdExchange |
High SIVT/GIVT |
1% |
1,293 |
38% |
19% |
15% |
|
2 |
Xandr Monetize |
0% |
1,314 |
2% |
< 1% |
13% |
|
|
3 |
Equativ |
High GIVT |
0% |
1,203 |
15% |
12% |
41% |
|
4 |
InMobi |
High GIVT |
0% |
1,077 |
18% |
9% |
7% |
|
5 |
BeachFront |
0% |
1,174 |
1% |
< 1% |
16% |
|
Rank |
Seller |
Risks |
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration |
SIVT Ratio |
GIVT Ratio |
Likely Fraudulent Bundle ID Traffic Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Google AdExchange |
High SIVT |
1% |
547 |
29% |
< 1% |
32% |
|
2 |
Xandr Monetize |
High SIVT |
0% |
537 |
34% |
< 1% |
34% |
|
3 |
TripleLift Inc. |
High SIVT |
0% |
521 |
30% |
< 1% |
46% |
|
4 |
OpenX |
High SIVT |
0% |
519 |
33% |
3% |
26% |
|
5 |
Index Exchange |
High SIVT |
0% |
519 |
39% |
< 1% |
69% |
|
Rank |
Seller |
Risks |
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration |
SIVT Ratio |
GIVT Ratio |
Likely Fraudulent Bundle ID Traffic Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Google AdExchange |
0% |
385 |
5% |
< 1% |
28% |
|
|
2 |
Undertone |
High SIVT |
0% |
176 |
35% |
< 1% |
14% |
|
3 |
PubMatic |
High SIVT |
9% |
381 |
46% |
< 1% |
26% |
|
4 |
SMARTYADS LLP |
0% |
63 |
7% |
< 1% |
28% |
|
|
5 |
Flat Ads |
0% |
19 |
1% |
< 1% |
17% |
|
Rank |
Seller |
Risks |
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration |
SIVT Ratio |
GIVT Ratio |
Likely Fraudulent Bundle ID Traffic Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Google AdExchange |
High SIVT |
0% |
125 |
74% |
< 1% |
22% |
|
2 |
Index Exchange |
0% |
106 |
19% |
< 1% |
32% |
|
|
3 |
Amazon Publisher Services |
0% |
96 |
18% |
< 1% |
36% |
|
|
4 |
InMobi |
High SIVT |
0% |
80 |
59% |
5% |
28% |
|
5 |
LG Ads |
High SIVT |
0% |
72 |
46% |
6% |
27% |
|
Rank |
Seller |
Risks |
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration |
SIVT Ratio |
GIVT Ratio |
Likely Fraudulent Bundle ID Traffic Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Google AdExchange |
High SIVT |
0% |
30 |
34% |
< 1% |
56% |
|
2 |
InMobi |
High SIVT |
0% |
17 |
39% |
1% |
45% |
|
3 |
Magnite |
5% |
32 |
15% |
1% |
72% |
The following metrics are disclosed for each seller on each platform:
|
Metric |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
The percentage of a seller’s measured impressions that did not flow through an authorized-direct path — i.e., the share sold as a reseller or arbitrage intermediary, per Pixalate’s SCO analysis. |
|
‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration |
The number of apps with open programmatic ad activity, as measured by Pixalate, in a country that lists the seller as a DIRECT partner in their app-ads.txt file — a measure of potential direct access in a given market. |
|
SIVT Ratio |
Sophisticated Invalid Traffic as a percentage of total impressions, per Pixalate’s MRC-accredited detection. |
|
GIVT Ratio |
General Invalid Traffic as a percentage of total impressions. Includes known bots, spiders, and other non-human traffic identified through industry-standard filtration lists. |
|
Fraudulent Bundle ID Traffic Ratio |
The percentage of a seller’s ads sold using likely fraudulent Bundle IDs in the bid stream. |
Seller overall rankings are a composite score based on Arbitraged Inventory Ratio, DIRECT Publisher Penetration, and Authorized-Direct Volume.
The following table shows the share of CTV SSPs ranked on the STI 2.0 on each platform that are primarily resellers in the United States — meaning over half of their measured impressions were not delivered through an authorized-direct path, as assessed by Pixalate.
|
Platform |
# of SSPs Ranked |
# of SSPs Ranked With >50% Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
% of SSPs Ranked With >50% Arbitraged Inventory Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amazon Fire TV |
28 |
4 |
14% |
|
Samsung TV |
11 |
1 |
9% |
|
Roku |
27 |
2 |
7% |
|
Apple TV |
8 |
0 |
0% |
|
LG |
3 |
0 |
0% |
The Pixalate Seller Trust Index ratings are free and open to the public. See the full Q1 2026 CTV Seller Trust Index ratings at pixalate.com.
Pixalate also publishes the Mobile Seller Trust Index and Web Seller Trust Index.
About Pixalate
Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012 and recognized by UNICEF as a “key innovator” for children’s online privacy, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com
Disclaimer
The content of this press release, and the Seller Trust Indexes (collectively, the “Indexes”), reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. As cited in the Indexes, the ratings and rankings in the Indexes are based on a number of metrics and Pixalate’s opinions regarding the relative performance of each seller with respect to the metrics. The data is derived from buy-side, predominantly open auction, programmatic advertising transactions, as measured by Pixalate. 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.
IVT rates and scores derived from each vendor’s own proprietary methods and independent analysis may depict differing results and opinions across measurement providers. Any party’s reliance on Pixalate’s Indexes, rankings, IVT opinions, or related data is entirely at that party’s own risk. Pixalate makes no guarantees, representations, or warranties — express or implied — regarding the accuracy, completeness, or applicability of its opinions or data to any particular purpose or circumstance.
Per the MRC, “‘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. Also 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.”
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Disclaimer: The content of this page reflects Pixalate’s opinions with respect to the factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any proprietary data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that - opinion, not facts or guarantees.
Per the MRC, “'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. Also 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.”
