---
title: "Pixalate Week in Review: September 16 - 20, 2019"
description: Pixalate reviews this week's news in the programmatic ad fraud space. Find the most critical ad tech and privacy news from 16-20 September 2019.
---

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

# [Pixalate Week in Review: September 16 - 20, 2019](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/programmatic-ad-fraud-news-week-in-review-september-20-2019)

 Written by [Tyler Loechner](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/author/tyler-loechner) | Sep 20, 2019 9:15:00 PM

This week's review of ad fraud and quality in the digital advertising space.

### **1. Mobile in-app invalid traffic (IVT) rises to 25%**

****

Mobile [in-app invalid traffic (IVT) rates](https://www.pixalate.com/mobile-ivt-rises-q2-2019) for programmatic advertising climbed to new heights during Q2 2019. In our [Q2 2019 Ad Fraud Report](https://info.pixalate.com/ad-fraud-trends-report-update-q2-2019), we reveal the overall programmatic IVT rates for mobile in-app advertising. 

### **2. Number of OTT/CTV apps with programmatic ad support rises 2x year-over-year**

How fast is [programmatic advertising growing in OTT/CTV](https://www.pixalate.com/growth-ott-ctv-apps-programmatic-advertising), the hottest new channel for digital advertisers? In our [H1 2019 OTT/CTV Supply Chain Intelligence Report](https://info.pixalate.com/ott-ctv-supply-chain-intelligence-h1-2019), we reveal the growth rate of OTT/CTV apps that support programmatic video advertising. 

### **3. Android VPN apps with 500M+ installs contain adware**

"Google Play Store has a malware problem. And it doesn’t seem to go away despite the company’s best efforts to rein in sketchy apps," reported [The Next Web](https://thenextweb.com/google/2019/09/20/vpn-apps-with-millions-of-installs-caught-serving-disruptive-ads-to-android-users/). In a yet another instance of Android adware, New Zealand-based independent security researcher [Andy Michael found four Android VPN apps](https://www.vpntesting.com/android-vpn-apps-adware-fraud/) with cumulative downloads of over 500 million that not only serve ads while running the background, but are also placed outside the apps, including the home screen."

### **4. VPAID specs manipulated to deliver malware**

"Bad actors are exploiting VPAID to serve malicious auto redirects hidden within video ads," reported [AdExchanger](https://adexchanger.com/online-advertising/security-firm-finds-vpaid-spec-manipulated-to-deliver-malware/). "A loophole within the spec allows unauthorized parties to introduce arbitrary JavaScript and inject malware into a piece of creative."

### **5. Two popular Chrome ad-block extensions caught in ad fraud scheme**

 According to [The Hacker News](https://thehackernews.com/2019/09/browser-chrome-extension-adblock.html), "Two widely used Adblocker Google Chrome extensions, posing as the original — AdBlock and uBlock Origin — extensions on Chrome Web Store, have been caught stuffing cookies in the web browser of millions of users to generate affiliate income from referral schemes fraudulently."

[View full post](https://www.pixalate.com/blog/programmatic-ad-fraud-news-week-in-review-september-20-2019)

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