# AdTech Sumo

> The plain-English guide to advertising technology: live ad tech news, IVT and ad fraud explained, programmatic flows, stock prices, earnings, M&A, reports, glossary and quizzes. Presented by ClearTrust.

AdTech Sumo explains advertising technology in plain English, with a focus on programmatic advertising and invalid traffic (IVT) / ad fraud. It gathers ad tech news from sources worldwide around the clock, tracks listed ad tech stocks, SEC filings, earnings and M&A, and publishes a curriculum, glossary, animated flows, quizzes and direct answers. Published by ClearTrust (https://cleartrust.cc).

## For agents
- [MCP server](https://adtechsumo.com/mcp): Streamable HTTP, public and read-only. Tools: search, latest_news, get_story, define_term, answer_question, list_lessons, get_lesson, get_flow, list_companies, get_company, market_overview, get_price_history, earnings, list_deals, ivt_briefing, list_reports, quiz, site_status.
- [JSON API](https://adtechsumo.com/api/v1/tools): the same tools over plain HTTP, e.g. https://adtechsumo.com/api/v1/define_term?term=SIVT
- [Full text for LLMs](https://adtechsumo.com/llms-full.txt): every glossary definition and answer in one file
- [RSS](https://adtechsumo.com/feed.xml)

## Start here
- [Live wire](https://adtechsumo.com/news): ad tech news, each story summarised with why it matters
- [IVT Desk](https://adtechsumo.com/ivt): invalid traffic and ad fraud news, GIVT vs SIVT, fraud cases
- [Glossary](https://adtechsumo.com/glossary): every ad tech term defined
- [Answers](https://adtechsumo.com/answers): direct answers to common questions
- [Markets](https://adtechsumo.com/markets), [Earnings](https://adtechsumo.com/earnings), [M&A](https://adtechsumo.com/deals), [Players](https://adtechsumo.com/companies), [Reports](https://adtechsumo.com/reports)

## Courses
- [Ad tech foundations](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/foundations): How the free internet gets paid, explained from zero.
  - [How the internet gets paid](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/foundations/how-the-internet-gets-paid): Why most websites, apps and streaming channels are free, who actually pays for them, and what "ad tech" does in the middle.
  - [Impressions, CPM and how ads are priced](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/foundations/impressions-cpm-and-pricing): CPM, CPC, CPA, CTR, eCPM and ROAS decoded with simple maths, so you can read any media plan or ad invoice with confidence.
  - [Publishers, advertisers and everyone in the middle](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/foundations/publishers-advertisers-and-the-middle): Meet the cast: publishers, advertisers, agencies, DSPs, SSPs, exchanges, ad servers and verifiers, and what each one is paid to do.
  - [Direct deals vs programmatic](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/foundations/direct-vs-programmatic): How ads are sold by handshake versus by software, why programmatic took over, and the spectrum of deal types in between.
  - [The LUMAscape: a map of the whole industry](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/foundations/the-lumascape-map): Read the famous LUMAscape map of ad tech, see the major categories of companies, and follow where an advertiser's dollar actually goes.
- [Programmatic, step by step](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic): The 100-millisecond auction, the pipes around it and where the money goes.
  - [Real-time bidding in 100 milliseconds](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/rtb-in-100-milliseconds): What happens in the blink between a page loading and an ad appearing: the ad request, the OpenRTB bid request, the bids and the winner.
  - [DSPs and SSPs: the two sides of the trade](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/dsps-and-ssps): How demand-side and supply-side platforms work, how they get paid, how exchanges fit in, and why the line between them is blurring.
  - [Header bidding and Prebid](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/header-bidding-and-prebid): Why publishers replaced the waterfall with header bidding, how Prebid.js and Prebid Server work, and how Google responded.
  - [Auctions: first price vs second price](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/auctions-first-vs-second-price): Why programmatic moved from second-price to first-price auctions by 2019, how bid shading works, and what floors and pricing rules change.
  - [Deals: PMPs, preferred deals and programmatic guaranteed](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/deals-pmp-and-pg): How deal IDs work, and when buyers and sellers choose open auction, private marketplaces, preferred deals or programmatic guaranteed.
  - [Supply path optimization (SPO)](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/supply-path-optimization): Why the same impression reaches buyers through many paths, how SPO picks the best ones, and how ads.txt, sellers.json and schain make it possible.
  - [Curation and the new middle](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/programmatic/curation-and-the-new-middle): Curation, the 2024–2026 trend of packaging supply and data into deal IDs, who does it, how it is paid for, and where the money ends up.
- [Data, identity & privacy](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/data-identity): Cookies, IDs, clean rooms and consent: how ads know (or guess) who you are.
  - [Cookies explained: first-party, third-party and syncing](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/data-identity/cookies-explained): What a cookie really is, why third-party cookies powered ad tech for 25 years, how cookie syncing works, and why Chrome kept them after all.
  - [First-party data and the new IDs: UID2, RampID, MAIDs and more](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/data-identity/first-party-data-and-ids): How logins, hashed emails and shared IDs like UID2, EUID, RampID and ID5 try to replace cookies, plus MAIDs, ATT and the 2024 ID bridging row.
  - [Data clean rooms: sharing insight without sharing data](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/data-identity/clean-rooms): What a data clean room is, how two companies match audiences inside one without swapping raw customer lists, and where the privacy promises fall short.
  - [The contextual comeback: targeting the page, not the person](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/data-identity/contextual-comeback): Why contextual targeting is back, how modern AI-driven contextual works, how it compares with behavioral targeting, and where it can be gamed.
  - [Consent and privacy law: GDPR, TCF, GPP, CCPA and India's DPDP](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/data-identity/consent-and-privacy-law): How GDPR, the IAB TCF, GPP, CCPA/CPRA and India's DPDP Act shape what ad tech may collect, and how consent travels through a bid request.
- [Invalid traffic & ad fraud](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud): Bots, spoofing, fake views and the people who catch them, explained all the way down
  - [What is invalid traffic?](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/what-is-invalid-traffic): Invalid traffic is any ad activity that did not come from a real, interested human. Learn what counts, why it exists, and why it costs billions.
  - [GIVT vs SIVT: the two kinds of invalid traffic](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/givt-vs-sivt): The MRC splits invalid traffic into GIVT, caught with lists and rules, and SIVT, which needs advanced analytics. Learn exactly what falls in each.
  - [How bots fake humans](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/how-bots-fake-humans): From data-center scripts to malware on your TV box: the tiers of bot sophistication, and how Methbot and 3ve faked billions of views.
  - [Spoofing: fake websites, apps and devices](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/spoofing-domains-apps-and-devices): Spoofing sells cheap or fake inventory under a premium name. Learn domain, app and device spoofing, and how ads.txt, sellers.json and schain fight back.
  - [Mobile app and CTV fraud](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/mobile-and-ctv-fraud): Click injection, SDK spoofing, SSAI spoofing and backdoored TV boxes: how fraud works in apps and on TVs, told through ICEBUCKET, VASTFLUX and BADBOX.
  - [Made-for-advertising sites and traffic arbitrage](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/mfa-and-arbitrage): MFA sites and arbitrage are often not illegal, yet they drain budgets. Learn how they work, the ANA's findings, and grey tricks like ad stacking and lead fraud.
  - [How fraud gets caught](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/how-fraud-gets-caught): Pre-bid vs post-bid, the signals detectors read, honeypots, sample vs census measurement and threat intelligence: how invalid traffic is actually found.
  - [Protecting your spend (and your inventory)](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/ivt-fraud/protecting-your-spend): A practical anti-fraud checklist for buyers and sellers: supply controls, contract clauses, refunds, TAG certification and how to judge vendors.
- [Measurement & verification](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/measurement): Was the ad seen, was it safe, and did it actually work?
  - [Viewability: was the ad even on screen?](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/measurement/viewability): An ad can be served and never seen. Learn the MRC viewability standard, how it is measured, and why a viewable ad is not the same as a human view.
  - [Brand safety and brand suitability](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/measurement/brand-safety-and-suitability): Brand safety keeps ads away from harmful content; suitability matches ads to content that fits each brand. Learn how both work, and how blocking can backfire.
  - [Attribution models: who gets the credit?](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/measurement/attribution-models): Attribution decides which ad gets credit for a sale. Learn last-click, multi-touch and view-through models, their blind spots, and how fraud exploits them.
  - [Incrementality and marketing mix modelling](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/measurement/incrementality-and-mmm): Did the ad cause the sale, or would it have happened anyway? Learn lift studies, holdout groups, geo tests and marketing mix modelling, and when to use each.
  - [Attention and the new metrics](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/measurement/attention-and-new-metrics): Viewability says an ad could be seen; attention metrics estimate whether it was. Learn how attention is measured, new CTV currencies, and how to judge them.
- [Channels: CTV, mobile, retail, audio, DOOH](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels): Every screen, speaker and billboard has its own plumbing, pricing and fraud risks.
  - [CTV and streaming: how ads reach the big screen](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels/ctv-and-streaming): How connected TV ads work: CTV vs OTT vs FAST, SSAI vs CSAI, VAST and ad pods, ACR and household IDs, the new ad tiers, and SSAI spoofing risk.
  - [Mobile app advertising: SDKs, mediation, MMPs and SKAN](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels/mobile-app-advertising): How in-app ads work: SDKs, mediation and in-app bidding, rewarded video, MMP attribution, SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit, and in-app fraud.
  - [Retail and commerce media: ads where people buy](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels/retail-and-commerce-media): How Amazon, Walmart Connect, Instacart, Flipkart, Mercado Ads and Coupang sell ads using shopper data, on-site and off-site, with closed-loop measurement.
  - [Audio and podcasts: ads you hear](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels/audio-and-podcasts): How streaming audio and podcast ads work: host-read vs dynamic ad insertion, Spotify, SiriusXM, AdsWizz and iHeart, measurement and download fraud.
  - [Digital out-of-home: billboards that bid](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels/digital-out-of-home): How digital billboards and screens are bought programmatically, who the players are, how audiences are estimated with multipliers, and how plays are verified.
  - [Search, social and AI: the biggest ad businesses and the newest](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/channels/search-social-and-ai): How search and social ads work, why they dominate spending, and how ads are arriving in AI search and assistants like Google AI Mode and ChatGPT in 2026.
- [Money, markets & M&A](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/money-markets): Follow the ad dollar: fees, business models, earnings and who owns whom
  - [The ad tech tax: where the advertiser’s dollar goes](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/money-markets/the-ad-tech-tax): A brand spends a dollar on programmatic ads. Studies in the UK and US found only part of it reaches the publisher, and less reaches real people. Here is why.
  - [How ad tech companies make money](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/money-markets/how-ad-tech-companies-make-money): Take rates, CPM fees, subscriptions and ex-TAC: the handful of business models behind almost every ad tech company, explained with simple examples.
  - [How to read an ad tech earnings report](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/money-markets/reading-an-ad-tech-earnings-report): Revenue vs gross spend, ex-TAC, adjusted EBITDA, guidance and retention: a plain-English walkthrough of an ad tech earnings report, with a made-up example.
  - [Why ad tech keeps consolidating](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/money-markets/why-ad-tech-consolidates): From Google buying DoubleClick to Omnicom buying IPG: why ad tech companies merge, the big deal waves, and what consolidation means for buyers and sellers.
  - [Who owns who in ad tech](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/money-markets/who-owns-who): A readable ownership map of ad tech: the tech giants, media and telecom owners, agency holding companies, independents and private equity.
- [Standards, policy & antitrust](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/policy-standards): The rulebooks of ad tech: industry standards, supply-chain files, antitrust and privacy law
  - [The standards bodies: who writes ad tech’s rules](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/policy-standards/the-standards-bodies): IAB, IAB Tech Lab, MRC, TAG, ANA, WFA, Prebid.org, ISBA and ASCI: what each industry body does and why their standards shape every ad you see.
  - [ads.txt, sellers.json, schain and ads.cert in depth](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/policy-standards/ads-txt-sellers-json-schain): Four IAB Tech Lab standards that let buyers check who is really selling an ad: how ads.txt, app-ads.txt, sellers.json, schain and ads.cert work together.
  - [The Google ad tech case, explained](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/policy-standards/the-google-ad-tech-case): How the US government proved Google illegally monopolized key ad tech markets, what the 2026 remedies ruling ordered, and how the EU’s €2.95B fine fits in.
  - [The global regulation map for ad tech](https://adtechsumo.com/learn/policy-standards/global-regulation-map): GDPR, the DMA and DSA, US state laws, COPPA, India’s DPDP Act, Brazil, China, Japan and Australia: how privacy and platform laws shape ads worldwide.

## Animated flows
- [The 100-millisecond auction](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/rtb-auction): What happens between you opening a web page and an ad appearing: a real-time auction that finishes faster than a blink.
- [Waterfall vs header bidding](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/header-bidding): Why publishers moved from asking buyers one at a time to asking them all at once, and how it raised their revenue.
- [Where the advertiser’s dollar goes](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/money-flow): Follow one dollar of programmatic spend from a brand to a publisher, and see who takes a cut along the way.
- [How invalid traffic gets caught](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/ivt-detection): The layers of defence between a bot and an advertiser’s budget: lists, signals, behaviour and after-the-fact audits.
- [ads.txt, sellers.json & schain](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/supply-chain-verification): How a buyer checks that the seller really is allowed to sell a site’s ads, and why it defeats domain spoofing.
- [How a CTV ad reaches your TV](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/ctv-ssai): Server-side ad insertion stitches ads into streams. The same trick, faked, is one of the costliest frauds in streaming.
- [From ad to sale: attribution](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/attribution): Which ad “caused” a purchase? Last-click, multi-touch and incrementality give very different answers.
- [Identity: cookies, IDs and clean rooms](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/identity): How advertisers recognise the same person across sites, and what replaces third-party cookies when they are not available.
- [Anatomy of a bot fraud scheme](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/fraud-scheme): How organised fraud rings turn fake websites and hijacked devices into real advertising money, and where they get caught.
- [The retail media loop](https://adtechsumo.com/flows/retail-media): Why retailers became ad companies: they know what people actually buy, and can prove an ad led to a sale.

## Top questions
- [What is invalid traffic in advertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-invalid-traffic-in-advertising)
- [What is the difference between GIVT and SIVT?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-the-difference-between-givt-and-sivt)
- [How much money is lost to ad fraud each year?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/how-much-money-is-lost-to-ad-fraud-each-year)
- [How do I know if my ad traffic is fake?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/how-do-i-know-if-my-ad-traffic-is-fake)
- [What is click fraud and how do I stop it?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-click-fraud-and-how-do-i-stop-it)
- [What is ad fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-ad-fraud)
- [What percentage of internet traffic is bots?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-percentage-of-internet-traffic-is-bots)
- [Is ad fraud illegal?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/is-ad-fraud-illegal)
- [What is bot traffic in advertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-bot-traffic-in-advertising)
- [What is a click farm?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-a-click-farm)
- [What is domain spoofing in advertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-domain-spoofing-in-advertising)
- [What is SSAI spoofing?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-ssai-spoofing)
- [What is CTV ad fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-ctv-ad-fraud)
- [What is mobile ad fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-mobile-ad-fraud)
- [What is click injection?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-click-injection)
- [What is SDK spoofing?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-sdk-spoofing)
- [What is ad stacking and pixel stuffing?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-ad-stacking-and-pixel-stuffing)
- [What is a residential proxy in ad fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-a-residential-proxy-in-ad-fraud)
- [What is data center traffic in advertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-data-center-traffic)
- [What is a headless browser bot?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-a-headless-browser-bot)
- [What is an acceptable IVT rate?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-an-acceptable-ivt-rate)
- [What is a traffic quality score?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-a-traffic-quality-score)
- [How does ad fraud detection work?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/how-does-ad-fraud-detection-work)
- [What is pre-bid vs post-bid fraud protection?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-pre-bid-vs-post-bid-fraud-protection)
- [Can I get a refund for ad fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/can-i-get-a-refund-for-ad-fraud)
- [Does Google Ads refund invalid clicks?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/does-google-ads-refund-invalid-clicks)
- [What was Methbot?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-was-methbot)
- [What is malvertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-malvertising)
- [What is cloaking in advertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-cloaking-in-advertising)
- [What is cookie stuffing?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-cookie-stuffing)
- [What is lead generation fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-lead-generation-fraud)
- [Is incentivized traffic fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/is-incentivized-traffic-fraud)
- [What is sourced traffic?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-sourced-traffic)
- [Can competitors click on my ads to waste my budget?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/why-do-competitors-click-on-my-ads)
- [What is the MRC IVT standard?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-the-mrc-ivt-standard)
- [What is TAG Certified Against Fraud?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-tag-certified-against-fraud)
- [What is device fingerprinting in fraud detection?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-device-fingerprinting-in-fraud-detection)
- [Is AI making ad fraud worse?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/is-ai-making-ad-fraud-worse)
- [What is the IAB Spiders and Bots List?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-the-iab-spiders-and-bots-list)
- [What is programmatic advertising?](https://adtechsumo.com/answers/what-is-programmatic-advertising)