DoubleVerify issues new guidance as fraudsters exploit ads.txt to mimic legit sites, diverting ad spend. Over 100 cases found since 2017, including Synthetic Echo.
DoubleVerify, a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data, and analytics, today issued guidance in its Transparency Center to help advertisers navigate a rise in schemes designed to exploit ads.txt — the industry standard that enables publishers and platforms to publicly declare authorized digital inventory sellers.
The DV Fraud Lab has identified more than 100 cases of ads.txt deception since the standard’s launch in May 2017, with a significant increase in recent years, as fraudsters manipulate the system to appear legitimate and divert ad spend away from trusted publishers.
“Bad actors are exploiting ads.txt and advertisers often have no idea it’s happening,” said Gilit Saporta, Head of the DV Fraud Lab. “It’s a growing risk that demands more scrutiny from buyers, sellers and vendors.”
The scale of this deception is evident in Synthetic Echo, a network of over 200 AI-generated, ad-supported websites recently uncovered by the DV Fraud Lab. Monetized through multiple SSPs and exchanges, Synthetic Echo churns out low-quality AI content and uses deceptive domain names — like espn24.co.uk, nbcsportz.com, and cbsnewz.com — to mislead programmatic platforms and buyers into mistaking them for legitimate publishers.
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According to DV’s analysis — detailed in the public alert available on DV’s website — the deception extends to ads.txt files. The DV Fraud Lab found near-identical ads.txt files replicated across Synthetic Echo sites, exposing how fraudsters scale these schemes by cloning authorized seller lists.
After DV publicized information about Synthetic Echo in January, a Wired report prompted several of the news publishers whose brands were misused to say they plan to pursue legal action.
