Pixalate’s Tyler Loechner unpacks ad fraud trends, privacy gaps, and how smarter data and compliance tools can rebuild trust in a fragmented ad tech world.
In a digital advertising world fraught with opacity, fraud, and evolving compliance risks, Tyler Loechner—VP of Platform Growth & Research at Pixalate—is on the front lines of rebuilding trust. With deep expertise in ad operations and a journalistic lens honed during his time covering programmatic media, Loechner brings a unique perspective to the complexities of today’s ad tech ecosystem.
In this conversation, he dives into how Pixalate is leveraging advanced detection tools like SupplyChain Object insights, pre-bid filters, and real-time data mapping to combat fraud across mobile, CTV, and beyond. He also discusses the growing urgency of privacy compliance, from GDPR to COPPA, and how Pixalate’s research-backed approach empowers stakeholders to make more informed decisions. As ad tech grapples with consolidation and fragmentation, Loechner offers a candid look at how platforms can stay technically, strategically, and ethically ahead.
Full interview;
With your background in ad ops and platform growth, how is ad fraud evolving technically, and which new detection methods is Pixalate prioritizing?
Our research reveals that the ad supply chain still needs to improve to reach the desired levels of trust. Pixalate has recently emphasized the importance of utilizing SupplyChain Object (SCO) insights to root out ad fraud at its source. For example, our research shows that 35% of mobile app traffic had at least one unauthorized seller somewhere in its chain as of Q1 2025. Pixalate is constantly evolving its technology based on changing trends in this space.
Pixalate emphasizes pre-bid filtering—how do you normalize publisher names across supply partners, and why is this critical for detecting fraud?
Pixalate’s pre-bid filtering successfully guards against known bad actors attacking fraud entry points, including high-risk mobile and CTV apps, device IDs, IPs, data centers, and more. A confused marketplace is one that is ripe for fraud. Pixalate has done extensive R&D on mapping publishers and sellers to address this issue. In our Media Ratings Terminal, for example, partners can surface insights such as authorized and unauthorized sellers, top resellers, and Bundle IDs mapped to a given app. Our platform sharpens fraud defense from all angles, from leveraging real-time pre-bid blocking to cleansing supply paths, mapping publisher identities, or identifying unauthorized sellers.
What are the key technical challenges in measuring and mitigating fraud as CTV grows compared to desktop or mobile?
Pixalate was early to CTV ad fraud protection, earning MRC accreditation for detecting and filtering Invalid Traffic (IVT) in 2018. Our longstanding commitment to rooting out ad fraud in CTV has helped Pixalate stay ahead of the unique technical challenges in the space. Numerous factors make CTV unique, but the extensive use of SSAI (Server-Side Ad Insertion) and the proliferation of Bundle IDs are worth highlighting. For example, our research found that only 51% of Bundle IDs across Roku device traffic used actual App Store IDs in Q1 2025, requiring the remaining traffic to be mapped. That’s a weak spot in the supply chain, and fraudsters are well aware of it.
As VP of Platform Growth, what key opportunities do you see for Pixalate in the next 3–5 years, beyond ad fraud—like privacy and compliance?
Data protection, privacy, and compliance are the elephant in the room. Pixalate has consistently monitored the evolving landscape of privacy laws and has conducted several research investigations to highlight existing and lingering compliance failures within the adtech industry. Pixalate recently published a list of nearly 15,000 mobile apps that were registered across Europe and offered programmatic advertising to European users but did not have a detectable privacy policy – a violation of several transparency-focused provisions under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), placing all connected ad partners at risk as well.
Pixalate is also committed to Children’s online privacy, which is quickly becoming a global priority. In Q1 2025, Pixalate identified 286 U.S.-registered apps in the Google Play and Apple App Stores that were likely child-directed and non-compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Of those, 72% were found to be sharing users’ location data with advertisers.
How do your past insights into industry trends help shape Pixalate’s platform strategy and growth?
The industry has changed in many ways since then, but a few things have remained the same: the need for timely data and insights to solve the latest challenges. That’s why Pixalate regularly produces research aimed at helping the industry at large—such as our list of nearly 15,000 likely non-compliant mobile apps under the GDPR—for free.
How can companies balance ad personalization with privacy, and how does Pixalate help build trust in digital advertising?
When viewed through the lens of data protection and privacy compliance, ad companies need to adopt a privacy-first model by implementing robust due diligence practices when selecting partners, both at the publisher and platform levels. Pixalate is committed to empowering ad tech businesses and aims to benchmark key trust and quality signals in digital advertising through our proprietary research and rankings, including the Seller Trust Index and Publisher Trust Index.
What’s your take on ad tech’s consolidation vs. fragmentation, and how does Pixalate stay strategically positioned for growth?
Pixalate’s platform is utilized by the full spectrum of the ad industry and those keeping it honest, from buyers to publishers to platforms and even analysts and legal authorities.
