Measurement
GIVT and SIVT
Also known as: General and sophisticated invalid traffic
GIVT is general invalid traffic identifiable through routine filtration such as known bot lists; SIVT is sophisticated invalid traffic that requires behavioural analytics to detect because it is engineered to imitate human activity.
Last reviewed
In detail
The distinction determines what a verification claim is actually worth. GIVT filtration matches traffic against known bot signatures, data-centre IP ranges and declared crawlers. It is necessary, cheap and trivially evaded by anyone deliberately committing fraud.
SIVT detection identifies traffic designed to appear human — hijacked devices, falsified location signals, incentivised or automated behaviour that mimics genuine engagement. It requires behavioural analysis rather than list matching, and it is where deliberate fraud is found.
A verification report addressing only GIVT is close to silent on the risk that matters. This is worth checking specifically, because both categories are commonly reported under the single heading of invalid traffic.
Related terms
- Third-party ad server
- A third-party ad server is an independent platform that delivers and measures advertising separately from both the advertiser and the media owner, producing a delivery record neither transacting party controls.
- Viewability
- Viewability measures whether a served advertisement had the opportunity to be seen by a human, based on how much of the creative was rendered in the visible area of a screen and for how long.
- Brand safety
- Brand safety is the practice of ensuring advertising does not appear adjacent to content that would damage the advertiser's reputation, and that a media owner's inventory does not carry advertising that breaches its own standards.