If you believe a bad ad is being served through Sovrn Ad Exchange, Sovrn wants to hear about it. Sovrn conducts thorough scans of our bid responses to catch malicious activity, but bad actors constantly change their tactics, so something can occasionally slip through. The best way to report a bad ad is through Sovrn Support, and the more detail you can provide — ideally an ad trace or a HAR file — the faster Sovrn can investigate.
First, confirm the bad ad was served by Sovrn
Before reporting a bad ad, confirm that Sovrn Ad Exchange actually served it. The most reliable way to check is to look for Sovrn's impression pixel in the ad markup. A tag like this is present on any impression Sovrn served:
...lijit.com/<endpoint>/impression?...
where your endpoint is inserted in place of <endpoint>.
This step matters because the most common issue Sovrn Support sees is a bad ad being flagged as Sovrn's when Sovrn wasn't actually involved. A mention of lijit.com or sovrn.com alone is not enough — those domains can appear on impressions Sovrn did not serve. Confirm the full impression tag above is present before you report the ad.
How to report a bad ad to Sovrn Support
To report a bad ad on Sovrn Ad Exchange, submit the issue to Sovrn Support. Whenever possible, capture an ad trace — many publishers use tools like Confiant or Ad Lightning, which scan creatives on your site and capture the ad calls of bad ads. A HAR (HTTP Archive) file is also extremely helpful, as it gives Sovrn a full log of the page's HTTP transactions.
To capture a HAR file in Google Chrome:
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Open developer tools by pressing F12 or right-clicking the page and selecting Inspect.
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Go to the Network tab.
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Reload the page or reproduce the issue you're investigating.
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Right-click within the Network tab and select Save all as HAR with content.
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Share the downloaded HAR file with Sovrn Support.
What information to include when reporting a bad ad
When you report a bad ad on Sovrn Ad Exchange, the more detail you provide, the faster Sovrn can track down the source. Along with an ad trace or HAR file, the following details are especially useful:
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The CRID (creative ID) of the offending ad.
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The demand partner information, if a demand partner is tied to the request — for example, the partner ID, seat, or DSP ID.
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The adomain (advertiser domain) of the creative.
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The date, time, and time zone the ad was served.
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The location where the ad was served — the specific website, domain, property, or bundle.
Sending as much of this information as you can alongside your report lets Sovrn identify and block the offending creative quickly.
Questions? Concerns? Our team would be more than happy to help. Reach out to our Support Team here.