Pixalate Releases Q3 2026 Mobile Seller Trust Index 2.0: 16.4% of Global Authorized Mobile App Inventory Is Resold Through Arbitrage, Up From 15.2% in Q2; Google AdExchange Top-Ranked 'Direct' Seller in the US, Canada, Singapore; Mintegral No. 1 in…

Pixalate’s Mobile STI 2.0 rates sellers by arbitrage risk and invalid traffic (ad fraud) risk across 130+ markets, including USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Singapore, China, and Brazil; Google AdExchange, AppLovin, Liftoff, Mintegral among leaders

LONDON, Oct. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, an ad fraud and privacy compliance platform, today released the Q3 2026 Mobile Seller Trust Index (STI) 2.0 rankings. Mobile STI 2.0 ranks 275+ open programmatic mobile app sellers across 130+ markets and fully differentiates between arbitraged vs. authorized publisher-direct inventory. The index is free, public, and updated quarterly.

For each seller in each country, the model measures:

• What Sellers Claim: How many publishers selling ads list the seller as DIRECT in their app-ads.txt file, as detected by Pixalate
• Verification of Seller Claims: The scale and ratio of a seller’s impressions that actually flowed through an authorized-direct path, per Pixalate’s SupplyChain Object (SCO) analysis
• Seller Arbitrage Risk: Independent Pixalate risk rating for selling >50% of inventory as a reseller, according to Pixalate’s SCO analysis
  
  

Arbitrage Trends in Mobile App (Q3 2026)

In global mobile app traffic, 16.4% of authorized inventory was resold rather than sold publisher-direct in Q3 2026, up from 15.2% in Q2 and roughly level with the 16.2% recorded in Q1. Mobile now sits below web (21.4%) and well above CTV (0.8%).

The share of ranked mobile sellers that are primarily arbitrageurs — reselling more than half of their measured inventory — rose from 29.5% to 34.2% globally, the highest level since the start of 2026 (Q1: 31.7%). In the United States, the share rose from 16% to 24% (Q1: 22%).

At the country level, the share of ranked SSPs that are primarily arbitrageurs rose in the United States (+8 pp), Spain (+7 pp), Brazil (+5 pp) and Germany (+4 pp), and fell in Singapore (−8 pp), Japan (−6 pp), France (−5 pp) and India (−5 pp).

Q3 2026 Mobile Seller Trust Index 2.0: Top Sellers in Select Countries

The following tables show the top-ranked sellers in select countries based on Mobile Seller Trust Index scores for Q3 2026. Full rankings for 130+ countries are available at pixalate.com.

United States

Rank	Seller	Risks	Arbitraged Inventory Ratio		‘DIRECT’ Publisher Penetration	SIVT Ratio	GIVT Ratio	Delisted App Traffic Ratio	MFA App Traffic Ratio
1	Google AdExchange	High SIVT/GIVT	< 1%		34,192	25%	6%	6%	< 1%
2	AppLovin	High SIVT	0%		28,302	19%	1%	14%	1%
3	Liftoff	High SIVT	0%		27,699	25%	5%	3%	< 1%
4	Mintegral		< 1%		26,260	16%	2%	12%	< 1%
5	Unity Technologies		0%		25,929	15%	4%	1%9	< 1%

Canada

Rank	Seller	Risks	Arbitraged Inventory Ratio	'DIRECT' Publisher Penetration	SIVT Ratio	GIVT Ratio	Delisted App Traffic Ratio	MFA App Traffic Ratio
1	Google AdExchange	High SIVT	< 1%	13,687	28%	1%	1%	< 1%
2	Liftoff	High SIVT	< 1%	11,725	17%	1%	21%	< 1%
3	InMobi		< 1%	11,646	14%	1%	1%	< 1%

Germany

Rank	Seller	Risks	Arbitraged Inventory Ratio	'DIRECT' Publisher Penetration	SIVT Ratio	GIVT Ratio	Delisted App Traffic Ratio	MFA App Traffic Ratio
1	Mintegral	High GIVT	< 1%	11,453	14%	6%	7%	< 1%
2	Liftoff	High SIVT/GIVT	< 1%	11,655	27%	16%	5%	< 1%
3	AppLovin	High GIVT	< 1%	11,863	15%	9%	3%	< 1%

Singapore

Rank	Seller	Risks	Arbitraged Inventory Ratio	'DIRECT' Publisher Penetration	SIVT Ratio	GIVT Ratio	Delisted App Traffic Ratio	MFA App Traffic Ratio
1	Google AdExchange	High SIVT/GIVT	1%	6,218	20%	12%	1%	< 1%
2	InMobi	High SIVT/GIVT	< 1%	5,087	25%	9%	1%	< 1%
3	Liftoff	High SIVT/GIVT	0%	5,203	45%	19%	2%	< 1%

Mobile Seller Trust Index 2.0 Metrics

The following metrics are disclosed for each seller in each country:

Metric	Description
Arbitraged Inventory Ratio	The percentage of a seller’s measured impressions that did not flow through an authorized-direct path — i.e., the share sold as a reseller or arbitrage intermediary, per Pixalate’s SCO analysis.
'DIRECT' Publisher Penetration	The number of apps with open programmatic ad activity, as measured by Pixalate, in a country that lists the seller as a DIRECT partner in their app-ads.txt file — a measure of potential direct access in a given market.
SIVT Ratio	Sophisticated Invalid Traffic as a percentage of total impressions, per Pixalate’s MRC-accredited detection.
GIVT Ratio	General Invalid Traffic as a percentage of total impressions. Includes known bots, spiders, and other non-human traffic identified through industry-standard filtration lists.
Delisted App Traffic Ratio	The percentage of a seller’s ads sold on apps that have been removed from the official Google Play Store and/or Apple App Store.
MFA App Traffic Ratio	The percentage of a seller’s ads sold on apps that are flagged as likely Made-For-Advertising (MFA), according to Pixalate.

Seller overall rankings are a composite score based on Arbitraged Inventory Ratio, DIRECT Publisher Penetration, and Authorized-Direct Volume.

Mobile App Arbitrage by Country: Percentage of SSPs That Are Primarily Resellers

The following table shows the share of mobile app SSPs operating in each country that are primarily resellers — meaning over half of their measured impressions were not delivered through an authorized-direct path, as assessed by Pixalate.

Country	# of SSPs Ranked	# of SSPs Ranked With >50% Arbitraged Inventory Ratio	% of SSPs Ranked With >50% Arbitraged Inventory Ratio
Mexico	101	49	49%
Brazil	101	43	43%
Spain	81	31	38%
Australia	71	27	38%
Japan	87	31	36%
Turkey	81	28	35%
Germany	117	40	34%
Canada	115	39	34%
United Kingdom	104	35	34%
Italy	92	30	33%
France	89	29	33%
India	71	23	32%
Singapore	50	14	28%
South Korea	107	29	27%
United States	259	62	24%
Netherlands	50	11	22%

How to Access the Mobile Seller Trust Index

The Pixalate Seller Trust Index ratings are free and open to the public. See the full Q3 2026 Mobile Seller Trust Index ratings at pixalate.com.

Pixalate also publishes the Web Seller Trust Index and CTV Seller Trust Index.

About Pixalate

Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012 and recognized by UNICEF as a “key innovator” for children’s online privacy, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Seller Trust Indexes (collectively, the “Indexes”), reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. As cited in the Indexes, the ratings and rankings in the Indexes are based on a number of metrics and Pixalate’s opinions regarding the relative performance of each seller with respect to the metrics. The data is derived from buy-side, predominantly open auction, programmatic advertising transactions, as measured by Pixalate. Any references to outside sources in the Indexes and herein should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and neither this press release nor the Indexes are intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any person, entity or app.

IVT rates and scores derived from each vendor’s own proprietary methods and independent analysis may depict differing results and opinions across measurement providers. Any party’s reliance on Pixalate’s Indexes, rankings, IVT opinions, or related data is entirely at that party’s own risk. Pixalate makes no guarantees, representations, or warranties — express or implied — regarding the accuracy, completeness, or applicability of its opinions or data to any particular purpose or circumstance.

Per the MRC, “‘Fraud’”is not intended to represent fraud as defined in various laws, statutes and ordinances or as conventionally used in U.S. Court or other legal proceedings, but rather a custom definition strictly for advertising measurement purposes. Also per the MRC, “‘Invalid Traffic’ is defined generally as traffic that does not meet certain ad serving quality or completeness criteria, or otherwise does not represent legitimate ad traffic that should be included in measurement counts. Among the reasons why ad traffic may be deemed invalid is it is a result of non-human traffic (spiders, bots, etc.), or activity designed to produce fraudulent traffic.”

All company, product, and service names referenced herein, including but not limited to Google AdExchange, AppLovin, Liftoff, InMobi, Mintegral, Unity Technologies, are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Use of these names does not imply any affiliation with, sponsorship by, or endorsement from the trademark holders. References to these companies are for identification purposes only, in connection with Pixalate's independent analysis of publicly observable programmatic advertising data.

press@pixalate.com