While there is continued momentum behind programmatic ad buying on connected TV, invalid traffic is actually breaking a trend from the last few years, according to the latest look at the segment by Pixalate.

Pixalate compiled its report by analyzing data from over 300 million connected TV devices and 70,000 programmatic-supported apps globally.

Connected TV ad sales in open programmatic markets grew by 41% year-over-year globally in the second half of 2022, more than triple from the same time period in 2019. The North American market has largely followed the global trend, with a 40% year-over-year increase.

Of the traffic measured on connected TV devices in the second half of the year, 18% came from invalid sources, an indicator of ad fraud. This is lower than the 19% rate measure in the first half of the year, and the 26% rate in the same period in 2021. Pixalate also points out that this is also reversing a trend it has seen in recent years, as there has been a spike in ad fraud in the second half of the year, though did not say whether this indicated ad fraud was more under control on connected TV than it had been in the past.

Roku continues to command the most programmatic spending in connected TV, growing by 7% in the second half of 2022 to reach 50% market share. Samsung had the second-highest share at 18%, followed by Amazon and Apple tied at 7%.

Despite LG having only 5% market share of programmatic spending and Microsoft 2%, Pixalate found spending on their platforms to be growing the fastest, with LG up 181% year-over-year and Microsoft up 213%. On the flip side, spending on Samsung and Amazon dipped by 2% and 15%, respectively. Also, Sony’s spending dipped by 44% and Google’s by 54%, which Pixalate attributed to losing share to China’s XMQ and Xiaomi.

Looking at the market leader, there were nearly 34,000 apps available in the Roku app store at the end of 2022, a 23% year-over-year increase and 70% growth since 2020. The number of those apps accessible through programmatic advertising grew by 16% year-over-year.

In terms of spending, there has been 137% year-over-year growth in spending on ads on food and home-centric apps on Roku, with 107% growth on news content and 55% growth on sports. Meanwhile, spending on more general movie and TV apps has dipped by 8% year-over-year, with a 26% drop in spending on kids and family content.