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Smarkets raises Series B funding round to supercharge international and domestic growth
Smarkets, one of the world’s largest betting exchange and prediction market platforms, has announced the closing of a significant minority investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE).
Having raised just £3.8m ($5.4m) since its inception in 2008, with its Series A round coming back in 2013, Smarkets has built a leading exchange platform that processes billions of pounds in traded volume each year. The company has offices in London, Los Angeles, and Malta, licensed customer-focused operations in five countries, and in 2019 released innovative sportsbook app SBK.
Smarkets is delighted to welcome SGE, which joins existing investors Passion Capital and Deutsche Telekom in supporting the company’s mission to fix betting with the fairest odds in the industry.
This new investment will allow Smarkets to accelerate its rollout in the US, where it is already live in Colorado with sportsbook app SBK and set to go live in Indiana soon. The funding will also bolster SBK’s position in the UK mainstream betting market after its successful launch in August 2019.
The new investment will contribute to:
Furthering the company’s US presence, including market-access deals in new, regulated states
Capturing an even greater share of the UK betting exchange market and accelerating SBK’s growth in the UK’s mainstream sportsbook market
Expanding Smarkets’ development of new products for customers and focus on industry-leading prices on sports, politics, and current affairs
Continuing to capture the best and brightest worldwide engineering talent with a view to doubling headcount by the end of 2022
Further expansion into new and recently entered markets such as Denmark and Sweden
Jason Trost, founder and CEO of Smarkets, said:
“This is an incredibly exciting day. I’ve always been amazed what the passion and energy of a comparatively small group of committed people can accomplish against much bigger rivals; Smarkets and SBK are the product of exactly that. At Smarkets we have always been guided by our vision of fixing betting with the best prices and products, and SGE is just as excited as us to challenge the status quo. This is a huge endorsement of our technology and will allow us to further upend the industry by offering bets as close to fair value as possible.
“We are super proud of what we have achieved so far in the UK betting space, and this new investment will help take us to the next level and beyond in the UK, US, and other international markets. I’d like to thank the women and men that work and have worked at Smarkets for getting us to where we are.
“I truly believe the best is yet to come. This investment will allow us to fight with greater resources, move faster, and be bolder in our mission. We’re so excited about the opportunities this investment unlocks.”
Scott Feldman, Managing Director with Susquehanna Growth Equity, said:
“We are delighted to be able to join Smarkets on their upward journey. We immediately identified with their vision of using technology to take on the betting industry’s big operators by providing the fairest odds in the world and maintaining a clear focus on product excellence.
“Smarkets have achieved a huge amount with little investment to date and we can’t wait to see them go from strength to strength as they expand further into both the US and UK mainstream market.”
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- Featuring a 5×3 layout, the game presents a highest win potential of 12,500x
- Players can gather red, green, and blue diamonds to activate three bonus features.
Booming Games, a top supplier of high-quality gaming content, has officially released Diamond Hits Trio: Instastrike. The game features a 5×3 layout, incorporating cutting-edge elements and stunning diamond graphics that deliver a high-end experience for players.
The game presents a strong new Instastrike function, delivering immediate rewards of up to 1,200x. Instastrike symbols can emerge unexpectedly, creating a feeling of thrill. Additionally, players who gather red, green, or blue Diamonds will activate one of three new bonus features aimed at further improving the gameplay experience.
The three bonus elements, each aimed at maintaining the excitement, include enlarged reels, enhanced Instastrike payouts, and extra free spins. Participants have the ability to activate each of these bonuses separately or merge them for an enormous winning potential of up to 12,500x. Featuring various instant payout levels, the game is anticipated to attract a broad audience of players.
Craig Asling, Director of Games at Booming Games, said: “Diamond Hits Trio: Instastrike is the latest example of Booming Games’ commitment to delivering high-quality, innovative games that provide an ultimate experience for players. Fast-paced gameplay and massive win potential is the perfect combination for anyone seeking high-stakes thrills. Power up and strike it rich with Diamond Hits Trio: InstaStrike!”
The post Booming Games Introduces Instastrike, the Latest Diamond Hits Trio appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Mobile ad fraud is a hidden drain on your app marketing spend. Traffy, a performance marketing agency specializing in mobile anti-fraud, shares strategies to safeguard your ad budget and maximize ROI.
Most advertisers don’t lose money because of weak creatives or poor funnels — they lose it because a significant portion of their in-app traffic is invalid from the very start.
The Scale of the Problem
In Q3 2025, mobile apps experienced approximately 33% IVT (Invalid Traffic), meaning roughly one-third of traffic was fraudulent or invalid. (Source: Pixalate — Q3 2025 Global Ad Fraud Benchmark Report).
These numbers aren’t just statistics — they reveal that a huge portion of advertising budgets is being spent not on real users, but on fake traffic, fabricated clicks, and bot-generated installs.
Depending on traffic sources and buying models, particularly in programmatic (DSP) environments, fraud levels can vary dramatically. In some cases, IVT may be as low as 5%, while in others it can exceed 50% where controls are weak. This means many advertisers are making campaign decisions based on data that was never real to begin with.
What IVT Really Means — And Why It’s Critical
IVT isn’t just “low-quality traffic.” It is traffic that can never convert into a real user or paying customer.
It includes:
- Bots and automated scripts
- Click farms and device emulators
- Hidden impressions and background clicks
- Fabricated installs and in-app events
When 33% of traffic is IVT, every third dollar spent is paying for actions that will never generate revenue. Multiple studies show IVT in mobile advertising frequently exceeds 20–30%, and can be even higher for certain platforms, GEOs, or traffic types. Fraud is not an edge case — it is a structural risk in in-app advertising.
Why Mobile Ad Fraud Is Getting Smarter
Despite widespread adoption of anti-fraud systems, techniques continue to evolve. Basic bot filtering is no longer enough. Common schemes include:
- Bot Installs & Bot Activity: Automated installs and simulated engagement mimicking real users.
- Click Injection / Click Hijacking: Apps intercept last clicks before installation and claim attribution.
- Click Spamming / Click Flooding: Mass fake clicks inflate activity signals and steal organic installs.
- Device Farms & Real Device Spoofing: Hundreds of devices generate fake installs and events, rotating identifiers.
- SDK Spoofing & Postback Fraud: Fake install or in-app event data sent directly to attribution systems.
- In-App Event Spoofing: Fabricated postbacks make reports appear normal, but no real users exist behind them.
How to Avoid Wasting Your In-App Budget
Fraud prevention is systematic verification and disciplined traffic management, not paranoia.
- Use an MMP With Advanced Anti-Fraud Protection
- Rely on trusted mobile measurement partners (Adjust, AppsFlyer).
- Enable built-in fraud detection — attribution without fraud protection is incomplete.
- Analyze CTIT (Click-to-Install Time)
- Extremely short CTIT → potential click injection
- Extremely long/uniform CTIT → potential click flooding
- Unnaturally consistent timing → possible automation
- Monitor CTCT (Click-to-Click Time)
- Short CTCT (<100 ms) detects script bots and click farms
- Check New Device Rate
- If 90%+ of devices are “new,” this indicates device farms resetting IDFA/GAID
- Track Assisted Installs
- High percentage of assists → organic hijacking (Click Flooding)
- Monitor Behavioral Anomalies
- Retention curves: bots may fabricate “perfect” retention
- Payments and cards: bots use virtual cards or $0 balances to bypass checks
- Key metrics: rebill rate, actual payment success
- Additional metrics: event depth, session duration, purchase timing, LTV distribution
- Work With Blacklists and Whitelists
- Build placement-level blacklists
- Identify reliable publishers via whitelists
- Audit sub-publishers continuously
- Remove suspicious sources early
- Check Infrastructure Signals
- Datacenter IPs (AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner) → block 100%
- Geo mismatch (click from India, install from US) → fraud
How to Win Against Fraud
With up to 33% of in-app traffic being invalid, advertisers aren’t just underperforming — they’re paying for illusions. Fraud can masquerade as growth, but the real advantage comes from knowing which traffic is real.
At Traffy, we specialize in mobile anti-fraud and help advertisers ensure every dollar reaches real users. A comprehensive fraud audit or traffic safeguard can protect ROI, reduce wasted spend, and provide predictable, scalable growth.
The post How Mobile Ad Fraud Drains In-App Budgets — and How to Avoid It appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Mobile ad fraud is a hidden drain on your app marketing budget. Traffy, a performance marketing agency specializing in mobile anti-fraud, shares strategies to protect your ad spend and maximize ROI.
Most advertisers don’t lose money due to weak creatives or funnels — they lose it because a significant portion of their in-app traffic is invalid from the very start.
The Scale of the Problem
In Q3 2025, mobile apps experienced approximately 33% IVT (Invalid Traffic), meaning roughly one-third of traffic was fraudulent or invalid. Source: Pixalate — Q3 2025 Global Ad Fraud Benchmark Report.
These numbers aren’t just statistics — they reveal that a huge portion of advertising budgets is being spent not on real users, but on fake traffic, fabricated clicks, and bot-generated installs. And 33% is only an average.
Depending on the traffic source and buying model — particularly in programmatic (DSP) environments — fraud levels can vary dramatically. In some cases, IVT may be as low as 5%, while in others it can reach 50% or more where controls are weak. This means many advertisers are making campaign decisions based on data that was never real to begin with.
What IVT Really Means — And Why It’s Critical
IVT (Invalid Traffic) isn’t just “low-quality traffic.” It is traffic that can never convert into a real user or paying customer.
It includes:
- Bots and automated scripts.
- Click farms and device emulators.
- Hidden impressions and background clicks.
- Fabricated installs and in-app events.
When 33% of traffic is IVT, it means every third dollar you spend is paying for actions that will never generate revenue. Multiple industry studies show that IVT in mobile advertising frequently exceeds 20–30%, and can be significantly higher for certain platforms, GEOs, or traffic types. Fraud is not an edge case. It is a structural risk in in-app advertising.
Why Mobile Ad Fraud Is Getting Smarter
Despite widespread adoption of anti-fraud systems, fraud techniques continue to evolve. Basic bot filtering is no longer enough.
Here are the most common schemes:
- Bot Installs & Bot Activity: automated installs and simulated engagement that mimic user behavior — without real intent or retention.
- Click Injection / Click Hijacking: a fraudulent app intercepts the last click before installation and claims attribution for installs it did not generate.
- Click Spamming / Click Flooding: mass volumes of fake clicks create artificially high activity signals, increasing the probability of stealing organic installs.
- Device Farms & Real Device Spoofing: hundreds or thousands of real devices systematically generate fake installs and events, often rotating identifiers to avoid detection.
- SDK Spoofing & Postback Fraud: fraudsters simulate SDK signals and send fake install or in-app event data directly to attribution systems, making everything appear legitimate.
- In-App Event Spoofing: fabricated postbacks and engagement events appear in reports — but no real user exists behind them.
How to Avoid Wasting Your In-App Budget
Fraud prevention isn’t about paranoia. It’s about systematic verification and disciplined traffic management.
1. Use an MMP With Advanced Anti-Fraud Protection
Rely on trusted mobile measurement partners such as Adjust and AppsFlyer. Enable their built-in fraud detection tools — not just attribution tracking. Attribution without fraud protection is incomplete.
2. Analyze CTIT (Click-to-Install Time): one of the strongest fraud indicators.
- Extremely short CTIT spikes → potential click injection.
- Extremely long and uniform CTIT distributions → potential click flooding.
- Unnaturally consistent timing → possible automation.
3. CTCT (Click to Click Time): a short CTCT (<100 ms) detects script bots and click farms.
4. New Device Rate: if 90%+ of devices are ‘new’ (without history), this indicates farms that are resetting IDFA/GAID.
5. Assisted Installs: a high percentage of assists indicates organic hijacking (Click Flooding).
6. Monitor Behavioral Anomalies:
-
Retention curves: fraudsters have learned to fabricate “perfect” retention. Don’t just compare to organic — check retention alongside ROAS or purchases. Retention without revenue usually means bots.
-
Payments and Cards: bots can link payment cards and often use large volumes of virtual cards with a $0 balance to pass free trials or card verification checks. Because of this, KPIs such as “card attachment” or even “trial start” become unreliable and can create a false sense of performance. The only truly meaningful indicators in this case are the rebill rate (subscription renewal rate) and the actual payment success rate. If you see 1,000 trials but zero successful charges, that is a clear sign of fraud. If users install the app but never behave like real users at the revenue level, something is clearly wrong.
-
Event depth.
-
Session duration.
-
Purchase timing.
-
LTV distribution.
- Work Systematically With Blacklists and Whitelists
Fraud control is not just about blocking traffic. It’s about controlled scaling.
- Build placement-level blacklists.
- Identify reliable publishers and scale via whitelists.
- Continuously audit sub-publishers.
- Remove suspicious sources early.
- Infrastructure
- Datacenter IP: Installs coming from hosting provider ranges (AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner) = 100% block.
- Geo Mismatch: Click from India, install from the US = fraud.
How to Win Against Fraud
With up to 33% of in-app traffic being invalid, many advertisers aren’t just underperforming — they’re paying for illusions. Fraud can masquerade as growth, but the real advantage comes from knowing which traffic is real. At Traffy, we specialize in mobile anti-fraud and help advertisers ensure every dollar reaches real users. If you want a comprehensive fraud audit or guidance on safeguarding your campaigns, our team is ready to help.
The post How Mobile Ad Fraud Drains In-App Budgets — and How to Avoid It appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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