The DV Fraud Lab has uncovered numerous examples of low-quality AI-generated music and entertainment content. Visitors who click on links associated with this content are served poorly written or scraped editorial with intrusive ads. Many of these sites feature fake downloads, fraudulent sign-up forms and counterfeit ticket pages meant to harvest personal data or, in some cases, distribute malware.
One ongoing scam circulating on social media promotes a “One Last Ride Tour 2026,” supposedly featuring rock and country royalty in the ultimate concert event.
Elsewhere online, fabricated content abounds. One website features a story that falsely claims Elvis Presley had a secret son. The story includes fake reaction commentary attributed to Presley's family members.
If a once-in-a-lifetime show uniting Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Dolly Parton sounds too good to be true, it is. DV’s proprietary GenAI detection models and analysis indicate that the content in the above social post from the United Kingdom, and many others like it, is AI-generated.
As for the phony Elvis story, it appears on a UK site that has fingerprints identical to a domain DV previously flagged for publishing AI-generated slop content about sports. The quick pivot from sports to music proves that scammers are constantly exploiting new genres. And because AI slop often goes hand-in-hand with other schemes, the site also demonstrates many patterns typical of media arbitrage or made for advertising (MFA).
The exploitation of fans goes beyond AI slop. Fans in the UK lost £1.6 million to fake-ticket scams in 2024 - more than double the amount lost in 2023 - according to a UK Home Office report. About half of the reports originated from social media.
For brands, the harm is both financial and reputational. Brands risk wasting spend and garnering unfavourable consumer sentiment if they unknowingly advertise on AI slop sites that make false claims to generate traffic. In fact, DV research shows that in the EMEA region, 45% of consumers said they would stop using a brand or product after seeing an ad next to objectionable content.
Many advertisers try to fight back with exclusion lists that block known low-quality sites. But generative AI is helping fraudsters generate new sites faster and more easily. Because the threat is continuously evolving, static exclusion lists are no longer enough.
The first line of defense is a transparent conversation. DV encourages advertisers to talk with their SSP and DSP partners to ensure their ads serve on sites aligned with brand and performance goals.
In addition, brands can deploy DV’s GenAI avoidance and detection offering to navigate the risks posed by low-quality AI slop content and to protect their brand reputation on the open web. DV uses a nuanced approach to classify websites within its GenAI Websites category. The company evaluates sites and subdomains that predominantly exhibit AI-generated low-quality content with minimal human oversight. Poor-quality signals include repetitive cookie-cutter formats, chatbot-generated text within articles, placeholder content, and other markers that may concern advertisers.
DV’s category-based implementation streamlines activation and ensures dynamic updates, eliminating the manual effort of maintaining inclusion and exclusion lists. This approach helps advertisers stay ahead of the ever-growing problem of low-quality, AI-generated content.
Contact us to find out how DV’s GenAI offering can help protect your ad spend, uphold your brand reputation and boost campaign performance.
Learn how fraudsters are cooking up AI slop recipe sites, and view questions to discuss with DSP and SSP providers.
Disclaimer
The findings in this report are based on DoubleVerify’s independent analysis using proprietary and third-party tools to assess content characteristics, website functionality, and ad placements. This research is intended to provide insights into broader industry trends related to AI-generated content in the digital advertising ecosystem.
DoubleVerify does not claim to determine intent, assign blame, or make legal assertions regarding any specific website or publisher mentioned. The inclusion of any site in this analysis is not an allegation of misconduct but rather an illustration of emerging trends that advertisers should be aware of when making media investment decisions.
As the digital landscape evolves, we encourage open discussions between advertisers, publishers, and technology partners to ensure transparency, maintain content quality, and uphold industry best practices.