Trade Law Daily is a Warren News publication.

Online Piracy Rakes in $1.34B a Year From Advertisers: Study

Propping up the online pirating of TV shows, movies, games and live events is an estimated $1.34 billion in annual revenue from ads on websites and illicit streaming apps, said a report Thursday by Digital Citizens Alliance and White Bullet.…

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.

It said website advertising dominates, getting about $1.1 billion of that, though apps appear to be more profitable and are growing rapidly. When combined with subscription revenue, piracy platform operators generate an estimated $2.34 billion revenue annually, it said. The study said major Fortune 500 brands paid pirate operators an estimated $100 million last year, and 25% of ads on piracy apps are from well-known companies. It said big brands have made a concerted effort in the past eight years to stop their ads from showing up on illicit websites.