Thesis: fraud, analyst: culper-research, sector: tech.

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More ... latest change: 2026-02-28

Zeta Global Holdings Corp (ZETA): Shams, Scams, and Spam #

We are short Zeta Global Holdings Corp (“ZETA”, “the Company”) for two distinct, but related reasons, each of which we believe undermine the integrity of the Company’s data collection and reported financials. First, we believe Zeta has formed “two-way” contracts with third party consent farms wherein the Company simultaneously acts as both a supplier and a buyer of consumer data, not only allowing the Company to flatter reported revenue growth, but raising round tripping concerns. Second, we believe that Zeta has quietly spun up its own network of consent farms i.e., sham websites that hoodwink millions of consumers each month into handing their data over to Zeta under false pretenses, baited by job applications, stimulus money, or other rewards that simply do not exist. We believe that these consent farms have driven almost the entirety of Zeta’s growth over the past 2+ years and now represent 56% of reported Adj. EBITDA. We think the Company faces potentially devastating regulatory action, as these practices look to us nearly identical to the ones that landed both Fluent (FLNT) and MediaAlpha (MAX) in the FTC’s crosshairs.

Last updated: 2026-03-07 by automated standardization process