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Every day we learn something new from the world of artificial intelligence and neural network systems. Thanks to advances in machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics, AI is changing the IT landscape and bringing revolutionary changes to ecosystems in various fields.
And digital marketing will not be left out. AI and neural networks are already helping to generate texts, optimize advertising campaigns, create clickable headlines, suggest ideas - in general, do everything to increase the effectiveness of advertising.
However, it is not only advertisers and marketers who are taking advantage of these opportunities, but also fraudsters. They are improving bots, their tactics and tools to carry out more covert and powerful fraudulent attacks.
The rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning brings new challenges and opportunities, changing the landscape of ad fraud detection and prevention. So in this article, we’ll look at what AI can do, how fraudsters are using it, and how it can help advertisers.
Contents
1. AI Opportunities for Marketing and Advertising
1.1 Data Analysis
1.2. Chatbots and virtual assistants
1.3. Data Analysis and Big Data
2. AI in Ad Fraud
2.1. Google Performance Max (PMax) Problem
2.2. Fake sites and user-agent spoofing
2.3. Fake profiles and reviews
2.4. The Impact of AI on Ad Fraud
2.5. Growth of invalid traffic
3. How to prevent AI ad fraud
If you are just starting out in the digital marketing field and trying to keep up with the sharks of this field, remembering about artificial intelligence and its capabilities is a surefire way to stay up to date and lay a solid foundation for future success.
By collecting this data, marketers and advertisers can make more informed and accurate decisions, identify untapped opportunities, and create marketing strategies that meet any target demand.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities of automation with the help of artificial intelligence play a key role in the optimization of all business processes.
When it comes to personalization using AI, recent studies show that around 80% of shoppers are more likely to make an order if a company creates a highly personalized experience (from advertising to personalized discounts).
Artificial intelligence is the perfect tool for precise recommendations and increased effectiveness of personalized marketing. To do this, it allows you to study the behavior and preferences of each individual user or group.
This level of personalization increases customer engagement and subsequent conversion, which leads to increased revenue and sustainable company growth.
Unfortunately, the volume of such information is too complex and beyond the scope of human analysis. The solution? The emergence of artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze them.
Meet the dynamic duo: artificial intelligence and big data. AI thrives and evolves on this data, gaining a deeper understanding of user behavior. It analyzes their online activity and social interactions. However, the effectiveness of this technology depends on the quality of the data consumed.
For example, an AI-powered labor cost calculator can only accurately estimate the total cost of hiring (for hiring new staff from all over the world) if the data used to train the model is verified and accurate. That is, the GIGO principle (from the English garbage in, garbage out - what you put in is what you get out) works.
The involvement of artificial intelligence in big data analysis can automate almost 80% of physical work and a significant part of the processing and collection of information. This merger changes businesses and their strategies, which require accurate and high-quality information.
As artificial intelligence becomes more autonomous, more powerful, and more expansive and capable, our future depends on human approval. It is now necessary to prepare experts for the next wave of development of this technology.
When Google announced PMax, it seemed like the answer to every marketer’s dream: increased ad effectiveness, productivity, and ROI. However, since its launch, questions have arisen about its ability to comply with strict data privacy laws.
Violation of privacy and incorrect targeting
A recent data breach may have caused YouTube to unintentionally serve ads to children. Not only does it raise concerns about violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, or Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a 2000 U.S. privacy law), but it also has a ripple effect for advertisers looking to optimize their revenue.
Attackers exploit AI vulnerabilities
AI systems like PMax can be incredibly effective at managing and analyzing large amounts of data. The problem is that they have a hard time distinguishing between positive user interactions with a resource and malicious (fraudulent) actions taken by attackers.
The problem with PMax is that any user interaction is considered positive, and attackers exploit this algorithm. Fraudsters create false intent signals that trick systems into thinking that this is a signal from a user who has a genuine interest in interacting with the site.
To do this, fraudsters create armies of bots that flood systems with fake interactions with sites and apps. This causes the AI algorithm to evolve towards the source of invalid traffic, resulting in poorly optimized campaigns that mislead advertisers and drain advertising budgets, generating even more fake interactions.
And that’s not all. Fraudsters can use generative AI to create sites that closely mimic popular publishers, tricking marketers into thinking they’re advertising on reputable platforms.
To create an MFA (Made-For-Advertising) website, you don’t need a whole team of programmers: any user can create one with the help of artificial intelligence. The sites show positive visibility metrics in search, as well as safe indicators of advertising placement on this domain. This misleads marketers, because in fact the sites are of low quality and waste the budget.
Generative AI can also fake video ad views by creating fake user-agent strings to make them appear as if they were being viewed by users on real devices and browsers.
Fake profiles often go hand in hand with AI bots that can mimic human behavior, such as mouse movements and ad clicks, to make fraudulent activity appear more natural.
Along with fake profiles, AI can be used to generate large numbers of positive reviews of products or services to artificially boost a brand’s popularity and trust among loyal users. This type of activity can be seen regularly on online shopping sites, streaming platforms, and sites that cover financial issues. Such reviews are also reinforced by large numbers of likes generated by bots or clickbaits.
Ad fraud and its detection systems are a game of “cat and mouse”. Artificial intelligence helps attackers to more quickly detect potential loopholes and tactics for committing fraudulent actions, and also provides the ability to understand at what stage and under what conditions they were detected by the cyber defense system.
As advertising becomes more expensive and privacy concerns grow, fraudsters are motivated to explore new tactics using AI technology. Only time will tell how this will impact marketing and advertising campaigns.
Advertising budgets and spending are growing at an incredible rate, which attracts scammers looking for easy and big money. AI-based tools help them speed up the process of creating new attack methods and finding vulnerabilities in browsers and on various devices.
The confluence of artificial intelligence and ad fraud poses a threat to the entire digital marketing industry. Therefore, it is important to remain vigilant and try to use new technologies that will help to stay ahead of fraudsters and protect the interests of both advertisers and consumers.
With advanced analytical and behavioral modeling techniques used by cybersecurity systems, AI-powered fraudulent activity can be detected and stopped.
By implementing fraud and bot detection solutions, as well as data collection filters, you can effectively prevent fraud and ultimately maintain control over your advertising campaign.
And digital marketing will not be left out. AI and neural networks are already helping to generate texts, optimize advertising campaigns, create clickable headlines, suggest ideas - in general, do everything to increase the effectiveness of advertising.
However, it is not only advertisers and marketers who are taking advantage of these opportunities, but also fraudsters. They are improving bots, their tactics and tools to carry out more covert and powerful fraudulent attacks.
The rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning brings new challenges and opportunities, changing the landscape of ad fraud detection and prevention. So in this article, we’ll look at what AI can do, how fraudsters are using it, and how it can help advertisers.
Contents
1. AI Opportunities for Marketing and Advertising
1.1 Data Analysis
1.2. Chatbots and virtual assistants
1.3. Data Analysis and Big Data
2. AI in Ad Fraud
2.1. Google Performance Max (PMax) Problem
2.2. Fake sites and user-agent spoofing
2.3. Fake profiles and reviews
2.4. The Impact of AI on Ad Fraud
2.5. Growth of invalid traffic
3. How to prevent AI ad fraud
AI Opportunities for Marketing and Advertising
Artificial intelligence is a transformative force that can revolutionize marketing and business management. This cutting-edge technology offers tools and solutions that provide companies with valuable audience insights, streamline processes, and improve user experience.If you are just starting out in the digital marketing field and trying to keep up with the sharks of this field, remembering about artificial intelligence and its capabilities is a surefire way to stay up to date and lay a solid foundation for future success.
Data Analysis
One way AI helps marketers kick-start advertising and other marketing campaigns is through market research and data analysis. Algorithms powered by artificial intelligence can quickly collect and analyze vast amounts of data, providing valuable insights into:- competitors,
- preferences of potential clients,
- market trends, etc.
By collecting this data, marketers and advertisers can make more informed and accurate decisions, identify untapped opportunities, and create marketing strategies that meet any target demand.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities of automation with the help of artificial intelligence play a key role in the optimization of all business processes.
Chatbots and virtual assistants
AI-powered chatbots can handle customer queries and provide instant support 24/7. This increases sales and increases customer loyalty to the brand. It also takes some of the load off the support team.When it comes to personalization using AI, recent studies show that around 80% of shoppers are more likely to make an order if a company creates a highly personalized experience (from advertising to personalized discounts).
Artificial intelligence is the perfect tool for precise recommendations and increased effectiveness of personalized marketing. To do this, it allows you to study the behavior and preferences of each individual user or group.
This level of personalization increases customer engagement and subsequent conversion, which leads to increased revenue and sustainable company growth.
Data Analysis and Big Data
With the rise of computers, smartphones, and mobile data, as well as the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), we were faced with a huge amount of big data even before experts had a definition for the term.Unfortunately, the volume of such information is too complex and beyond the scope of human analysis. The solution? The emergence of artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze them.
Meet the dynamic duo: artificial intelligence and big data. AI thrives and evolves on this data, gaining a deeper understanding of user behavior. It analyzes their online activity and social interactions. However, the effectiveness of this technology depends on the quality of the data consumed.
For example, an AI-powered labor cost calculator can only accurately estimate the total cost of hiring (for hiring new staff from all over the world) if the data used to train the model is verified and accurate. That is, the GIGO principle (from the English garbage in, garbage out - what you put in is what you get out) works.
The involvement of artificial intelligence in big data analysis can automate almost 80% of physical work and a significant part of the processing and collection of information. This merger changes businesses and their strategies, which require accurate and high-quality information.
As artificial intelligence becomes more autonomous, more powerful, and more expansive and capable, our future depends on human approval. It is now necessary to prepare experts for the next wave of development of this technology.
AI in Ad Fraud
Google Performance Max (PMax) Problem
Artificial intelligence is transforming the marketing industry. While AI is helping to develop and optimize digital campaigns, recent revelations surrounding Google Performance Max (PMax) have sparked a flurry of concerns about data privacy and security.When Google announced PMax, it seemed like the answer to every marketer’s dream: increased ad effectiveness, productivity, and ROI. However, since its launch, questions have arisen about its ability to comply with strict data privacy laws.
Violation of privacy and incorrect targeting
A recent data breach may have caused YouTube to unintentionally serve ads to children. Not only does it raise concerns about violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, or Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a 2000 U.S. privacy law), but it also has a ripple effect for advertisers looking to optimize their revenue.
Attackers exploit AI vulnerabilities
AI systems like PMax can be incredibly effective at managing and analyzing large amounts of data. The problem is that they have a hard time distinguishing between positive user interactions with a resource and malicious (fraudulent) actions taken by attackers.
The problem with PMax is that any user interaction is considered positive, and attackers exploit this algorithm. Fraudsters create false intent signals that trick systems into thinking that this is a signal from a user who has a genuine interest in interacting with the site.
To do this, fraudsters create armies of bots that flood systems with fake interactions with sites and apps. This causes the AI algorithm to evolve towards the source of invalid traffic, resulting in poorly optimized campaigns that mislead advertisers and drain advertising budgets, generating even more fake interactions.
Fake Sites and User Agent Spoofing
Generative AI can create realistic-looking websites filled with fake content, including articles, reviews, product catalogs, and more. It is also possible to have AI ingest legitimate content from real websites and turn it into seemingly genuine articles and news. These sites are then used to host fraudulent ads and generate fake views.And that’s not all. Fraudsters can use generative AI to create sites that closely mimic popular publishers, tricking marketers into thinking they’re advertising on reputable platforms.
To create an MFA (Made-For-Advertising) website, you don’t need a whole team of programmers: any user can create one with the help of artificial intelligence. The sites show positive visibility metrics in search, as well as safe indicators of advertising placement on this domain. This misleads marketers, because in fact the sites are of low quality and waste the budget.
Generative AI can also fake video ad views by creating fake user-agent strings to make them appear as if they were being viewed by users on real devices and browsers.
Fake profiles and reviews
Artificial intelligence can create plausible user profiles. These can include demographic information, interests, and online behavior.Fake profiles often go hand in hand with AI bots that can mimic human behavior, such as mouse movements and ad clicks, to make fraudulent activity appear more natural.
Along with fake profiles, AI can be used to generate large numbers of positive reviews of products or services to artificially boost a brand’s popularity and trust among loyal users. This type of activity can be seen regularly on online shopping sites, streaming platforms, and sites that cover financial issues. Such reviews are also reinforced by large numbers of likes generated by bots or clickbaits.
The Impact of AI on Ad Fraud
As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to advance, cybercriminals will increasingly use these technologies to develop more sophisticated and stealthy fraud tactics. At the same time, these same technologies allow advertisers and marketers to quickly identify fraudsters and adapt to detection methods. This is an important step towards effective systems for blocking invalid traffic and combating fraud.Ad fraud and its detection systems are a game of “cat and mouse”. Artificial intelligence helps attackers to more quickly detect potential loopholes and tactics for committing fraudulent actions, and also provides the ability to understand at what stage and under what conditions they were detected by the cyber defense system.
Invalid traffic growth
This problem is not directly related to new technologies in general, and artificial intelligence in particular. However, in recent months, there has been an increase in invalid internet traffic. Attackers are using both traditional ad fraud methods and tactics based on new technologies. This, in turn, creates a complex and multifaceted threat.As advertising becomes more expensive and privacy concerns grow, fraudsters are motivated to explore new tactics using AI technology. Only time will tell how this will impact marketing and advertising campaigns.
Advertising budgets and spending are growing at an incredible rate, which attracts scammers looking for easy and big money. AI-based tools help them speed up the process of creating new attack methods and finding vulnerabilities in browsers and on various devices.
How to Prevent AI Ad Fraud
Despite these challenges, we remain committed to staying ahead and adapting strategies to effectively combat fraud as it continues to evolve. Through innovation and collaboration, we are confident in our ability to mitigate its impact and provide a safer, more transparent digital advertising environment.The confluence of artificial intelligence and ad fraud poses a threat to the entire digital marketing industry. Therefore, it is important to remain vigilant and try to use new technologies that will help to stay ahead of fraudsters and protect the interests of both advertisers and consumers.
With advanced analytical and behavioral modeling techniques used by cybersecurity systems, AI-powered fraudulent activity can be detected and stopped.
- Marketers and advertisers should check the authenticity of the content of the sites where they place ads. This can help identify potential fraud.
- Additionally, marketers should conduct thorough verification of publishers (if they are real) and regularly analyze their ad campaigns, landing pages, and websites to identify suspicious activity.
- Analyze and optimize traffic. Artificial intelligence can be used to combat invalid traffic. With effective analytics and reporting tools, patterns, anomalies, or irregularities in traffic statistics can be identified, allowing you to make more informed decisions on campaign optimization. As fraud tactics are constantly evolving, AI-powered solutions can be a lifesaver to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.
- Threats from online fraudsters can also be prevented with cybersecurity systems. This will allow companies to run advertising campaigns as efficiently as possible, side by side with training and customization of artificial intelligence to their needs. The right cybersecurity system allows companies to scan their advertising metrics in real time and detect fraudulent activities.
By implementing fraud and bot detection solutions, as well as data collection filters, you can effectively prevent fraud and ultimately maintain control over your advertising campaign.
