Man
Professional
- Messages
- 3,038
- Reaction score
- 561
- Points
- 113
Fraudsters are smart: they are always looking for new technologies and tactics to improve and scale their malicious attacks. They make money from ad fraud, phishing, DDoS, data theft, device hijacking, which brings them millions of dollars. Because of this, not only advertisers suffer, but all representatives of the digital ecosystem, including ordinary users.
To ensure data integrity and the safety of advertising budgets, it is not so easy to solve this problem on your own. It requires effort, time and knowledge. Therefore, it is important to use complex measures to automate this process and successfully combat fraud.
The more you know about ad fraud and how to protect yourself, the better. Marketers are partly familiar with this concept, but fighting it is not their specialty (and it shouldn’t be). That’s why effective comprehensive data protection solutions and successful partnership collaborations are needed to strengthen cybersecurity measures.
Contents
1. Fraud in 2024
2. How to increase your chances of reducing the risk of fraud
3. A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution
4. Comprehensive advertising security: how else can you help yourself
Experts point out that despite all the measures taken over the years, including promising technologies and improved traffic verification procedures, the industry is still unable to completely eliminate fraudulent clicks, bids, views, and other false interactions.
But there is also good news: thanks to the joint work of advertisers, advertising platforms, the implementation of special services for traffic analysis and tools for blocking invalid interactions with sites and advertisements, the joint fight against fraud yields positive results and helps to save the advertising budget.
New anti-fraud solutions include tracking invalid clicks, blacklisting potentially fraudulent devices and sites, geolocation monitoring, user behavior and device technical parameters analysis, etc. Machine learning, Big Data, and artificial intelligence are used for this.
For example, the domestic service Botfaqtor has been protecting clients' advertising campaigns since 2017. Here are our cases where we tell how we helped companies "cut" bot traffic, reduce illegal budget expenditure and increase the percentage of goal achievement. We use smart algorithms to analyze traffic.
It is important to use common sense when spending your advertising budget. Just as marketers evaluate campaign results, they also need to consider the overall losses that can increase due to the lack of an ad fraud protection system.
Built-in filters of advertising platforms work, but they are not able to fully protect against click fraud. This is evident both in the example of our clients (link above), and in the context of the cyber protection market and traffic verification in general. That is why it is recommended to use additional services to block invalid clicks and visits.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what experts say about the estimated costs of ad fraud. What matters is the scale of invalid traffic advertisers face on a daily basis, how to prevent it in the future, and how much better results can be achieved by using different tools.
These are problems that can be solved with a comprehensive approach. Cybersecurity services use advanced analysis algorithms, machine learning, and human expertise to detect and stop fraudulent activity in real time on any traffic channel.
Dedicated fraud detection systems prevent fake leads, improve campaign efficiency, and protect brands. Moreover, by checking each visitor for 100+ technical and behavioral parameters, the algorithm detects fraud with 99% accuracy, meaning virtually no false positives.
— Collaborate with verified traffic sources
Partner with reputable ad networks and webmasters/publishers that maintain traffic transparency and have strict verification processes in place to minimize the risk of fraudulent campaigns.
— Use tools to block invalid traffic
Use advanced fraud detection technologies and algorithms that automatically track ad traffic in real time. These tools help identify suspicious patterns that indicate invalid clicks and other ad fraud. This way, you can quickly stop ads from being served to bots, clickbaits, and other non-target users.
— Define KPIs
Set clear key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitor them for abnormal metrics and signals that may indicate fraud. Use platforms to analyze advertising traffic and accurately track metrics. This will allow you to optimize advertising campaigns in a timely manner and prevent fraudulent activities.
— Invest in advertising traffic verification services
Use ad verification services that offer comprehensive monitoring and analysis of ad placements to verify the legality and quality of impressions. Place ads in places that are safe for the company with a genuine audience to avoid wasting budget on fake views and clicks.
— Use a collaborative approach
Strengthen collaboration with industry partners such as ad networks, publishers, Adtech vendors, and other communities to jointly combat fraud. Sharing information and best practices strengthens the industry’s defenses against fraudulent activity and improves the effectiveness of preventative measures.
To ensure data integrity and the safety of advertising budgets, it is not so easy to solve this problem on your own. It requires effort, time and knowledge. Therefore, it is important to use complex measures to automate this process and successfully combat fraud.
The more you know about ad fraud and how to protect yourself, the better. Marketers are partly familiar with this concept, but fighting it is not their specialty (and it shouldn’t be). That’s why effective comprehensive data protection solutions and successful partnership collaborations are needed to strengthen cybersecurity measures.
Contents
1. Fraud in 2024
2. How to increase your chances of reducing the risk of fraud
3. A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution
4. Comprehensive advertising security: how else can you help yourself
Fraud in 2024
In 2024, attackers may use the following tactics and technologies to commit fraud:- layering of advertising,
- domain spoofing,
- placing ads in a 1x1 pixel block,
- click farms and device farms,
- geolocation spoofing,
- botnets,
- cookie substitution,
- click bots for clicking on advertisements,
- view botting for boosting video ad views,
- fraud in affiliate and referral programs,
- redirect abuse,
- motivated clicks,
- Infection of mobile and IoT devices and their background use for fraud,
- fake installations of mobile applications, etc.
Experts point out that despite all the measures taken over the years, including promising technologies and improved traffic verification procedures, the industry is still unable to completely eliminate fraudulent clicks, bids, views, and other false interactions.
But there is also good news: thanks to the joint work of advertisers, advertising platforms, the implementation of special services for traffic analysis and tools for blocking invalid interactions with sites and advertisements, the joint fight against fraud yields positive results and helps to save the advertising budget.
New anti-fraud solutions include tracking invalid clicks, blacklisting potentially fraudulent devices and sites, geolocation monitoring, user behavior and device technical parameters analysis, etc. Machine learning, Big Data, and artificial intelligence are used for this.
For example, the domestic service Botfaqtor has been protecting clients' advertising campaigns since 2017. Here are our cases where we tell how we helped companies "cut" bot traffic, reduce illegal budget expenditure and increase the percentage of goal achievement. We use smart algorithms to analyze traffic.
How to Increase Your Chances of Reducing Fraud Risk
As companies around the world increase their marketing budgets, the risk of ad fraud is also growing. The only way to completely avoid fraud is to stop running ads. But this is unrealistic and counterproductive. When done right, digital advertising can be a cost-effective way to increase brand awareness, collect first-party data, and increase revenue.It is important to use common sense when spending your advertising budget. Just as marketers evaluate campaign results, they also need to consider the overall losses that can increase due to the lack of an ad fraud protection system.
Built-in filters of advertising platforms work, but they are not able to fully protect against click fraud. This is evident both in the example of our clients (link above), and in the context of the cyber protection market and traffic verification in general. That is why it is recommended to use additional services to block invalid clicks and visits.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what experts say about the estimated costs of ad fraud. What matters is the scale of invalid traffic advertisers face on a daily basis, how to prevent it in the future, and how much better results can be achieved by using different tools.
A multifaceted problem requires a multifaceted solution
To understand all the complexities of advertising fraud, let's look at all the main points:- Ad fraud starts with invalid clicks on ads. Most software solutions (including built-in ad platform filters) only work with General Invalid Traffic (GIVT), but are unable to detect SIVT traffic, which is executed by advanced automated scripts and AI bots.
- SIVT is the most difficult traffic to detect. It involves the use of advanced bots that imitate human behavior and real people (clickers, including those from click farms) who do not show genuine interest in the company's products or services.
- Unidentified and unblocked SIVT traffic can turn into fake leads. Leadbots can fill out forms on the site with fictitious or real (foreign) information, which may well have been stolen as a result of a data leak.
- Missed opportunities are also a minus for advertisers. Due to the influx of bot traffic, real potential customers do not see the company's ads. Advertisers lose customers and, as a result, suffer financial losses.
- Real people who enter their contact information incorrectly also exist. It also happens that the application form is filled out by a real person who is actually interested in the company's products or services. But, as they say: erare humanum est - to err is human. So you may have a real client with an incorrect email, for example. This can be done both intentionally and accidentally. Most often, users make mistakes when entering data from the screen of a mobile device.
These are problems that can be solved with a comprehensive approach. Cybersecurity services use advanced analysis algorithms, machine learning, and human expertise to detect and stop fraudulent activity in real time on any traffic channel.
Dedicated fraud detection systems prevent fake leads, improve campaign efficiency, and protect brands. Moreover, by checking each visitor for 100+ technical and behavioral parameters, the algorithm detects fraud with 99% accuracy, meaning virtually no false positives.
Comprehensive advertising security: how else can you help yourself
Protecting your advertising campaigns from fraud requires a comprehensive strategy that includes a variety of preventative measures and industry best practices. These include:— Collaborate with verified traffic sources
Partner with reputable ad networks and webmasters/publishers that maintain traffic transparency and have strict verification processes in place to minimize the risk of fraudulent campaigns.
— Use tools to block invalid traffic
Use advanced fraud detection technologies and algorithms that automatically track ad traffic in real time. These tools help identify suspicious patterns that indicate invalid clicks and other ad fraud. This way, you can quickly stop ads from being served to bots, clickbaits, and other non-target users.
— Define KPIs
Set clear key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitor them for abnormal metrics and signals that may indicate fraud. Use platforms to analyze advertising traffic and accurately track metrics. This will allow you to optimize advertising campaigns in a timely manner and prevent fraudulent activities.
— Invest in advertising traffic verification services
Use ad verification services that offer comprehensive monitoring and analysis of ad placements to verify the legality and quality of impressions. Place ads in places that are safe for the company with a genuine audience to avoid wasting budget on fake views and clicks.
— Use a collaborative approach
Strengthen collaboration with industry partners such as ad networks, publishers, Adtech vendors, and other communities to jointly combat fraud. Sharing information and best practices strengthens the industry’s defenses against fraudulent activity and improves the effectiveness of preventative measures.
