Stop losing money to programmatic fraud.

Programmatic ad fraud is a form of online advertising fraud that affects both advertisers and publishers. This type of fraud occurs when automated systems are used to falsify clicks and impressions on ad campaigns. The result is wasted ad spend for advertisers and lost revenue for the publishing platform.

Industry leaders estimate that more than $100 billion will be lost to ad fraud in 2023, and programmatic ad fraud is one of the biggest contributors to this figure. Fraud rates are only expected to grow in the coming years as more advertisers move to programmatic ad buying.

Whether you're an advertiser, publisher, or consumer, it's important to be aware of the risks of programmatic ad fraud and find technical solutions for protection.

Programmatic ad fraud is a type of fraud that occurs when bad actors exploit programmatic ad buying platforms to drain dollars from the digital ad tech industry. Fraud prevention in this space is highly valuable because this type of traffic fraud can rapidly generate financial gain for digital thieves.

Ad Stacking

There are a number of ways that programmatic ad fraud can be executed, but one of the most common methods is called ad stacking. Ad stacking is a form of mobile ad fraud where multiple advertising tags are stacked within a single image. When real users view the page, the ad fraudster earns money for every ad in the stack, even though users only see the one on the top.

Ad Injection

Ad injection is a process by which undesired ads are inserted into the ad space on web pages without the consent of the website owner. This is accomplished through the use of malware that has infected a visitor’s computer. The malware enables fraudsters to “inject” ads over top of the website a visitor is viewing without the website owner’s awareness. Think of a visitor landing on Walmart’s home page but seeing ads for Target. Ad networks, consumers, website owners, and advertisers all lose in this situation.

Click Injection

Click injection is a method of fraudulently generating clicks on digital advertising. This type of click spamming is often perpetrated by malicious actors trying to generate revenue from advertising. Click injection can also be used to inflate website traffic statistics or to boost ad impressions. What’s especially concerning is that fraudsters can even generate fake clicks on CPI display ads, making it appear that their fraudulently inflated impressions are legitimate.

There are a few ways click injection can work. One method is to inject code into a web browser that will automatically click on ads that are displayed on a web page. Another method is to use a bot to simulate human clicks on ads.

Click injection is a serious problem for ad budgets in the digital marketing industry. If you are an advertiser, it is important to take steps to protect your advertisements from this malicious activity.

Mobile ad fraud

As ad formats have transitioned to video ads on mobile devices, there has been a massive rise in the need for mobile fraud prevention. Mobile ad exchanges can make it hard to tell where traffic is really coming from, as IP addresses are often hard to trace. Common fraud tactics span both mobile apps and browsers. This can lead to click fraud, fake impressions on ad spaces, and user devices being hit with malware.

One of the biggest challenges with programmatic ad fraud is that it often takes technical know-how to fight. The programmatic ecosystem is vast, but fortunately, there are some ways you can work to prevent this particular flavor of ad fraud.

One of the most effective methods is leveraging anti-fraud detection software to identify and block fraudulent activity. Another way that's always a good idea is working with your partners in the advertising industry to implement initiatives for ad fraud detection.

Invalid traffic (IVT) presents a unique challenge for detecting ad fraud. That’s because there are two types of IVT: general invalid traffic (GIVT), and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT). GIVT is the easier of the two to detect, which comes in more basic forms like bots and data center attacks. On the other hand, SIVT is far tougher to detect, as the name implies. 

Sophisticated techniques are deployed by fraudsters to generate SIVT, enabling them to sneak past basic pre-bid fraud solutions that many DSPs provide. These techniques make it possible for fraudsters to steal billions each month from advertisers who thought they were safe.

Because pre-bid solutions only use a couple of data points to detect GIVT, it’s common for them to only catch 1-3% of fraud. To be more effective, you need to collect far more data by implementing a solution that can identify SIVT attacks as well.

Many advertisers have found that adding a solid fraud solution with an SIVT filter catches a fraud rate of 45% on average. So even when DSPs claim to offer IVT protection, it’s really GIVT they’re referring to, allowing nearly half of your ad budget to still be lost to fraud.

Programmatic ad fraud is a serious problem that can have far-reaching consequences for businesses and consumers alike. When criminals use automated tools to commit fraud against digital advertising platforms, the results can be devastating. Businesses of all sizes lose money, and consumers are exposed to less trustworthy and less relevant advertising.

Bot activity that creates more impressions or clicks from device farms affects everyone that buys digital advertising. With real-time bidding on an ad exchange, it can be easy for malicious actors to evade detection and take advantage of the ad tech. Any business that uses programmatic advertising for ad requests is susceptible.

While programmatic ad fraud affects all types of businesses, there are some industries that are especially vulnerable to this type of crime. For example, the travel and hospitality industries are often targeted by ad fraudsters, as are e-commerce businesses. Other industries that are at risk of programmatic ad fraud include banking and finance, healthcare, and education.

One of the biggest changes in programmatic ad fraud is the use of bots to generate fake traffic. In the past, fraudsters would use humans to click on ads or visit websites. However, bots can now mimic human behavior very well, making it much harder to detect fraud. And what’s worse, sophisticated bots can help fraudsters commit fraud on a large scale for far less than the cost of hiring humans to carry out their misdeeds.

Other changes include the rise of ad injection and mobile ad fraud. As new technologies have emerged, it’s made it possible for fraudsters to find new ways to attack ad campaigns. Being able to embed malware on both desktop and mobile devices has opened up even more opportunities for these bad actors.