3 Steps to Prepare Your Online Fraud Defenses for 2023

Online ad fraud didn’t take a holiday, nor should your protection. As the start of a new year often coincides with goal setting and ambitious plans, prioritize protecting your online defense strategy. We won’t rehash it here, but we’ve already identified the five biggest threats we faced in 2022. What’s shocking, and somewhat scary, is that there are still too many brand professionals who are not losing sleep about the risk and cost of online fraud. eMarketer reported that only 69% of agency professionals and 53% of brand professionals were even worried about fraud. Yet the first step in solving any problem is always first to admit, “Houston, we have a problem.” Indeed, the numbers for 2022 indicate that it may have cost $81 billion in the US alone.

The Total Cost of Fraud is Higher Than You Think

Even if you are wise to the issue, too many still don’t realize its full impact. Advertisers who run campaigns without safeguarding them stand to lose around 26% of their investment to fraud, and that’s not factoring in the indirect costs. The current estimate of the total cost of fraud is an additional $3.75 for every dollar lost in a fraudulent transaction! Ignoring the threat of fraud could have a devastating impact on any company’s bottom line. Aside from the direct cost of wasting money on ads that never see their intended audience, there’s the internal cost of your staff’s time to investigate and eliminate fraud. It can also put your lead generation efforts at risk of extensive TCPA violations that could result in expensive fines. These indirect costs might tally up to be even more costly when your company’s reputation might also be put on the line.

Get on the Offense of Fraud Prevention

With such high risk and potential cost, online advertising almost doesn’t seem worth it, does it? However, people are 50% more likely to purchase from a PPC ad than an organic search result. Plus, the top three paid advertising spots get 46% of the clicks on the first page. The truth is you’re losing a lot of potential revenue if you don’t invest in online advertising. But you have to invest wisely and take action to eliminate risk. You also want to do it in a way so that fraud controls don’t disrupt the customer experience, which many other fraud solutions on the market struggle to do effectively.

Let’s say it together, “Houston, we have a problem.” 

Now that you recognize the problem of online ad fraud and are determined to target it, how do you eliminate it? First, you need to determine the extent of your problem. What is almost unfathomable is how many don’t recognize there is a problem—much less how big it is. So many companies set their marketing campaigns in motion and then seemingly forget them. Can you believe 72% of marketers haven’t evaluated their ad campaigns in more than a month?

I first started noticing inconsistencies in our campaigns that pointed to signs of online fraud when I led my own digital marketing company, long before Anura existed. As a result, I searched for a reliable fraud solution, and to my dismay, it simply didn’t exist. So, I set out to solve the problem myself. After developing and extensively testing my own solution that filters out traffic and eliminates ad fraud, it evolved to become Anura, and my life’s mission turned to help protect other companies from the same frustration and loss. And it works! Our methodology helps find 200-300% more fraud than any other solution our clients have tested. We know the results speak for themselves, which is why we’re willing to prove it with a free trial.

Fraud Prevention is a Team Effort

Every online marketer must develop a proactive plan to address ad fraud in every campaign, lead-gen opportunity, and interaction with customers and prospects. The good news is that you don’t have to invest all the hours in reviewing mountains of data, identifying bad actors, and crafting the lock that keeps you secure. Unlike when I first set about to find a solution, it’s relatively easy to find someone who can help. A third-party fraud solution is undoubtedly the easiest and most economical solution. The challenge is finding the partner who will be most effective and reliable. 

Consider these questions when vetting a third-party fraud solution:

1. Do you have a clear understanding of what it all might cost? And how much could it save?
2. Can you get a free trial to test the solution and make sure it isn’t just another play to take more of your online advertising dollars?
3. Can the solution easily be scaled to the size you need, support every platform, and be implemented quickly?
4. Will it save your team hours of frustration, letting them focus on what they do best and waste less time chasing fake leads?
5. Is the proposed solution the most effective, and can it be proven with results?

The right partner will help you have confidence in decisions based on analytics you can trust. Our team has extensive experience, a proven track record, and we are leaders in the industry who genuinely have our clients’ best interests at heart. Partner with a company that will support the development of your business with the security structure you need to stay competitive and secure. We welcome the opportunity to show you how our solution might be the perfect one for you. 

But please, whatever you do, make online defense a priority for the year ahead.