Glossary

A type of fraud that occurs when someone uses stolen or unauthorized payment information to make a purchase. This can happen online, in person, or over the phone.

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In the context of databases, a schema refers to the organization or structure of a database. It is a way to define objects in the database, like tables, columns, relationships, etc. A database schema is the blueprint that defines the database structure.

In the context of web-based markup languages, a schema is a set of rules that defines the structure and content of a document. The schema defines what elements and attributes can be used in a document, and the order and hierarchy.

Scraper bots "scrape" or steal high-quality, keyword-rich content from other websites and repurpose it on their own sites, skewing your website's search engine rankings. Stolen content can be hard to spot unless you make a point to search for it. 

Anura Script uses JavaScript and is our most comprehensive method for collecting visitor data. It excels at identifying even the most sophisticated fraud in real-time. Ideally, Anura Script is used for conversions and post-click analysis.

A type of mobile ad fraud where fraudsters fake app install and in app events on actual devices. 

Anura automatically hides ads from fraudsters before they have a chance to fraudulently click on them. Test the power of Anura, click here.

Search Arbitrage is a digital marketing strategy that involves buying traffic through different paid marketing channels and then earning revenue through higher-priced ads on the landing page.

Typically, this involves the use of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platforms, such as Google AdWords, Yahoo, etc, where an advertiser may bid on specific keywords to drive traffic to a page that hosts ads from another network or direct offers. The arbitrageur's profit is the difference between what they pay for the incoming traffic and what they earn from the outgoing traffic. This practice requires a deep understanding of keyword valuation, ad placement optimization, and traffic conversion rates to be successful and profitable.

A crawler or spider is a bot that crawls web pages on behalf of search engines. They process and analyze the content of a web page to figure out its meaning and relevance. Depending on what they find, search engines can use that info to gauge a page’s reliability and organic  SERP  ranking.

SEM is a marketing channel that targets visitors by interest through the use of the search terms the visitor has typed in, in the search engine.  These ads are text-based, paid placements and have a number of targeting criteria.  This channel is also known as PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing.

SEO is the process of improving the understandability of the true content of a web page to a search engine’s algorithm to appear more relevant and gain higher rankings in the organic search results pages (also referred to as SERP)

Search Engine Optimization Fraud or Black Hat SEO is a practice against search engine guidelines, used to get sites ranking higher in the SERPs. These unethical (sometimes illegal) tactics don’t solve for searchers and often end in penalties from Google. Black-hat techniques include keyword stuffing (i.e. adding lots of words just so you appear relevant), cloaking—using artificial algorithms or scripts that mask where content came from when it was generated on other websites/blogs--and using private link networks which are groups designed specifically around exchanging links between members.

This is a page of results that a search engine returns in response to a visitor’s search request based on the search engine’s algorithm.  This will contain a mix of paid and organic listings ordered based on a variety of metrics used by the search engine.

Search feed arbitrage is a tactic where marketers buy traffic from one search engine or platform at a low cost and redirect it to higher-paying search feeds or monetized search result pages. The aim is to profit from the margin between the traffic acquisition cost and the revenue generated from displaying ads on the landing page. This method requires optimization to ensure the traffic is relevant and aligns with ad network policies to avoid penalties.

When an affiliate uses the merchant's affiliate links for their purchases to earn a commission.

Single sign-on is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID and password to any of several related, yet independent, software systems. True single sign-on allows the user to log in once and access services without re-entering authentication factors. (Wikipedia)

An acronym that stands for Sophisticated Invalid Traffic. See the full definition here.

Social media fraud involves deceptive activities carried out on social networking platforms(Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube) with the intention of making money indirectly. Fraudsters create fake profiles and interact with other profiles, ads, and leads in a manner that mimics genuine visitors, to avoid detection and account suspension. A quick search on Fiverr will show that you can buy 10,000 likes for your site for $5. Advertising on social networks allows fake influencers to comment, like, and influence consumers to trust a brand.  

Social media has become a powerful internet marketing tool in recent years. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube provide space for dynamic two-way communication between brands or visitors alike with the ability to create content that isn't limited by pre-existing rules of engagement (therefore allowing anyone an equal opportunity). There are two types of social advertising - paid advertisement which seeks financing via money spent on ads; organic campaign where advertisers don’t invest any cash at all but rather use their own resources such as time into building relationships through likes/followers, etc., attracting new customers using these methods so they may tell others about what you offer afterward when asked: "where did u get ___?"

Ever wonder how certain posts appear in your social news feeds? Social networks like Facebook and Twitter rely on proprietary bots to run data through  algorithms  and serve posts based on visitor behavior.

SIVT stands for Sophisticated Invalid Traffic. SIVT techniques are far more challenging to detect. This can include advanced bots that closely mimic human traffic, hijacked devices, malware, invalid proxy traffic, cookie manipulation techniques, like cookie stuffing,  or human fraud farms. 

As it relates to the Anura Dashboard, a variable, declared by you, to identify "source" traffic within Anura's dashboard interface. A source is where the traffic comes from.

These bots plague comment sections, lead forms, and email inboxes spreading unsolicited messages, advertising links, and other forms of spam. Spambots are also programmed to  phish  for personal information that visitors submit through forms, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and passwords.

Sending unsolicited emails, messages, or posts containing affiliate links.

These are automated entities that crawl the web for various reasons, such as indexing content for search engines. While they serve legitimate purposes, their visits shouldn't be counted as genuine user interactions with advertisements.

Spoofing involves disguising oneself as a known and trusted visitor. Common methods include spoofing of IP addresses, User-Agents, and Devices as well as masking DNS server origins. To combat such malicious activities, Anura utilizes multiple data points to accurately identify spoofed information, providing a robust defense against even the most sophisticated spoofing attacks and user manipulation.

Fraudsters use spy bots mainly for surveillance and data collection purposes. Spy bots steal personal information about a company, website, or person by logging  keystrokes  or intercepting  packets. Some fraudsters sell that data to outside parties such as a competitor of a marketing firm for a profit.

Anura helps create customer stickiness. Stickiness occurs when new, desired features offered to clients entices them to use your product or service service more often. This helps current customers "stick" with your product or service, creating customer retention.

This refers to measures taken to identify and prevent automated bot traffic from interacting with digital platforms. This typically involves using software that detects bots based on environment, device attributes, and other indicators, blocking them to protect data accuracy, secure user interactions, and prevent fraud. Bot-stopping efforts safeguard websites from issues like click fraud, credential theft, and resource overload by maintaining a bot-free environment.

Structured data in digital marketing refers to any data that is organized and formatted in such a way that it is easily understandable by machines. In the context of digital marketing, structured data usually refers to the information that you can add to your website to make it easier for search engines to understand the content of your pages.

Search engines like Google use structured data to better understand the content of your page and to create rich snippets in the search results, which can help to improve your click-through rate. For example, if you have a recipe on your website, you can use structured data to indicate the ingredients, cooking time, calories, and other relevant information. Google can then use this information to create a rich snippet in the search results that includes a picture of the dish, the cooking time, and the number of calories.

Subscriptions are another common form of lead generation tool, giving visitors access to information like white papers, newsletters, or e-books in exchange for basic contact details. These kinds of forms don't require a significant amount of data, so they're a relatively easy way to collect information. However, this means that subscription sign-ups are easier to scam than other alternatives. Fraudsters enter false information and, when businesses reach out, they're confronted with an illegitimate lead. 

Supply Side Platform, aka SSP, aggregates high-end traffic sources in order to monetize them through DSP’s (Demand Side Platforms) 

Anura detected issues with the received visitor data and considers the visitor to be suspect. These issues will likely represent a risk to the client's required key performance indicators.