IVT: Invalid Traffic You're paying for clicks that were never real.

Ad fraud is draining your budget.
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What is Invalid Traffic (IVT)?

Invalid Traffic (IVT) is any ad engagement—like clicks or impressions — that isn’t from a real person. Think bots, click farms fake users and other forms of non-human or malicious activity. It inflates your performance data, wastes your ad spend, and has the potential to damage your brand’s reputation by associating your ads with low-quality or fraudulent sources.

SIVT

Sophisticated Invalid Traffic

SIVT refers to highly advanced and sophisticated techniques used to generate fraudulent 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.

GIVT

General Invalid Traffic

GIVT encompasses relatively simpler and more easily detectable forms of invalid traffic. GIVT refers to bots, crawlers, spiders, or any of the kind of non-human traffic typically routed from a data center IP address. GIVT can also apply to activity-based filtration or browsers that pre-render pages.

NHT

Non-Human Traffic

NHT, also known as bot traffic, refers to traffic generated by automated bots or scripts rather than real human visitors. Bots can simulate user behavior, such as clicking on ads, visiting websites, or filling out forms, leading to inflated ad metrics and misleading campaign performance. NHT can be a subset of both SIVT and GIVT categories.

Direct Financial Loss

Every fake click or impression represents budget lost, genuine customers missed, and opportunities that never had a chance to convert. Even minimal fraud rates add up, bleeding your ad spend over time.

Operational Loss

Fake interactions don’t just waste ad spend, they derail entire campaigns. Sales teams chase dead leads, analytics get skewed, and genuine prospects are buried under mountains of fraudulent noise.

TCPA Risk

When fake leads fill out forms or engage with your ads, it exposes you to potential TCPA violations. Imagine calling someone who never actually filled out that form. Suddenly, you’re facing fines and legal scrutiny, all because of fraudulent submissions.

Compromised Data Integrity

When ad fraud pollutes your analytics, every decision gets tainted. Misguided strategies, wasted budgets, and inaccurate targeting follow, making it impossible to optimize with confidence or precision.

Credit Card Fraud & Business Risk

A fraudster uses a stolen credit card on your e-commerce site. Weeks later, the real card owner disputes it. You lose the product and pay chargeback fees. Too many chargebacks, and credit card companies cut you off.

SIVT is the real threat: bots that act human.
Today's bots don't just click; they infiltrate.

Because IVT often mimics legitimate behavior, it can go undetected without the right tools. It’s a persistent issue for advertisers, marketers, and businesses that rely on digital traffic.

Download Anura’s latest Fraud Report to learn more about the cost of IVT

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Only Pay for Real Traffic

Anura detects bots, click farms, and other forms of invalid traffic in real time, so your budget only reaches real people.

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Better Campaign Performance

Cleaner traffic means stronger engagement, more accurate optimization, and a higher return on investment.

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Full Transparency, Zero Guesswork

You get clear, evidence-backed insights. No vague scores. No mystery. Just proof. So you can take action with confidence.

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Fast, Seamless Protection

Real-time detection with no delays to your campaigns and no disrupting the visitor experience.

FAQs

What is IVT Prevention?

IVT Prevention is the strategy of stopping fake clicks, bot activity, and non-human interactions before they reach your campaign. Instead of simply recognizing invalid traffic after it occurs, IVT prevention aims to stop it in real time or before it can engage with your ads.

What is AdSense Invalid Traffic?

AdSense IVT includes any activity on Google ads that were not generated by genuine user interest. This could be from repeated clicks, click farms, or bots. If Google detects this type of traffic, it may withhold or claw back earnings and possibly suspend the AdSense account.

How Does Google Detect Invalid Traffic?

Google uses machine learning, automated filters and human review to detect IVT. These systems analyze patterns in user behavior and engagement metrics to flag and filter suspicious activity.

Of course, Google invalid traffic is still a major issue, and these measures aren’t anywhere near enough to catch sophisticated invalid traffic. Advanced bots that mimic human behavior or coordinated click farms can easily bypass detection. These systems also tend to focus more on reactive blocking (after the damage is done) rather than proactive prevention. Similarly, accidental clicks and low-quality placements often slip through the cracks, consuming ad spend without delivering genuine engagement.

That’s why you need a solution like Anura to prevent invalid traffic from impacting your metrics and advertising budgets.

Why is Invalid Traffic Detection Important?

Invalid traffic detection protects your ad budget, data integrity, and legal standing. Even small amounts of ad fraud can cause:

Wasted Spend: Every fake click drains budget and steals chances from real customers.
Skewed Analytics: Fraud pollutes your data, leading to poor decisions and misallocated spend.
Sales Disruption: Teams waste time chasing fake leads while real prospects get overlooked.
Legal Risks: Fraudulent form fills can trigger TCPA violations and costly fines.
Chargeback Losses: Stolen credit card use can lead to product loss, fees, and payment processor issues.

Detection helps you catch and stop these threats before they do damage, which is something other filters often miss.

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