Every web publisher has experienced payment withholding or account suspension at some point due to illegitimate traffic and actual or alleged ad quality issues on the part of a monetization partner. With programmatic advertising, advertisers and publishers of all sizes can take part in an open ecosystem, but due to the operation’s sheer size, dishonest people will inevitably try to exploit the system for their benefit. Ad fraud is not recent; the first pay-per-click fraud cases were discovered in 2001. The magnitude at which ad fraud is now being committed, with multi-billion dollar losses expected each year for the ad tech business, is what has changed fraud blocker.

Ad fraud – what is it?

The practice of falsely portraying visitors, clicks, impressions, conversions, or data events to generate revenue is known as ad fraud. Banner advertisements, video ads, in-app ads, search marketing, and affiliate marketing are just a few of the numerous media and formats in which ad fraud can negatively impact legitimate publishers and advertisers.

Ad fraud prevention

• Maintain an ads.txt file: Make sure you have an ads.txt file set up to specifically list the ad networks, exchanges, and SSPs who are permitted to resell your inventory, as well as adhering to industry best practices on ads.txt maintenance. A legitimate Sellers.json file, which enables advertisers to confirm the provenance of the inventory and impressions they are purchasing, should also be hosted by your monetization partner.
• Watch out for copyright theft: To make sure no one is attempting to make money off of content that has been lifted from your website, set up exact-match Google alerts or use a service like Copyscape to track instances of your content online. Send them a DMCA takedown notice if they are abusing your copyright.
• Create unique alerts: It might be challenging to identify many sorts of ad fraud simply by looking at the on-page activity. In such circumstances, you should monitor your traffic and income figures for any unexpected changes. Admin users can build custom alerts based on metrics like sessions, pageviews, bounce rates, etc. in the majority of analytics solutions, including Google Analytics.
• Obtain user feedback: Although some forms of ad fraud, such as forced redirects and ad injections, may be hard for site administrators to spot, users can usually see them coming. Give your users a simple opportunity to comment on how they found your site’s pages and advertisements.
• Join forces with a reputable vendor: A specialized solution is required for a particular issue. Many ad tech companies aid publishers and advertisers by monitoring traffic, and ad quality, and thwarting malware. These companies integrate the ad tech market’s buy and sell sides. Look for a vendor who can provide you with the tools and timely guidance you need to avoid ad fraud.

Conclusion

Even while it’s challenging to eradicate ad fraud, there are ways for publishers to prevent it. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the ad tech sector to establish a secure environment for publishers, advertisers, and customers. Publishers should collaborate with ad firms specializing in ad fraud protection and use the techniques that are thought of as the first line of defense against ad fraud to keep on top of the game.