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Technological advancements can be a big boon for publishers and advertisers looking to expand their digital ad networks. But there is a downside to these new developments that can cost a world of financial ruin. Ad fraud exists in many forms, and it becomes increasingly common as scammers find new ways to trick advertisers out of their hard-earned profits.
Any attempt to steal money or profits from advertising using fraudulent methods is known as ad fraud. Unfortunately, there are a growing number of ways in which fraud can show up, and being able to identify them can make them much easier to avoid.
Anti-fraud security is one of the biggest features of our app ad monetization services which take advantage of Google’s unrivaled features to give you a powerful and fraud-free ad experience. Learn more about mobile ad fraud and find out how we use our Google ads fraud detection tools to keep your advertising campaigns free of scammers.
What is Ad Fraud?
Wondering the question “What is Ad Fraud”? Ad fraud constitutes any type of fraudulent activity that wrongfully inflates conversion click rates, boosts impressions, and converts data using a bot or a script. These fraudulent actions can cost advertisers – and the publishers who push them – a huge financial drain.
As technology continues to improve, scammers who commit ad fraud are getting smarter. Fraudsters are everywhere, and advertising fraud can make an appearance in a number of ways, making it difficult to stop the stream of scams once they begin. In fact, experts researched that the cost of digital ad fraud in 2021 was $65 billion across the globe, which constitutes almost half of the money spent on digital advertising in the United States alone.
Types of Mobile Ad Fraud
Because the world of digital advertising is always evolving and adapting towards new mobile ad standards, the scammers and their ways are evolving as well. It might be a good idea to review the most common types of ad fraud that you may encounter as a punisher looking to protect your dynamic and interactive ad campaigns.
Ad Injection
Scammers can create fake ads that push original ads off of your website without your knowledge. These ads can either sit next to the real ads or completely replace them. They most commonly happen through unsafe browser plug-ins and other insecure extensions that users may have installed, sometimes without even knowing it.
Ad Stacking
Similarly to ad injection, ad stacking also seeks to replace your original ads and knock them out of their original place by “stacking” fake ads on top. Every impression made on these fake ads is revenue sent to the fraudsters, siphoning away your own profits. Whatever ad is stacked on top of the space is the only one shown to the end user.
Click Fraud
Advertising – especially mobile advertising – has become the number one target of spammers looking to commit fraud and steal your profits. One reason why these frauds are so successful is that they implement the same strategies and advertising models as real advertisers, making it almost impossible to detect reality from fraud in certain cases. Among paid search campaigns, about 14% of clicks come from fraudulent sources.
Domain Spoofing
Sometimes fraudsters can get away with stealing money because they pretend to be the real deal. Spoofing is when a cybercriminal msaquardes as a trusted entity or device. Fake ads posed as legitimate ones are indistinguishable to the naked eye, and unless the end user is highly educated about mobile ad fraud tactics, they are likely going to be clicking on these disguised fake ads. Most of the time these people – or bots – will try to act like a high-profile website in order to rake in more impressions.
What Ad Fraud Means for Publishers
Publishers across all niches can be affected by fraud in a multitude of ways. Depending on the fraudulent method used and how long spammers have been defrauding your site, you can suffer some severe and immediate financial setbacks. Industry giants have lost billions in advertising revenue over the years due to the upswing in fraudulent activities, and all publishers have been hurt across the board by this ongoing epidemic.
Aside from draining your revenue and your budget, ad fraud can drive down your ROAS and lessen the value of your ads overall while simultaneously stuffing up your website with fake traffic, invalid users, and scripted bots that can get ahold of your mobile ads. It is more important than ever to ensure that every impression is real and worth your advertising spend.
Ways to Prevent Ad Fraud
As a Google Certified Publishing Partner, OKO employs only the best tools, services, and security measures to help you get real results driven by real actions. As a GCPP, we help publishers access to top-tier systems to keep all types of fraudulent activities at bay. With Google Ads Fraud Detection and traffic quality assurance, you can add more resources to your corner in the fight against mobile ad fraud.
Google Ads Fraud Detection uses advanced machine learning and AI, as well as live reviewers and automated screening services, to detect and root out fraudulent activities across every website with ads. We want to ensure that, while programs continue to advance and algorithms get more complex, we are remaining one step ahead while getting rid of as much fraud as possible.
Find the Solution for Fraud Prevention Today
Hopefully, we answered the question “What is Ad Fraud” and were able to explain how we use Google Ads Fraud Detection. There is no one true solution to completely block ad fraud from occurring on your website. However, equipping yourself with top-of-the-line resources and solutions can help you fend off fraud and get rid of it as quickly as possible. With OKO, you can work with a team of experienced professionals who will continue to prioritize both the safety and the efficiency of your paid advertising campaigns.
While it may not be possible to get rid of 100% of fraud, as it has become built into the landscape of the Internet, you can employ security measures that will make it incredibly difficult for fraud to continue stealing profits from your impressions. Drive better revenue and reach real people with real ads when you work with OKO Ad Management today.
Interested in learning more? Learn about click spam and the difference between open bidding and header bidding from our team of experts.
