#impressionfraud

Impression validation is as crucial as validation of other hard key performance metrics. It helps advertisers get transparency at the beginning stage of the ad campaign and help them stop it at the root before it impacts the entire campaign, especially metrics like installs and events (like subscription, or first transaction) where the cost is higher.  

Let’s understand in detail how impression fraud validation is essential for app marketers and how MMP’s are hiding the actual impact of fraudulent impressions.  

Mobile Measurement platforms or MMPs often play a significant role in app marketing. They help the advertisers track the last click attribution of their ad campaigns and track app performance. There are a few MMPs who also provide ad fraud verification solutions bundled with their attribution services. However, ad verification by MMPs have their own limitations.  

The most effective way for advertisers to combat mobile ad fraud is by using independent third-party validators—an unbiased, external layer of protection. Validate the fake traffic and interactions associated with an ad campaign. mFilterIt offers a comprehensive ad fraud detection system powered by advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. It can identify suspicious patterns with deterministic, heuristic, and behavioral checks.  

It enables advertisers to identify and block fraudulent activities before they drain their budgets and ensure that only genuine traffic is counted, reducing the risk of fraudulent interactions, like click fraud, bots, and fake impressions. As an essential step in the fight against ad fraud and invalid traffic, it is important to validate before advertisers, ad networks and agencies collaborate with publishers. 

Monitor and verify each install or click with Mobile ad fraud detection solutions. It helps in identifying APK fraud, referral fraud, and protects organic traffic from being stolen. Proactive fraud prevention using data-driven strategies preserves the integrity of mobile advertising campaigns and ensures it delivers true value. 

Southeast Asia is a rapidly expanding market that is expected to generate a revenue of $38 billion by 2025 from its digital services. With the numbers involved, this growth will present lucrative opportunities for businesses to reach a vast audience through digital advertising channels.   

However, it also draws perpetrators’ attention seeking to use vulnerabilities in online advertising for their benefit, and click fraud is one of them which has emerged as a menace for businesses and marketers. 

Click fraud can take various forms such as click spamming, click injection, and automated clicks using bots. SIVT (sophisticated Invalid traffic) pay-per-click spamming is the most popular technique for simulating performance.

Ad fraud poses a major risk to the credibility of digital advertising as it allows fraudulent ways to get fake impressions & clicks, which results in the wastage of major ad spend. One common type of ad fraud is click fraud in which click bots mimic genuine human behaviors to manipulate engagement metrics which results in increased cost and low ROI for advertisers.

The second type of fraud is impression fraud, which is used to manipulate ad views. Fraudsters are exploiting the vulnerabilities of programmatic advertising which results in the wastage of billions of advertising budget every year. Marketers must opt for advanced click protection measures, analysis of traffic sources, and machine learning algorithms to spot suspicious behavior.

High impressions but low app installs or conversions? Wondering what’s wrong with your ad campaign? You are getting a high number of clicks, and a good number of impressions but not getting the expected returns.  

The problem lies in your traffic. It must be plagued with invalid impressions with wave of Bot traffic riding the high wave and leading to inflated numbers. Your ad campaign is infested with impression fraud! 

What Is Impression Fraud? 

Impressions are like a currency of engagement in digital advertising and impression frauds are robbing advertisers of that genuine engagement. Impression fraud is tactic of inflating impressions by using Bots or scripts mimicking human behavior, misleading advertisers of engagement coming from genuine users.  

Click farm, click injection, network of Bots, ad stacking, click fraud, attribution fraud etc. are some of the techniques that are used for creating fraudulent or invalid impressions. Advertisers end up making payouts for invalid impressions that generate no value.  

Impact of Impression Fraud on Ad Campaign 

Impression fraud not only causes ad budget drain but also erodes trust among stakeholders which reverberates throughout the digital advertising ecosystem.  

Payout for Invalid Impression Drain Ad Budget 

Wastage of ad spend as it bars from reaching the genuine consumers. Inflated ad campaign metrics do not provide a clear picture. To prevent wastage of ad spend, impressions must be validated in real-time. Clean traffic can ensure advertisers only pay for genuine clicks and impressions.  

High Impressions Low ROI  

The struggle for genuine engagement results in low ROI. Invalid or fraudulent impressions dent the effectiveness of the ad campaign. Lack of transparency skewed metrics results in unexpectedly low ROI. Advertisers must ensure that their ads are placed on relevant platforms not on low-quality or made for advertising (MFA) site along with traffic validation.  

Unsafe Placement for Impressions Damage reputation 

Impression fraud has implications beyond financial losses as it dents the credibility of the product, services or brand advertised.  Both publishers and advertisers need to prevent reputational damage. Unsafe placement for impressions can tarnish brand reputation.  

How Advertisers Can Protect Ads from Impression Fraud 

To start with protect your advertising campaign by weeding out invalid traffic. The invalid traffic includes traffic from untargeted geographies, invalid devices, bot traffic, fake clicks, sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) etc.  

Ad Traffic Validation 

Brands and advertisers require a full funnel to protect your ad campaigns from Invalid Traffic on Web & App, and enhance ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) throughout the customer acquisition journey.  

Optimize Branding and Performance Campaign 

For Branding Campaigns or Programmatic Campaigns, brands need to monitor Frequency Cap Violations with extensive exclusion lists for Made for Ads (MFA) Sites and integrated Brand Safety.  

For Performance Campaigns, deploy a comprehensive solution to mitigate frauds in CPC, CPV, CPL web campaigns and search keywords.  

Efficient Lead Validation  

Need for effective Visit-Lead Validation with Visit analysis based on visit Intent along traffic validation to ensure validated leads are integrated into CRM.  

Adapt Location & Campaign Optimization Keywords Strategy (LOCOKS). It helps track usage and flow of brand and competition keywords.  LOCOKS strategy empowers advertisers to maximize brand visibility, increase customer engagement and drive business growth.  

Optimize App Web Plus OTT Ads 

For OTT (Over-the-Top) Ad Monitoring tracking all brands’ ad performance across OTT with real-time alerts to map competition. Also, monitor real-time updates of conversions with publishers to allow them to optimize campaigns accordingly.  

Brands need ad fraud detection in the app ecosystem as well. Ensure full funnel protection of your digital marketing campaigns across various payout format such as Cost per Click (CPC), Cost per impression (CPI), widely used these days, Cost per Install (CPI), Cost per Event (CPE), etc. Advertisers end up making payout for invalid or fraudulent traffic which lead to wastage of ad budget drains.  

Enhance Advertising capabilities 

Brands need a solution that has capabilities to identify Device ID Reputation, ensure Impression Integrity, Click Integrity, and prevent Referral & Incent Fraud Solution, optimize performance and leads for Retargeting and provide solution for ads in OEMs, the advertiser platforms built by device manufacturers, mobile carriers, and retailers. 

Proactive monitoring and optimization are key components of anti-fraud strategy. Brands should continuously monitor campaign performance, analyzing data to identify anomalies and suspicious patterns in real time.   

Prioritizing transparency and accountability in advertising practices can foster trust and transparency in ad campaigns. Transparency enhances accountability and serves as a deterrent to fraudulent activity. 

Conclusion – Build fraud Free ecosystem 

Impressions are the currency that needs to be wisely earned from a genuine source to prevent the wastage of ad spend and efforts of advertisers. The menace of impression fraud poses a formidable challenge with far-reaching consequences damaging brand reputation, skewing campaign metrics, wastage of ad spend and leading to trust erosion across the advertising ecosystem.  

Proactive measures and strategic decisions can help brands and advertisers to fortify their defenses. It can also mitigate the risks.  

Heavy payouts and unrealistic numbers are the real face of ad campaign impressions. The inflated numbers from invalid sources do not lead to conversions. In the app ecosystem, invalid clicks and impressions are a major concern as they question the ad’s effectiveness and result in a waste of ad spend. Every step of the ad campaign that led to app installs and events gets plagued by malicious activities that dampen your return on investment.

The digital landscape is evolving rapidly and advertisers have the opportunity to tap the best out of it. It provides a wide scope to reach a vast set of audiences beyond boundaries. However, with the increased growth of digital, there are suspicious actors lurking in the shadows to dupe the advertisers.

Heavy payouts and unrealistic numbers are the real face of ad campaign impressions. The inflated numbers from invalid sources do not lead to conversions. In the app ecosystem, invalid clicks and impressions are a major concern as they question the ad’s effectiveness and result in a waste of ad spend. Every step of the ad campaign that led to app installs and events gets plagued by malicious activities that dampen your return on investment.