Not child’s play: How to prevent ad fraud?

According to a report by Statista, North America is set to suffer the most economic losses due to ad fraud in 2028. The entire US is expected to incur a loss of $173 billion to ad fraud. The Far East and China will second the US with a 20% share and Western Europe will incur 17% of the losses, reveals the report. As the technology advances with new innovations every now and then, so do the tactics employed by fraudsters. This calls for a comprehensive approach to safeguard the advertising investments in the open internet. To effectively combat this deadly evil that costs the advertisers billions of dollars, advertisers must implement robust strategies that blend technology, vigilance, and collaboration.

Know the evil

In order to beat the evil, you must know the evil. Advertisers must understand the different kinds of ad frauds that are prevalent in the market and pose the most threat to their advertising strategies. Among the most prevalent forms are click fraud, where automated bots or malicious actors inflate costs by generating fake clicks; impression fraud, which involves serving ads to non-human traffic through fraudulent websites; and conversion fraud, where fraudsters simulate fake conversions to distort performance metrics. With the inculcation of AI, fraudsters seem to have taken it to another level as far as the implementation of ad fraud is concerned.

Side character – Verification tools

One of the best defenses against ad fraud for any advertiser is to partner with the right verification tools. There are several companies in the market that offer monitoring tools that validates traffic sources, helps advertisers in detecting the fraudulent activity and also prevent the advertisers from incurring more loss. Companies such as DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, from what is understood, provide comprehensive solutions to ensure that ads are served to legitimate users.

Combating the evil, with the evil

As artificial intelligence and machine learning are increasingly spreading its tentacles across the diverse fields of the online world, as much as they are facilitating the fraudsters in doing the ad fraud, it can also help the advertisers in combating the ad fraud. These technologies analyze vast amounts of data to identify anomalies and patterns that may indicate fraudulent behavior. By incorporating AI-driven fraud detection solutions, advertisers can proactively address potential threats and minimize their impact. The ability of AI to adapt and learn from emerging fraud tactics makes it a powerful tool in the fight against ad fraud.

Not child’s play: How to prevent ad fraud?

The entire US is expected to incur a loss of $173 billion to ad fraud, reveals Statista.