There\u2019s fraud for everything these days, digital advertisements included. Though ad fraud has technically been around since the existence of online advertising, momentum is picking up with the introduction of real-time bidding.<\/p>\n
Real-time bidding (RTB), which several website publishers choose to facilitate through an automated ad exchange or supply-side platform, refers to the sale of advertisements via a real-time auction. These auctions happen as quickly as a web page loads. Because RTB has so many components and a few holes here and there, it\u2019s easy to sneak in and take advantage of the process.<\/p>\n
Ad exchanges ideally have plenty of security to prevent malicious attacks during the process, but sometimes it just doesn\u2019t matter. A fraudster is going to find their way in. What better way than to create a fake ID? More than a fake ID\u2014a fake audience, traffic, clicks, you name it. These scammers are good\u2014but not so good that you can\u2019t catch them and avoid them.<\/p>\n
Publishers and advertisers alike are susceptible to ad fraud. While some ad fraud will target publisher web pages and ad units, others will heavily focus on messing with advertising coding and budgeting. But, no matter who the target of ad fraud is, both publishers and advertisers pay the price.<\/p>\n
If you have ad fraud in the form of malware or adware on your website, yeah, that\u2019s going to mess up your webpage. In addition, it can tarnish your relationship with advertising agencies. As a web publisher, you need to take proper security measures for your site\u2019s health and the privacy and safety of your visitors.<\/p>\n
Anything that is a malicious attack or involves stealing money should be illegal, shouldn\u2019t it? Well, yes, but when it comes to ad fraud, the jury is half awake. Most countries don\u2019t have laws making click fraud, which we\u2019ll discuss later, and ad fraud illegal. The laws in place don\u2019t address these frauds directly but rather cover informational technology or cybersecurity. This causes a lot of loopholes.<\/p>\n
Still, if you live in the US and are at the end of a malicious attack, you could successfully engage in a legal battle against the scammer, hacker, fraudster\u2014whatever you\u2019d like to call them.The United States has the most successful record of settled click fraud lawsuits across the globe under the\u00a0Computer Fraud and Abuse Act<\/a>. Introduced in 1986, the act was the first federal action against computer hacking (which coincides with the technological advances of the stock market).<\/p>\n Sadly, one type of ad fraud just isn\u2019t enough. The versatility of ad fraud is part of the reason why it happens so often. Despite the method, remember this: fraudsters are stealing your money. All fraud is bad fraud. That\u2019s why they call it fraud. The forms we\u2019ll cover are the most encountered forms of ad fraud you\u2019ll find out there.<\/p>\n Unless you\u2019ve been living under a digital rock, you\u2019re probably aware of bot traffic. It\u2019s an overarching term for any non-human traffic a website receives. It\u2019s important to note here, despite the negative connotation, not all bots are bad. Some have pretty essential tasks, like GoogleBots.<\/p>\n But for the sake of our topic, we\u2019ll keep this to bad bots only. Specifically, the unauthorized web crawlers that makeup bot traffic. They can disrupt site analytics, view and click on ads, watch videos, and siphon money from advertising transactions. So, all that money you thought you had coming in is gone as agencies realize it was only bot traffic. Not to mention, you risk lessening the credibility of your site in the eyes of advertisers. Recent\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0indicate that bot traffic makes up nearly a quarter of overall web traffic. This means you have some serious monitoring to do!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s continue with another all too common type\u2013click fraud. Click fraud is fraud committed using a bot or a click bot. Click bots do one thing (two technically): pretend to be a person and click on certain links\u2014a lot.<\/p>\n The biggest perpetrator of this form of ad fraud is web publishers themselves. Bet you didn\u2019t see that one coming! Unfortunately, many try to scam the networks they work with for higher yield. But just because publishers try it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s successful. The reality is, you can\u2019t beat the technology. Agencies and ad managers are aware these sorts of things happen and prepare to the fullest. Attempting to fool an ad company will only result in being removed from a network, losing ad monetization as a revenue stream, and possibly legal trouble. Be smarter than that\u2013because they\u2019re certainly smarter than your attempts.<\/p>\n Ad hijacking is similar to clickjacking in that a scammer takes control of the server and alters code in their favor. In this case, the scammer will access the advertisement\u2019s code and replace it with the code for their advertisement. Although this occurs on the network side of things, you\u2019re affected as the middleman displaying these ads. Replaced ads can have harmful or offensive content that drives away traffic. For this reason, it\u2019s essential to work with quality ad networks and exchanges.<\/p>\n Okay, this one is a bit complicated. Generally speaking, impression laundering, also known as Domain Spoofing, is when someone makes an impression\u2014something you see on a website\u2014seem like it appears on a site different from the one it\u2019s actually appearing on. An advertiser will buy ads from a publisher, several of which receive hosting from a fraudulent or illicit website (ones that are difficult to monetize, despite high traffic rates). But instead of the advertiser seeing this, they only see legitimate websites. In short, the ad gets placed on the illicit website, and publishers miss out.<\/p>\n Additionally, this type ropes website owners in because scammers mimic the URLs of premium publishers to trick advertisers. As a result, domain spoofing undermines the trustworthiness and reputation of publishers and devalues quality inventory.<\/p>\n Ad fraud isn\u2019t going anywhere, and web publishers are going to have to learn to live with it. The bots are getting smarter, so are the people behind them, and vulnerabilities in code naturally exist where hackers go searching for it. But you have options to fight back against it.<\/p>\n The first two methods, signature and credential, are forms of authentications. Authentications, like captchas, require that a person or thing prove its identity\u2014like asking it for its ID card. The difference between these and a prevention method like looking for anomalies is that the signature-based method uses a preprogrammed list of compromise indicators (IOCs). This list includes known malicious IP addresses. Anomalies look at behavior and require that you establish a baseline of what is \u201cnormal\u201d web operation. The honeypot method covers any vulnerabilities in code and is a bit more aggressive.<\/p>\n By using all of these methods, you place a security guard at every door, so to speak. The more you can protect yourself with different measures, the better off you\u2019ll be at preventing an attack on your web page and bids.<\/p>\n If you discover ad fraud on your website, block the fraudulent IP address and make sure your security and firewall are up-to-date. Depending on the type of ad fraud you\u2019re experiencing, you may need to find professional help to clear out any malware or adware installed on your computer.<\/p>\n Ad fraud can really disrupt the success of your web page. Outside of the four basic ways you can prevent it, keep in mind that you should only use trusted, high-quality ad networks and sources. Add filters to your HTML to fill in any holes. Consider using ad fraud detection software. Keep an eye out for changes in data, campaign numbers, and visitors\u2019 IP addresses.<\/p>\n And finally, above all, you should be looking to your ad platform or provider. If they work with out-of-date servers and subpar tech, you\u2019re likely to become an ad fraud statistic. At Newor Media, we have a solid frontline of security companies and tech to prevent ad fraud. We only work with premium networks that can meet such a standard, meaning no malvertising or redirects on your end. When a suspicion or problem does arise, our account reps work to resolve any issues quickly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s fraud for everything these days, digital advertisements included. Though ad fraud has technically been around since the existence of online advertising, momentum is picking up with the introduction of real-time bidding. Real-time bidding (RTB), which several website publishers chooseRead more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\nMost Common Forms of Ad Fraud<\/h2>\n
Bot Traffic<\/h3>\n
Click Fraud<\/h3>\n
Ad Hijacking<\/h3>\n
Domain Spoofing<\/h3>\n
Basic Preventative Measures<\/h2>\n
\n
Uh Oh, I Have Ad Fraud!<\/h2>\n
The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n