{"id":103427,"date":"2014-05-22T13:52:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/click-fraud-2\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:41:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:41:54","slug":"click-fraud-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/paid-media\/click-fraud-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Click Fraud: The Dark Side of Digital Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, a number of DAC clients have expressed concern around Click Fraud and the impacts, if any, it could have on their <a href=\"\/en-gb\/services\/digital-media\/\">media programs<\/a>.\u00a0 I remember in the early 2000s, long before automated PPC bid management was in play, having my own concerns around click fraud and actively monitoring campaigns to see if there really was anything to be concerned about.\u00a0 The reality was, and is, <strong>YES<\/strong>.\u00a0Click fraud does happen and is something to be aware of across all <a href=\"\/en-gb\/services\/paid-media\/\">paid media channels<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, earlier this year, Ziff Davis\u2019 CEO called <a href=\"http:\/\/technorati.com\/business\/advertising\/article\/ad-expert-36-of-ad-traffic\/\">fraud the biggest threat<\/a> to today\u2019s online advertising business, and industry surveys are uncovering that bots will waste $11.6 billion of global advertising spend this year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0What is Click Fraud?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The simplest way to describe click fraud is repeated human or non-human clicks on a particular ad with the intention of either increasing publisher revenue or placing an advertiser (usually a competitor) at a disadvantage by inflating their click count, decreasing their conversion rate and increasing their media spend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The two most likely ways fraudulent clicks are generated include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. Manual clicking (sometimes <a href=\"http:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/business\/india-business\/Indias-secret-army-of-online-ad-clickers\/articleshow\/654822.cms\">outsourcing clickers<\/a> or using <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/business\/2014\/01\/05\/click_farms_where_sweatshops_meet_social_media.html\">click farms<\/a> that generate fake Facebook Likes, Twitter followers and YouTube views). Unethical, yes. Illegal, not yet. And,<\/p>\n<p>2. Through automated means; according to comScore, 36% of media traffic today is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.comscore.com\/Insights\/Blog\/Battling_Bots_comScores_Ongoing_Efforts_to_Detect_and_Remove_Non_Human_Traffic\">generated by machines<\/a>, not humans.\u00a0 Software designed to behave similar to humans (also known as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ad-fraud-is-cheaper-than-you-think-2013-11\">Bots<\/a>) has been known to affect online registrations, voting, commenting and sharing.\u00a0 Viruses like <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.technet.com\/b\/mmpc\/archive\/2013\/09\/25\/mevade-and-sefnit-stealthy-click-fraud.aspx\">Mevade and Sefnit<\/a> that attack Microsoft systems even include components capable of performing click fraud.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">T<strong>he results:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>More publisher revenue, and loss of advertiser trust in that publisher<\/li>\n<li>Increased advertiser spend from falsely inflated click rates<\/li>\n<li>Higher CPC (and ultimately Cost Per Lead) due to the seemingly increase in demand<\/li>\n<li>Decreased conversion rates from an influx of ad clicks that don\u2019t convert, and<\/li>\n<li>The appearance of an ineffective media program<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0How to address click fraud?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Publishers are aware of click fraud and many actively take steps to address it.\u00a0 For example, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/ads\/adtrafficquality\/index.html\">Google\u2019s Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center<\/a> provides details on Invalid Click Protection and ensures advertisers are not charged for fraudulent clicks or invalid traffic. Google has also recently acquired <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/why-google-bought-spiderio-2014-2\">Spider.io<\/a>, a UK company that helps advertisers and publishers ensure ads are being seen by humans.<\/p>\n<section data-role=\"forward-email-subscription-container\" class=\"full-width w-100 d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center bg-c7f2b3\">\n    \n    <div class=\"max-w-1400 w-100 form\">\n        <div class=\"text-content-container\">\n            <h2>\n                Stay Forward            <\/h2>\n            <p class=\"subtitle\">\n                Get exclusive insights into digital <br class=\"d-none d-lg-block\">media's top-trending topics delivered<br class=\"d-none d-lg-block\"> directly to your inbox.            <\/p>\n        <\/div>\n\n        <div data-role=\"form-group\">\n            <div class=\"d-flex flex-column w-100\">\n                <form data-forward-email-form class='custom-hubspot-form' id='hubspot_form_69f3a8547434d'>\n    <div class='d-flex input'>\n        <input type='email' class='form-control me-2 input' placeholder='Email address' aria-label='Email' name='email' required>\n        <button type='submit' class='btn_primary-filled_white'>Submit\n<\/button>\n    <\/div>\n    <p class='hubspot-status'><\/p>\n<\/form>\n<script>\njQuery(document).ready(function($) {\n    var form = $('#hubspot_form_69f3a8547434d');\n    form.on('submit', function(event) {\n        event.preventDefault();\n\n        \/\/ Get email input value\n        var emailInput = form.find('input[name=\"email\"]');\n        var email = emailInput.val().trim();\n\n        \/\/ Required HubSpot fields\n        var portalId = '5408011';\n        var formId = 'cafa8eb8-dd43-46cc-bec7-9f87e85b1bdb';\n\n        \/\/ Prepare the data payload\n        var data = {\n            fields: [\n                {\n                    name: 'email',\n                    value: email\n                }\n            ],\n            context: {\n                pageUri: window.location.href,\n                pageName: document.title\n            },\n            submittedAt: new Date().getTime()\n        };\n\n        \/\/ Get the status element for this form\n        var statusElement = form.siblings('.forward-email-status-container');\n\n        \/\/ Send the data to HubSpot\n        fetch('https:\/\/api.hsforms.com\/submissions\/v3\/integration\/submit\/5408011\/cafa8eb8-dd43-46cc-bec7-9f87e85b1bdb', {\n            method: 'POST',\n            headers: {\n                'Content-Type': 'application\/json'\n            },\n            body: JSON.stringify(data)\n        })\n        .then(response => {\n            if (response.ok) {\n                if(statusElement) {\n                    statusElement.text('Thanks for Subscribing!');\n                    statusElement.css('color', 'green');\n                }\n\n                var userInfo = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('userInfo'));\n                if (userInfo) {\n                    userInfo.event = 'Form_submit';\n                    userInfo.email = email;\n                    userInfo.form_name = 'Newsletter';\n                    window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];\n                    window.dataLayer.push(userInfo);\n                }\n\n                emailInput.val(''); \/\/ Clear the email field\n                window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('newsletter-submit'));\n            } else {\n                return response.json().then(error => {\n                    if(statusElement) {\n                        statusElement.text('Error: ' + error.message);\n                        statusElement.css({\n                            'color': 'red',\n                            'padding-top': '10px'\n                        });\n                    }\n                });\n            }\n        })\n        .catch(error => {\n            console.error('Error:', error);\n            statusElement.text(\"There was an error submitting the form.\");\n            statusElement.css({\n                'color': 'red',\n                'padding-top': '10px'\n            });\n        });\n    });\n\n    window.addEventListener('message', function(event) {\n        const isFormCallback = event.data.type === 'hsFormCallback';\n        const isFormSubmitted = event.data.eventName === 'onFormSubmitted';\n        const iscurrentForm = !!event?.data?.id ? 'cafa8eb8-dd43-46cc-bec7-9f87e85b1bdb'.trim() == event?.data?.id : false; \n\n        if( isFormCallback && isFormSubmitted && iscurrentForm ) {\n            console.log('event', event);\n            window.location.href = 'https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/thank-you\/';\n        }\n    });\n});\n<\/script>                <span class=\"forward-email-status-container\"><\/span>\n            <\/div>\n\n            <button id=\"forward-form-submission\" class=\"subscribe-btn\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"triggerButton(this)\">\n                <span class=\"d-inline-block\">\n                    SUBSCRIBE                <\/span>\n                <span class=\"d-inline-block bell-container\">\n                    <svg width=\"28\" height=\"28\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n                        <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M3.5458 14.4774L4.50055 13.234C4.50657 11.8629 4.56791 9.80824 5.17539 8.00401C5.52706 6.95953 6.09459 5.89126 7.03537 5.08C7.70533 4.50227 8.51103 4.10149 9.44696 3.90922C9.50872 3.69984 9.5922 3.49047 9.70471 3.28979C9.91134 2.92122 10.2194 2.57523 10.654 2.33189C11.0827 2.09183 11.5478 2 12 2C12.4355 2 12.8969 2.08208 13.3272 2.31763C13.7695 2.55969 14.0812 2.91045 14.2866 3.28943C14.3999 3.49849 14.4813 3.71787 14.5396 3.93682C15.5444 4.18145 16.3788 4.69659 17.0444 5.38131C17.9498 6.3126 18.4937 7.50224 18.8321 8.60503C19.3645 10.3395 19.4725 12.1499 19.4944 13.1421C19.9371 13.6338 20.3502 14.1627 20.6914 14.626C21.9447 16.3277 20.6148 18.5001 18.7001 18.5001L5.52863 18.5C3.45543 18.5 2.28314 16.1217 3.5458 14.4774Z\" stroke=\"#171616\" \/>\n                        <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M9.0857 19.3749C9.431 19.1461 9.89639 19.2405 10.1252 19.5858C10.874 20.7159 12.7481 21.0858 13.9 19.5501C14.1485 19.2187 14.6186 19.1516 14.95 19.4001C15.2813 19.6486 15.3485 20.1187 15.1 20.4501C13.2518 22.9143 10.126 22.3027 8.87475 20.4143C8.64596 20.069 8.74041 19.6037 9.0857 19.3749Z\" fill=\"#171616\" \/>\n                    <\/svg>\n                <\/span>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <script>\n        function triggerButton(button) {\n\n            var container = button.closest('[data-role=\"forward-email-subscription-container\"]');\n            var form = container.querySelector('[data-forward-email-form]');\n\n            if (form) {\n                jQuery(form).find(\"button[type='submit']\").trigger('click');\n            }\n        }\n    <\/script>\n\n<\/section>\n\n\n<p>In addition, when <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/roberthof\/2012\/08\/08\/stung-by-click-fraud-allegations-facebook-reveals-how-its-fighting-back\/\">Facebook advertisers<\/a> were targeted with click fraud a couple of years ago, an engineering director on Facebook`s ad team described a number of steps and processes their growing security and safety staff take to identify and address invalid ad clicks, including filtering bot clicks, identifying low value (double or repetitive) clicks, and monitoring click activity over a period of time.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.iab.net\/trafficgoodintent\">IAB<\/a> has a number of suggestions on how to address traffic fraud (a combo of click and impression fraud).<\/p>\n<address><a href=\"\/wpe-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/IAB.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4284 alignleft\" src=\"\/wpe-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/IAB-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"IAB\" width=\"270\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0Image Source: iab.net<\/address>\n<ul>\n<li>Here are some suggestions on what you, as an advertiser, can do to address click fraud:<\/li>\n<li>Educate yourself, this two-pager from the IAB is a good start.<\/li>\n<li>Monitor your campaigns closely and regularly, if you see a sudden spike in paid clicks or if impressions appear significantly more than your potential audience size, it\u2019s probably worth investigating.<\/li>\n<li>Work with media partners who have earned your trust.<\/li>\n<li>Our primary recommendation: take a performance-focused approach to paid media.\u00a0 Define media goals and objectives, and implement tactics that take end actions into consideration, like Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) or Cost Per Lead (CPL) campaigns.\u00a0 In doing so, you`re not relying on impressions and clicks to successfully meet your goals; you\u2019re focused on generating tangible conversions and paying only for those conversions.\u00a0 You\u2019re also holding your media partners accountable for conversion delivery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<address>For larger media programs, integrating comScore`s validated Campaign Essentials (vCE), helps to validate five key display advertising elements: viewability, audience targeting, geography, brand safety and non-human traffic.\u00a0 The combination of the two (performance-focused approach and validation technology) help to deliver effective media programs while addressing any threats of click fraud and brand safety. Having said all this, click fraud is still prevalent and it\u2019s important to keep this in mind for any paid media program.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/even-big-names-like-aol-and-yahoo-could-be-selling-fraudulent-online-ads-2013-10\">Ad exchanges<\/a> are now playing a larger role in the media mix and creating more opportunity for fraudulent media traffic.\u00a0 In-app mobile advertisers are also faced with the challenge of accidental and fraudulent clicks (47% of mobile application users <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/dmg-anti-click-fraud-solution-boosts-trust-in-mobile-advertising-151489315.html\">clicked on mobile ads by mistake<\/a>) but because of the many devices and browsers, and difficulty in identifying unique IP addresses for each user, it\u2019s tough to determine the source of these types of mobile clicks.<b> The bottom line:<\/b> media dollars are too important to lose to bots and click farms so be sure to monitor your campaigns regularly and watch out for CPC\u2019s that may be too good to be true, it\u2019s likely they are.<\/address>\n<address>\u00a0<\/address>\n<address>For more information, <a href=\"\/en-gb\/contact\/\">contact DAC!<\/a><\/address>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, a number of DAC clients have expressed concern around Click Fraud and the impacts, if any, it could have on their media programs.\u00a0 I remember in the early 2000s, long before automated PPC bid management was in play, having my own concerns around click fraud and actively monitoring campaigns to see if there really [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":101663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","reading_level":"Strategic","reading_level_confidence":0.72,"reading_level_needs_review":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[2890],"tags":[434,435,1033,439,440,494,493,491],"class_list":["post-103427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paid-media","tag-click-fraud","tag-digital-media","tag-display-2","tag-fraudulent-clicks","tag-invalid-traffic","tag-paid-media-2","tag-ppc-2","tag-search-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Click Fraud: The Dark Side of Digital Media | DAC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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