Brands Don't Just Lose Revenue, But Much More Due To Ad Fraud

Amit Relan 1 Dec 05, 2022

Digital advertising is here to change the game of advertising for brands. It is predicted that digital spending by brands is going to reach USD 780.75 bn by 2024. While the bought traffic took flight and the advertising spends increased, the bot traffic is also ready to take the leap.

Ad Fraud is growing and evolving with every penny extra increased by advertisers. It is estimated that globally advertisers will lose close to USD 68bn due to ad fraud. Ad fraud is not a newly coined term, rather it has existed for decades. Over the years, fraudsters have evolved and today bots account for approximately 45 per cent of the traffic on the web.

To fight ad fraud, marketers have taken the resort of many platforms for safeguarding their ads. However, fraudsters are not just satisfied with stealing money. Their attacks have become more advanced and capable to steal advertisers’ data and hijack their consumer’s data.

Thus, not just the money, but many more assets are at stake due to ad fraud.

Frauds That Cost More Than Just Money

The fraudsters have developed discreet, smart, and advanced techniques to hide behind a real user and steal advertisers’ money. However, there are a few techniques that indirectly impact the loyal consumers of the brand.

Domain Spoofing – This is a type of phishing attack where the fraudster impersonates a high-quality domain website. It is most insidious and difficult to detect attacks making it lucrative for fraudsters. As the advertisers are unaware of the low-quality inventories sold as premium inventories, they never question. Whereas, when their consumers end up seeing the brand’s ads beside unsafe content, they question the brand’s integrity. They eventually lose trust in the brand which eventually puts the brand’s reputation at stake.

Affiliate Fraud – While the fraudulent publishers put the advertisers in a difficult position, there is another party to join the wagon. Fraudulent affiliates also use discreet ways to ensure that they juice out all the potential using the brand’s assets.

Firstly, they bid on the advertiser’s branded keywords to divert their organic traffic to their website. This eventually leads to the user taking the action and attributing it to the affiliate. As a result, the affiliates get the money, and the advertiser ends up losing an organic user and the money as well.

Another instance is when the affiliates use incorrect messaging or fake coupons under the brand’s name to attract users. However, when the user initiates to avail the offer or coupon, they end up getting nothing. In some cases, they have to also share personal information to avail the benefits.