Where is mobile ad fraud going?
Following our recent webinar “a practical guide on how to counter fraudsters”, in partnership with 24Metrics, we now want to give you more insights by addressing some of the most interesting questions we received. Take a look at them and have a nice reading.
Main sources of fraudulent activity and ways to prevent it
Click injections, duplicated IPs and VPN traffic are currently the principal techniques fraudsters use to fool the system. Analyzing sources of traffic, especially the new ones, to detect unusual activities and act quickly are the most effective solutions to counter mobile ad fraud.
How to detect the fraud traffic and prevent mobile ad fraud?
Detecting fraudulent traffic is quite challenging, since fraudsters seem to be able to continuously find new ways to trick the industry. It requires a lot of efforts, but it’s definitely possible to do it. The main method consists in collecting all the data coming from tracking systems as IP addresses, user agents, session time and build profiles to understand how normal traffic looks like and compare it to sources you are buying traffic from. For example, if you see duplicated IPs from a single traffic source or a 30% of the VPN traffic, there is a high likelihood of dealing with a mobile ad fraud.
Transparency and sharing of data, as well as full cooperation between marketers and partners, are the main preventive measures. Being able to identify sources of traffic that have breached or violated terms and sharing them on a public basis can also be helpful too. If chargebacks are relevant, detailed proof from the advertiser, to be shared in real time as part of the essential communication processes, are also pertinent. Looking at one element alone isn’t enough – but gauging the overall picture and considering all of the above is a good start.
Types of fraud to emerge in the future
Predicting what types of fraud will emerge in the future is troublesome, since mobile ad frauds are sharply spreading, and they are expected to do so even more: fraudster publishers seem to be able to continuously find new ways to steal advertising budgets. What we can predict is that fraudsters are likely to develop new mechanisms and more sophisticated bots behaviors to carry out their activities. Certainly, there will be a shift towards more professionalism in the fraudsters industry; that’s why mobile marketers and partners will need to improve cooperation and communication, in addition to data analysis.
Watch our webinar here and get our ebook to deeply understand the matter and how to effectively counter fraudsters.
