What is ad fraud?

Ad fraud refers to malicious practices that create false or misleading traffic and metrics in the advertising ecosystem. This encompasses a variety of deceptive techniques such as click fraud, where automated systems or bots generate artificial clicks on ads without real user engagement, and impression fraud, where ads are displayed in non-visible locations to inflate view counts without any actual exposure to a genuine audience. The core issue with ad fraud is that it undermines the effectiveness of advertising campaigns by providing inaccurate data, leading marketers to make misguided decisions based on inflated performance metrics.

Understanding ad fraud is crucial for advertisers and digital marketers, as it can significantly impact return on investment (ROI) and the overall efficiency of ad spending. Identifying and mitigating fraudulent activities is essential for achieving genuine engagement and successful advertising outcomes.