Beware of the bots — tackling the issue of ad fraud

Chad Kinlay, Chief Marketing Officer, Trafficguard

2021 saw an upsurge of digital advertising spending and with it another uphill struggle against opportunistic fraudsters. Yet with preventive measures in place, marketers can stem the tide of wasted advertising dollars — but why are so many choosing not to?

Imagine you had a pie, warm and freshly baked from the oven. You divide it up, eat half, and then throw the rest in the bin. This may seem a crude analogy, but this is the effect of rampant ad fraud on the marketing industry. Every day, marketers spend thousands of hours and dollars planning, crafting, and strategizing a campaign, only for a significant chunk of the proceeds to end up as waste.

It’s true, ad fraud has plagued the industry for years now. Indeed, back in 2016, the World Federation of Advertisers predicted that it would become the second-largest market for organized crime.

‍