Proactive vs Reactive: Finding the Right Approach to Getting Affiliate Ad Fraud Under Control

For many business-to-consumer (B2C) brands, an affiliate marketing program is a low-cost, high-reward marketing technique. It involves a third party selling a business’s products or services, and every time a sale is made by the third party, they earn a commission.

It’s a smart strategy, as according to a report from Influencer Marketing Hub, more than 90% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement. However, the enticement of additional profit can often temp affiliate partners to perpetuate or allow invalid activity to occur to drive up their sales and take a higher commission, also known as affiliate ad fraud.

Brands have a number of ways available to combat affiliate ad fraud, protect their budgets and strengthen their affiliate program, including both reactive and proactive approaches.

The Tactics and Techniques to Getting Affiliate Ad Fraud Under Control

When it comes to affiliate ad fraud, there’s a wide range of techniques fraudsters are using to commit it, which is why it’s so difficult for businesses to manually detect and tackle it. However, it is important for brands to have some understanding of what they’re facing to best identify how it should be addressed.

There are affiliate scams in every customer-facing industry, and as they evolve in sophistication and become harder to recognize, the threat only becomes greater. Some of the tactics and techniques include:

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