Many clients have asked about how to prioritize the actions needed to mitigate ad fraud. So we put together this list -- that describes a series of steps that we think about be most useful and practical. It also maps where some of the well known service offerings and providers fit into the ecosystem of digital ad fraud fighting.

1. Prioritizing Actions to
Fight Digital Ad Fraud
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://linkd.in/augustinefou
acfou @mktsci .com
February 2014
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Augustine Fou

2. Prioritization Pyramid
START at the bottom, low hanging fruit at bottom
30%
40%
30%
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targeting
optimization
improvement
delivery
viewability
bots /not seen by humans
waste
reduction
Augustine Fou

3. Low Hanging Fruit
The most immediate, direct impact on ROI comes from reducing waste
Action
25% On-Target Delivery
3a
(Nielsen)
82% Ignored (not relevant)
(Harris Interactive)
54% Not In View (not seen)
2a
(comScore)
23% Ad Blocked (wasn’t shown)
(PageFair)
24 – 29% confirmed bot
(Solve Media)
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1a, 1b
Augustine Fou

4. Reduce Waste Due to Fraud
“Ads shown on sites that were created by
bad guys using algorithms and ad
impressions and clicks generated by bots
are forms of ad waste that should be cut
out first – leading to a direct and
immediate return/ROI.”
-- Dr. Augustine Fou
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Augustine Fou

5. 1a. Show Ads on Legit Sites
YouTube
TrueView - pay only when user
chooses not to skip your ad.
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Google or Bing
Search ads shown on
Google.com or Bing.com have
much less instances of fraud.
Augustine Fou

6. 1b. Blacklist Bad Guy Sites
Value
Exclude sites from serving
your ads (search, display)
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Caveat
For every site excluded,
bad guys put up more
(because they don‟t have
to play by the rules).
Augustine Fou

7. Improve Viewability/Delivery
“Once the most obvious forms of waste
are solved, then brands can move on to
improving „viewability‟ or ensuring highquality „delivery‟ of their ads, using
viewability and brand-safety technology
platforms.”
-- Mike Moran
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Augustine Fou

8. 2a. Ad Was Human Viewable
Brand safety, placement, viewability, bot detect, human viewer
Source: Integral Ads
Source: DoubleVerify
Tech platforms that take samples of ad impressions to analyze
for proper placement, viewability, and human views (not bots)
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Augustine Fou

9. Optimize Targeting
“Non-human and not in-view traffic
confounds measurement systems.
Once those are under control, reach
and targeting optimization can
become much more effective”
-- Ted McConnell
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Augustine Fou

10. 3a. Optimizing Targeting
Increasing relevance, timeliness, and accuracy based on big data
Using many forms of big data (social, mobile, retargeting,
search, etc.) ad networks/optimizers improve targeting.
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Augustine Fou

11. OTHER:
Advanced Fraud Detection
(manual, automated)
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Augustine Fou

12. Spider.io (Google)
Analysis of how malware-compomised PCs commit fraud
Opening multiple hidden Internet Explorer browser
windows
The payload controlling the infected PC opens
multiple hidden browser windows. Each browser
window is an embedded instance of the version of
Internet Explorer already installed on the infected
PC. In the screenshot below we show that the hidden
browser windows are not listed by Task Manager. We
used Nir Sofer’s WinLister to reveal the hidden
windows, the names of which start with ―clk‖ [9].
Source: http://www.spider.io/blog/2013/12/cyber-criminals-defraud-display-advertisers-with-tdss/
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Augustine Fou

13. WhiteOps
On-page JS code to detect when bots load the page
Mr. Tiffany said traffic fraud can be found not only on smaller
sites serving as shells to game ad exchanges, but on the domains
of premium publishers as well.
"What we do know is that it's not just a problem hiding out in the
long tail, it's not just a problem of bogus websites," he said.
"Bots have infiltrated traffic systems across the ecosystem and
end up at some premium, name brand publishers."
Source: AdAge - Premium Publishers Are Getting Victimized By Traffic Fraud, Too Feb 2014
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Augustine Fou

14. Solve Media
Ad delivery only to real humans who successfully solve CAPTCHAs
TYPE-IN™ ads:
Solve Media's proprietary TYPE-IN™
advertising guarantees your messaging
won't be ignored—because it can't be.
Our simple, effective and memorable
TYPE-IN™ advertising lets users type
in brand messages where they interact
on web pages and mobile apps—
replacing difficult CAPTCHAs,
allowing people to skip video pre-roll
ads, or unlocking access to valuable
mobile experiences. The result:
superior brand lift. Here's how:
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• Guarantee engagement with your
message every time
• Deliver 1200% greater message
recall than banner ads
• Outperform comScore Brand
Lift norms by an average of 10X
across awareness, association,
favorability, and purchase intent
• Are performance-based, so you
only pay for true engagement.
Impressions that users don't
engage with are free
Augustine Fou

15. Subject Matter
Experts
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Augustine Fou

16. Mike Moran
IBM Distinguished Engineer, Advanced Text Analytics
Mike worked for IBM for 30 years, rising to the level of Distinguished
Engineer. Mike has more than 20 years experience in search technology, led
the IBM product team that developed the first commercial linguistic search
engine in 1989, and has been granted five patents in search and retrieval
technology. He led the integration of ibm.com's site search technologies and
served as product manager for IBM's search and text analytics products
Author of the acclaimed book on Internet marketing, Do It Wrong Quickly,
on the heels of the best-selling Search Engine Marketing, Inc., Mike Moran
led many initiatives on IBM's Web site for eight years, including IBM's
original search marketing strategy. Mike also serves as Chief Strategist
for Converseon, a leading social media consultancy based in New York City.
Mike holds an Advanced Certificate in Market Management Practice from
the Royal UK Charter Institute of Marketing, and is a Visiting Lecturer at
the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. He also writes a
marketing column for Search Engine Guide and for the Biznology
newsletter and blog.
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Augustine Fou

17. Dr. Augustine Fou – Technical Forensics
“I advise clients on optimizing
advertising across all channels. One
main area of focus is reducing ad waste
due to fraud – fake impressions, clicks,
leads, and sales – in order to raise ROI.”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
ClickZ Articles: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-clickz
Slideshares: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-slideshares
LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/augustinefou
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@acfou
Augustine Fou

18. Ted McConnell – Digital Consigliere
“My Goals are to drive, and participate
in the process that yields the winning
vision for my clients. I'm a Digital
Marketing Generalist: I've Run large
organizations, been staff to c-level
executives at P&G, hold 4 Patents,
successfully driven change in Marketing
and Advertising practice in P&G and
other companies.”
ADVERTISING RESEARCH FOUNDATION
MANAGER, DIGITAL MARKETING INNOVATION
AdAge Articles: http://adage.com/author/ted-mcconnell/4334
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/ted-mcconnell/0/5b5/8a2
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Augustine Fou

19. Related Articles
ROI Case for Solving Ad Fraud
By: Augustine Fou January 2014
Fake YouTube Videos
By: Augustine Fou, December 2013
Digital Ad Fraud Briefing
By: Augustine Fou December 2013
Motive and Opportunity for Ad Fraud
By: Augustine Fou, February 2014
How Display Fraud Works
By: Augustine Fou, May 2013
Fake Facebook Profiles
By: Augustine Fou, Dec 2013
How Click Fraud Works
By: Augustine Fou, November 2013
Fake Twitter Accounts
By: Augustine Fou, August 2013
The Magnitude of Digital Ad Fraud
By: Augustine Fou, November 2013
Display Fraud 101 (video)
By: Augustine Fou, Feb 2014
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Augustine Fou