by Kyle Buzzell | Nov 9, 2016
The online advertising ecosystem is a dog. We train it, teach it cool tricks but it’ll always attract fleas and find ways to get dirty. The ecosystem requires constant vigilance and care. Unfortunately, we have not been its best stewards.
We have allowed bots and other instruments of fraud to infiltrate the online ecosystem. Many shrug this off as just a fact of life. However, just because a dog gets fleas doesn’t mean we should let them set up camp.
The scale of this problem requires a concerted response: it will happen…just not anytime soon. Fortunately, those willing to commit the resources toward clean traffic will have the edge when the tide ultimately comes in…here’s why.
They aren’t buying what you’re selling
It’s simple, advertising is the vehicle that drives consumers from awareness to conversion. To accomplish this, advertising needs to be seen. Specifically, it needs to be seen by those who are willing and able to act on it.
The advertising law, “the right person at the right time,” requires one thing: people. Your ad may or may not be relevant now, but it can be in the future. People change, their lives change, and their needs change.
What don’t? Bots. And yet they account for up to 60% of global internet traffic. For your purposes, up to a third of the traffic you buy can be comprised of them. Benign or malicious, it doesn’t matter: they aren’t your target market.
Dirt isn’t cheap
This year, it’s estimated that nonhuman traffic [see bots] will cost the industry $7.2 billion. That figure is estimated to balloon to $50 billion by 2025. These figures are impressive, but the overall footprint is far greater.
Remember above, advertising drives conversions and they represent revenue. In the UK alone, it’s estimated that every £1 of advertising drives £6 of economy. The cost to the industry is only a drop in the ocean that is the world economy.
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has gone so far as to state that ad fraud is a new security risk. Forgive them their hyperbole…they’re advertisers after all. Nonetheless, the point is crystal: as the ad industry goes, so goes the economy.
Everyone’s dirty and everyone knows it
Looking at the latest headlines, it appears that the digital ad world is a veritable frontier. Up until recently, Criteo and SteelHouse were accusing one another of click fraud. They settled, but are not releasing any details.
Meanwhile, Facebook was inflating its watchthrough estimates 60 to 80% by excluding videos viewed for less than 3 seconds. Although this didn’t impact advertiser billings, advertisers are drawing their conclusions.
In fact, 92% advertisers surveyed by WFA believe ad fraud is primarily due to, “…the structure and systems in the digital media ecosystem.” The votes are in, the system is inelegant and ridiculously opaque…it’s time to clean up.
Someone’s gone clean
Early on, we’ve put our full force into “keeping the dog clean”. We’ve committed to this because our strategy isn’t chained to quarterly reports. Instead, our strategy is tied to relationships that are based on trust.
That’s why we formed a dedicated fraud team that not only performs manual analysis but designs and implements proprietary, as well as 3rd-party systems to detect and prevent fraud. Their time, talent, and effort have paid off:
on average, Adcash traffic is now 93.5% clean and most importantly, the trend is upward
What does this mean for our partners? You’re with an ad partner that is not only on the cutting edge of technology but of staving off ad fraud as well. We’re calling it; Adcash is the cleanest ad network in the industry.
The online advertising ecosystem is a dog. We train it, teach it cool tricks but it’ll always attract fleas and find ways to get dirty. The ecosystem requires constant vigilance and care. Unfortunately, we have not been its best stewards.
We have allowed bots and other instruments of fraud to infiltrate the online ecosystem. Many shrug this off as just a fact of life. However, just because a dog gets fleas doesn’t mean we should let them set up camp.
The scale of this problem requires a concerted response: it will happen…just not anytime soon. Fortunately, those willing to commit the resources toward clean traffic will have the edge when the tide ultimately comes in…here’s why.
They aren’t buying what you’re selling
It’s simple, advertising is the vehicle that drives consumers from awareness to conversion. To accomplish this, advertising needs to be seen. Specifically, it needs to be seen by those who are willing and able to act on it.
The advertising law, “the right person at the right time,” requires one thing: people. Your ad may or may not be relevant now, but it can be in the future. People change, their lives change, and their needs change.
What don’t? Bots. And yet they account for up to 60% of global internet traffic. For your purposes, up to a third of the traffic you buy can be comprised of them. Benign or malicious, it doesn’t matter: they aren’t your target market.
Dirt isn’t cheap
This year, it’s estimated that nonhuman traffic [see bots] will cost the industry $7.2 billion. That figure is estimated to balloon to $50 billion by 2025. These figures are impressive, but the overall footprint is far greater.
Remember above, advertising drives conversions and they represent revenue. In the UK alone, it’s estimated that every £1 of advertising drives £6 of economy. The cost to the industry is only a drop in the ocean that is the world economy.
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has gone so far as to state that ad fraud is a new security risk. Forgive them their hyperbole…they’re advertisers after all. Nonetheless, the point is crystal: as the ad industry goes, so goes the economy.
Everyone’s dirty and everyone knows it
Looking at the latest headlines, it appears that the digital ad world is a veritable frontier. Up until recently, Criteo and SteelHouse were accusing one another of click fraud. They settled, but are not releasing any details.
Meanwhile, Facebook was inflating its watchthrough estimates 60 to 80% by excluding videos viewed for less than 3 seconds. Although this didn’t impact advertiser billings, advertisers are drawing their conclusions.
In fact, 92% advertisers surveyed by WFA believe ad fraud is primarily due to, “…the structure and systems in the digital media ecosystem.” The votes are in, the system is inelegant and ridiculously opaque…it’s time to clean up.
Someone’s gone clean
Early on, we’ve put our full force into “keeping the dog clean”. We’ve committed to this because our strategy isn’t chained to quarterly reports. Instead, our strategy is tied to relationships that are based on trust.
That’s why we formed a dedicated fraud team that not only performs manual analysis but designs and implements proprietary, as well as 3rd-party systems to detect and prevent fraud. Their time, talent, and effort have paid off:
on average, Adcash traffic is now 93.5% clean and most importantly, the trend is upward
What does this mean for our partners? You’re with an ad partner that is not only on the cutting edge of technology but of staving off ad fraud as well. We’re calling it; Adcash is the cleanest ad network in the industry.
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