Click Fraud Exposed – How SiteLab Prevents Click Fraud
September 22nd, 2009by Tom Klingebiel
On Thursday, September 17th Mpire Corporation, with the help of its AdXpose technology, released a study that found nearly half of all ad impressions and 95% of clicks were ‘fraudulent’. A shocking revelation, yes, but we at Sitelab take several steps to drastically reduce the impact click fraud has on our online media campaigns. Below are a few best practices we adhere to prior to and during a campaign launch.
- Avoid Run-of-Network (RON) or Run-of-Site (ROS) Buys – Always apply targeting to your buy. Always. Target audiences should be researched and defined prior to campaign launch. You can easily find site profile information by using tools such as Google’s Ad Planner or Quantcast. By targeting your buy and avoiding blanket RON, you reduce the number of sites ad networks can place your ad and you eliminate most sites that provide no demographicor site profile information.
- Don’t Rely on Publisher Data – If you purchase your media through a publisher directly or though an ad network, insist on using 3rd party tracking solutions. The 2 big ones are Atlas and Doubleclick. Check the discrepancy between publisher data and your analytics provider data daily to make sure numbers match. There is an industry acceptance of 20% variance but push hard to make sure the publishers are reporting accurate data.
- Monitor Performance – If you’ve noticed strange spikes in impressions, bring it to your publisher’s attention. Be inquisitive and ask for screenshots of your ads. If you see your ad on a site that you feel isn’t consistent with the brand image, request to have your ads blocked from that site. You’d be surprised what you’ll get from publishers and networks if you just ask.
- Be Careful with Niche Sites – Although niche sites are a great way of reaching your target audience, they may fly under the radar when it comes to industry compliance. Check conversion rates to make sure your clicks are converting to sales (extremely low CVR rates could be an indicator of click fraud). If you see they’re not converting, bring it to the site’s attention and request daily reports. Keeping on top of them will ensure they’re running the best campaign possible because only then will you continue to give them your business
If you do your pre campaign homework, follow up on any red flags in reporting and implement back up analytics tracking, your should be able to all but eliminate impression and click fraud within your online media campaigns.
