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What is

INVALID TRAFFIC?

Invalid Traffic (IVT) is generated when malicious bots view and click on ads in order to inflate conversion numbers, resulting in wasted advertiser spend.
Human-Invalid Traffic-Header Image

These bots take hold when publishers pay third-party audience extension companies to artificially boost traffic numbers to meet impression goals. Although the third-party sources may not themselves deploy bots, these user acquisition companies often bring on additional fourth- and fifth-party sources, which can be breeding grounds for cybercriminals looking to inflate traffic numbers with malicious bots—and cash in on the clicks. As these networks expand, the likelihood for invalid traffic increases, as does the probability for disruptions in impression quality.

While simple bots are easier to detect, sophisticated bots closely mimic human behavior and generally require companies to employ advanced bot detection to detect them in a crowd.

What are the different types of invalid traffic?

There are two kinds of invalid traffic: general invalid traffic (GIVT) and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT).

IronNet-Invalid Traffic-GIVT@2x
General invalid traffic (GIVT)

Usually originating from data centers, general invalid traffic is created by simple bots that are not meant to be malicious and are easier to spot with basic bot detection solutions. There are a few different categories of GIVT:

  • Data center: When the IP address associated with non-human ad traffic traces to a server in a data center, it is considered bot traffic.
  • Known crawler: Associated with automated scripts or programs—often called bots or spiders—that are coded to identify themselves as non-human, known crawler traffic is generally thought to be good and legitimate, although not for the purposes of counting ad impressions.
  • Irregular pattern: Some invalid traffic comes from impression-skewing occurrences like duplicate clicks or a webpage automatically refreshing. When traffic exhibits one or more of these attributes, it’s categorized as irregular pattern traffic.
IronNet-Invalid Traffic-SIVT@2x
Sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT)

Sophisticated and malicious bot activity that is intended to closely mirror human behavior, sophisticated invalid traffic comes from bots that are particularly good at evading detection. Ridding your traffic of SIVT requires advanced bot detection. There are a few different categories of SIVT:

  • Automated browsing: When a program or automated script requests web content (including digital ads) without user involvement and without declaring itself as a crawler, it’s considered automated browsing. These programs and scripts are generally used for malicious purposes.
    - Ex. Botnets
  • False representation: Ad requests in which the actual ad is rendered to a different website or application, device or other target (such as geography)—in other words, a request for inventory that is different from the inventory being supplied—is considered false representation.
    - Ex. Spoofed measurement, domain spoofing, emulators masquerading
  • Misleading user interface: Traffic from ads that render without being visible, trick users into clicking, or are otherwise modified to falsely include one or more ads in an unintended location qualify as misleading user interface.
    - Ex. Stacked ads, hidden ads
  • Manipulated behavior: When a browser, application, or other program triggers ad interactions without a user’s consent—such as an unintended click, an unexpected conversion, or false attribution for mobile app installation—it’s considered manipulated behavior.
    - Ex. Pop-unders, aggressive pop-ups, forced new window
  • Incentivized behavior: Traffic driven by explicit incentives driving user interaction with ads—solely to receive the incentive, and without the advertiser knowing—is known as incentivized behavior.
    - Ex. Financial incentives

How can advertisers fight invalid traffic?

To have success against invalid traffic, advertisers need to adjust how they think.

Metrics are the guiding light for most advertising businesses, but one in particular may steer us wrong when it comes to ad fraud: that is, an advertiser’s SIVT percentage. While a dip may look encouraging, advertisers should put SIVT percentage in context by considering adjustments in campaign tactics and the sources of their invalid traffic. Ultimately, any amount of SIVT costs companies’ ad spend—so the ultimate goal should be to reduce fraud as much as possible, rather than attempt to live below an arbitrary benchmark. Understanding where SIVT comes from—and following IAB standards, such as app-ads.txt—can help companies move toward eliminating wasted spend.

What is HUMAN’s solution to protect against invalid traffic?

Our solutions help you fight fraud with collective protection.

HUMAN believes that collective protection is the best way to fight fraud, such as invalid traffic, on the internet. Working with us means finding safety in numbers, as we currently protect 80 percent of the programmatic ecosystem. A closer look at how we fight invalid traffic:

MediaGuard

Prevent malicious bots from affecting your inventory quality with a solution that fights all types of invalid traffic, including sophisticated invalid traffic.

BotGuard for Growth Marketing

Lower cost, boost digital marketing performance, and detect automated engagement in digital marketing.

The Human Collective

A program using collective protection to give partners an edge in the fight against invalid traffic and fraud.

MediaGuard

Prevent malicious bots from affecting your inventory quality with a solution that fights all types of invalid traffic, including sophisticated invalid traffic.

BotGuard for Growth Marketing

Lower cost, boost digital marketing performance, and detect automated engagement in digital marketing.

The Human Collective

A program using collective protection to give partners an edge in the fight against invalid traffic and fraud.

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