• by Leo Giel , Op-Ed Contributor, August 22, 2016

Let's be honest… one of the reasons why fraud has become so prevalent on desktops is because so many players in the online advertising eco-system benefit from fraud. Like saying 'no' to one small piece of chocolate, it's hard to pass on something which provides immediate gratification (revenue / lower expenses), even if you know that there might be a price to pay.

 

But in reality, and long-term, we're all losing from fraud. And there is a price to pay for fraud.

Marketers get annoyed if they have to pay for fraudulent clicks / traffic and installs (especially, when some sophisticated fraud methods attribute organic installs to the fraudulent publisher!), causing them to apply greater pressure on their agencies. They, in turn, become more selective when seeking publishers and when vetting programmatic buys.

This hurts everyone in the ad tech eco-system. And if there is too much noise about fraud, we risk welcoming government intervention to help solve ad fraud. Does anyone really want government intervention in ad tech?

That's why we need to stop blaming others in the ad tech eco-system for their contributions to mobile fraud and instead look internally to make sure that each and every one of us is doing what we can do to monitor fraud internally and on a continuous basis to ensure that we're not the problem.

Where do we begin? By looking at the traffic sources we're buying.

Most companies in the mobile ad tech eco-system are buying traffic. Publishers often buy traffic to increase their users / page views. They can buy the traffic from ad tech vendors, traffic brokers or other sources. Advertisers also buy traffic for their campaigns.

If you're reading this, chances are that either you or one of your direct partners / agencies is buying traffic.

So what can you do? Continuously analyze your traffic. Find a lab that will create a series of diagnostic tests for analyzing your traffic. Have the lab run tests where ads are clicked on in-app and on the mobile web and monitor what happens after the click. Have the lab video tape the activity so that you can track and show your traffic sources inconsistent or fraudulent activity.

And if you find something which looks fraudulent, don't issue a press release. Instead, call in the partner, share your findings and work with them to identify and solve the problem. We've all had our run-ins with fraud and the only way we'll solve the problem and clean up mobile fraud is by working together.

I know what you're thinking. Analyzing your trusted partners’ traffic is like following your teenager around 24/7. Like any teen, your partners won't be thrilled when they find out you've been monitoring their traffic. But unfortunately, that's the only way for us, as an industry, to be sure that we're fraud-free.

Monitoring traffic isn't something you do on the fifth Tuesday of the month.

Traffic needs to be monitored on a continuous basis because your sources are buying traffic from multiple partners and these sources vary greatly. A great and trusted partner might have one questionable traffic source.

Uncovering this source shouldn't be the end of the relationship with your partner —though it should prompt them to vet their partners. Quite the opposite – it should lead to the strengthening of relationships with partners who take eliminating fraud seriously.

Fraud is already a serious problem in mobile advertising, and it's only going to become a bigger problem as time progresses unless we as an industry work together. If you can think of a better / more effective way to solve mobile ad fraud, I'm all ears.

 Regardless, it will take the entire mobile advertising village to solve this problem, and we're all going to have to work together.