How to Battle Digital Ad Fraud with Blockchain

If you are engaged in digital advertising, you probably understand how much traffic is fraudulent. In 2017, according to the research by The&Partnership, the losses from ad fraud were estimated at $16bn. In 2018, the fraud cost is expected to rise to $19bn, which is as much as Facebook spent on WhatsApp. However, this damage can be reduced with blockchain. Read this post to understand how.

The Types of Ad Fraud Out There

There are plenty of ways to cheat advertisers on the internet. Among the most widespread options are the following:

• Non-human traffic. When you place your digital ad, you hope that all the clicks will lead to your page and then potentially to the target action. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work in such a way all the time.

Sometimes, those fighting against digital ads install clickbots to click ads away while surfing the internet. Sometimes, ad agencies or publishers use software that automates clicking. Also, there are cases when hijacked devices can be used for these purposes. Anyway, none of these methods can even potentially lead to sales but only devours ad budgets.

• ‘Ad stacking’. This type of fraud is characterized by overlaying a few ad blocks one over the other when only the top layer is visible for website visitors. All the advertisers would pay for such impressions, though.

When it comes to the numbers, the scale of the problem becomes clear. In 2017, Japan led the ranking with 80% of the fraudulent ad impressions.

• Pixel stuffing. Malevolent ad publishers can frame an advertising block in a one-pixel square. In this case, impressions will still be counted and paid for by advertisers, although the ad is not visible to visitors.

• Pop-unders and auto-page refreshes. Some website owners can increase the number of ad impressions by using pop-unders and auto-page refreshes. In the former case, the advertisement pops up in the separate window under the current one, and a visitor can see it only when she closes all the windows above. In the latter case, a website automatically refreshes itself, adding up impressions every single time.

How Can Blockchain Help?

Blockchain can qualify the traffic by ‘remembering’ a visitor’s behavioral pattern since their first interaction. Being difficult to hack and guaranteeing data immutability, blockchain will also be strengthening its database over time as more data is added. Then, it becomes possible to detect non-human traffic through artificial intelligence and block it.

Blockchain’s smart contracts can trigger payments to publishers after checking the ad placement parameters against the agreed ones (ad location, size, the absence of layers, etc.). It means that an advertiser can be sure that a publisher hasn’t cheated and gobbled up their ad budget.

How Can Digital Ad Stakeholders Benefit with Blockchain?

Have you ever been scammed with such ad fraud as non-human traffic, ad staking, pixel stuffing, pop-unders, and auto-page refreshes? If yes, you know how ugly the issue is.

If you are an advertiser, you can use blockchain-powered solutions to avoid digital ad fraud. With blockchain, you can be sure that traffic is fair and no impressions are faked.

If you are an ad agency, you can develop your own blockchain-driven software to stand out in this market. It’s possible to deliver your product faster if you use an off-the-shelf blockchain platform, such as genEOS. You can leverage its ready-to-use smart contracts, inherent decentralization, high-level security, and exponencial scalability. By providing near-instant analytics, blocking fraudulent traffic, and guaranteeing extra anti-fraud checks, you can transform the market of online advertising and deliver services with added value.