6 Types of Ad Fraud Every Advertiser Should Recognise
By Adsonmarket Editorial Team ·
Ad fraud is not one problem but several schemes that look different in your reports. Recognising the pattern is the first step to stopping the spend.
The six schemes
Each leaves a different footprint.
- Bot traffic — automated views and clicks
- Click farms — paid humans clicking
- Domain spoofing — cheap sites pretending to be premium
- Ad stacking — many ads layered in one slot
- Pixel stuffing — ads shrunk to 1×1
- Cookie stuffing — fake attribution
Signals in your reports
High CTR with zero conversions, traffic at odd hours, and placements you don't recognise.
Protection
Use networks that review publishers, block poor placements and track conversions, not just clicks.
Example
A suspicious placement
One placement delivered 40% of a campaign's clicks but no sign-ups. Excluding it cut cost per sign-up by a third.
Step-by-step
- Report by placement weekly
- Flag high CTR / no conversion sources
- Exclude them
- Request refunds for confirmed invalid traffic
Advertise with Adsonmarket
Launch campaigns with CPM, CPC or CPA pricing, country targeting and clear reporting.