How to not get looted in the name of advertising?

In the years since the internet became widely used, digital advertising has created a wide range of new revenue prospects in the healthcare industry. Online advertising may efficiently expose businesses to a large audience and aid in business growth. Online advertising costs a lot of money. Offenders trying to make quick cash by robbing marketers and business owners of their advertising budgets have been drawn to this massive marketing spend.

For companies of all sizes and in all sectors, this ad fraud or advertisement fraud has grown to be a serious problem. Additionally, businesses stand to lose more money to ad fraud the more money they spend on advertising.

What fraud is and how can healthcare providers and other businesses protect themselves against it. In this article, let's learn more about:

Let’s define advertising fraud first. When criminals try to cheat businesses out of money from their advertising efforts, this is known as ad fraud. Depending on the methods the fraudster employs and the kind of advertising campaign being cheated, this fraud may take many different shapes.

The following are some of the major types of ad fraud that marketers and business owners need to be aware of:

1. Cookies Stuffing

When someone commits cookie stuffing fraud, they simultaneously place a number of affiliate tracking cookies in the browser of website visitors in case they later visit a website that participates in an affiliate programme.

The affiliate marketing programme of the merchant grants credit for the visit to the cookie stuffer even though the fraudster never really advertised the site since their browser has an affiliate tracking cookie. Since the fraudster is taking credit for their leads and sales, this misattribution can drain advertising budgets and harm loyal affiliates.

Keep in mind that basic language does not have to be boring! There are numerous simple power words that can be used to create intriguing yet easy-to-read ad content.

2. Domain Spoofing

Cybercriminals can deceive marketers into paying more than necessary for advertising space on a faked website by faking a domain.

A cost per mille (CPM) that is too low for a high-value site and a strange email being listed as the domain owner are some warning indications of domain spoofing. Other warning signals include traffic from the faked domain not suiting what the website should be getting.

3. Click Injection

This is an ad fraud tactic where thieves place malware on user devices. The malware will then create clicks on banner advertisements on websites or adverts on Facebook in order to artificially raise the cost of those ads. Botnets are groups of infected devices.

Malicious software in mobile device apps can spread bad bots, which can cost billions of dollars in losses.

There are plenty others, but how can we secure our digital environment from such ad fraud?

1. Distinguish between humans and bots

There are some simple preventive methods that publishers may deploy to improve human connection while limiting bots. Encourage users to sign up for website access or put up a paywall. CAPTCHAs are another way that provides consumers with simple tests that only humans can perform. A “honeypot,” which is an unseen image or form field on a webpage, is another non-intrusive method for detecting bots. While humans cannot see it, bots processing the HTML code will interact with it.

2. Do Not Solely Rely on Anti - fraud Firms

Because they evaluate broad and complex invalid traffic and provide friction to prevent fraud, ad fraud detection services are an important component of how the market operates. However, all technology and diverse approaches have limitations, therefore it’s critical to apply sound business processes and human intervention to guard against bot traffic and assist decrease the danger of fraud.

3. Constantly monitor traffic

It is critical for companies to know where their site traffic is originating from and to analyze traffic sources on a regular basis. A publisher may increase traffic by holding a social media contest or sending out an email blast. Web analytics can quickly identify these types of marketing activity. However, if the source is unknown, or if the traffic exhibits suspicious features such as surges at unusual times, or if it originates from a single place or device type, these are red flags that the publisher must address.

4. On-site examination

When you notice the same ad doing normally in one channel, displaying true activity (browsing through other pages, typical time on page, etc.), but performing poorly in another channel, it’s time to delve deeper and explore.

5. Use the Ads.txt file

This purchasing approach guarantees that each webpage uploads a file to its root domain including information about which SSP (Sell Side Platform – a technology that controls a website’s programmatic advertising) offers its inventory, its Placement ID, and its relationship with that SSP. This ensures that the information sent from SSP and the publisher ID is correct. The Publishers publicly identify who is authorised to advertise their advertising space, preventing inventory fraud.

6. Have a Reasonable CPC

Another strategy for preventing click fraud is to set a realistic cost per click. We hate to say it, but cheap CPC usually means bad traffic quality, which makes click fraud significantly more likely. Put your money where it actually makes sense for you, even if it isn’t the most affordable alternative. There is still good traffic to be had at a low CPC, but don’t anticipate significant returns on a tiny expenditure.

7. Keep Up to Date

When it comes to emerging trends in affiliate fraud, it is definitely advised that you stay up to date. This way, you may stay up to date on the newest news on fraudsters, fraudulent affiliates, affiliate sites, activities, and locations, among other things. Warrior Forum, Affilorama, and DigitalPoint are excellent resources for learning while also communicating with your colleagues and exchanging different methods and experiences.

Summary

Ad fraud is a significant issue that impacts advertisers across all industries, including healthcare, and it does not look to be going away anytime soon. As a result, you simply cannot afford to ignore the problem. DocPromo is here to assist you with this critical topic. If you are a healthcare practitioner looking for assistance in protecting your website and digital presence against fraudulent marketing, we can assist you.