If you’ve been visiting this site for any length of time, you are well aware of the fact that one of the biggest threats to online marketing is the extreme scope of digital advertising fraud. While studies disagree on just how bad the problem is, there is no question that it is costing advertisers billions of dollars per year.
One of the complaints I’ve personally talked about in many of the posts about ad fraud in the past is that ad networks and marketers don’t seem to be doing anything to try to combat this huge problem. Well, I’m happy to say that this seems to be finally changing.
CPXi, which is the parent company of AdReady, Affiture, Simplixity, and bRealtime, has launched a new site where they are hoping to coordinate efforts against digital ad fraud. The new site, botwatch.com, is a single place where research, news, strategies and other information can be brought together and used by ad networks and marketers alike to try to stop this type of criminal activity.
CPXi is a member of the IAB, and part of the “Traffic of Good Intent (TOGI)” task force, which is dedicated to helping improve the digital advertising industry by helping to fight ad fraud of all types.
They have been gathering together data about how bot networks work, and what types of signals ad networks can look for. This information is readily available on the website for all to look at, review and use in their own efforts to fight against advertising fraud.
While it is certainly too early to be able to know how much of an impact this effort will have, it is a step in the right direction. Anything anyone can do to fight advertising fraud is going to be a good thing, and this site seems to be starting this process in a very positive way.
