The mobile branding moment is upon us. But many advertisers still have concerns about fraudsters rushing into the space. Recent headlines paint a picture of worsening fraud and an ad tech industry losing control of the mobile ad opportunity.
Part of the problem is that there are no real numbers out there. The online advertising industry estimates that 20 to 50% of digital impressions are nonhuman, but nobody can put a definite number on fraud yet.
Advertisers have plenty of power to fight botnets and protect their digital media investments by working with capable tech partners, and the opportunity is worth it.
Mobile is the number one screen for most Australians and a vital advertising investment. While fraudulent operators certainly use some tricky tactics, the industry’s own weapons are improving every day.
Warding off fraudulent inventory requires the right skills across media, devices, software, and creative.
All of these elements need to work as a single, unified platform, otherwise the ad management process becomes a spaghetti-like nightmare full of gaps for fraudsters to exploit. While working with multiple point solutions is necessary for some larger advertisers, the fewer third-party solutions you patch together, the better.
The right approach is to make sure you’re buying quality media inventory from sources that are using ad verification technologies to identify and eliminate fraud. Work with reputable, top-of-the-range publishers and independent vendors that have the pre-bid technology in place to determine ad quality.
Today’s ad verification software, or what the industry calls pre-bid ad blocking, is much more sophisticated than in the past and acts as an effective gatekeeper against botnets and other devious ways of skimming digital ad dollars.
This software enables advertisers and their technology partners to differentiate between a ghost site page and an actual page being visited by a human. Pre-bid technology should include safety features embedded into the ad-serving platform.
Advertisers should demand transparency from their partners so that they know exactly where their ads are being run and whether real people are seeing them. It’s crucial that full click and impression tracking is in place so you know where your mobile ads are being placed and how they’re performing.
Software enhancements over the past decade mean that abnormal behaviour, and suspicious activity, can be rooted out by tech vendors by identifying pages that have been created and loaded specifically to defraud advertisers.
These verification tools are only going to get smarter. But it’s only one part of the shift to tighter mobile ad management.
Marketers also need to move beyond the legacy measurement criteria of views and clicks, which can easily be faked by botnets.
More sophisticated branding campaign metrics such as dwell time, shares, interactions, and video completion rates provide a better overall picture of campaign performance. These metrics are harder for the fraudsters to game, and brand advertisers can be more confident that humans are interacting with their ads if they focus on these analytics.
Start by asking your tech partners if they have the tools in place to properly manage and protect your mobile budgets.
It’s not just fear of fraud driving the US$25 billion lag between mobile consumption and brand investment. There’s also a lingering perception of poor measurement and technical complexity.
Mobile has more ad formats available, a multitude of devices to address, and stringent technical requirements; and the mobile user demands a better engagement experience. Adding to this intimidating mix, the mobile app world beckons as the next frontier.
Again, advertisers can overcome these issues by working with competent partners who understand the new mobile world.
As mobile advertising catapults in size and volume, the industry will build richer datasets and better verification suites tied to ad-serving and become more attuned to battling the fraudsters. Mobile is a must for advertisers who want to compete in 2016 and beyond, and there’s no need for fear to get in the way.
Carolyn Bollaci
Vice president global accounts, Asia Pacific
Sizmek