Why Ad Verification is Important for Your Business
A study disclosed that fraud relating to digital advertising (ad) would hit $44 billion by next year, which is not a good development. On the one hand, it means this is a booming business for fraudsters, and on the other hand, it means one of the most critical activities for digital brands – advertising – is under a serious attack.
Different ad frauds exist, ranging from click frauds to ad injections to invisible and hidden ads. And such the existence of a large number of malicious entities has inspired the invention of a solution – ad verification.
Ad verification exists to disallow ad mismanagement, allow the advertisers to work within their set budget, ensure that ads are displayed on the correct websites and platforms, and increase the chances of generating quality traffic. This makes the process the best way for advertisers to increase their return on investment (ROI) for every ad they run.
Today, we will look at what exactly ad verification is, what it does for businesses, the challenges businesses face when implementing it, and the most probable solution to these challenges.
What is Ad Verification?
Ad verification is a remedy to the many types of ad fraud and covers everything from when the ad is published to when results are analyzed. It is defined as the series of processes that helps advertisers to check if their ad set has the right attributes, if they are displaying in the right context, if they are running on the right platform and in the correct area of that platform, and if the target audience is viewing them.
It takes into account location, context, content, and other parameters and also collects data at the end for prompt analysis. These data on ad performance and placement can then help to inform future ad decisions.
Why Do Businesses Use Ad Verification?
Companies that run ads need to set up ad verification for any or all of the following reasons:
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To Detect Fake Traffic
Fake traffic includes occurrences such as bot traps, timed redirects, and JavaScript redirections. They closely resemble actual traffic but are fake.
They may lead a business to believe they are gaining traction while instead losing time and money.
Detecting these occurrences using ad verification is, therefore, something that brands need to do every time they run an ad.
2. To Ensure Proper Viewership
Getting a view implies that the ad is getting the intended reach. But even getting viewed alone is no longer enough. Businesses need to make sure that the intended audience is viewing their ad. This is good for providing better ROI, and it can mostly be achieved when ads are verified.
To ensure this, the verification vendor usually needs to check regularly to ensure the ad set is placed in the right corners of the right platforms and at the right time.
3. To Detect And Forestall Fraud
Fraudsters can use invisible ads, lauder impressions, hijack ads and clicks, send in fake users, traffic, install, and even manipulate attributes on a running ad. All of these can lead to various degrees of fraud that can hurt a business’s pulse. This is because running ads cost a lot to not give the expected returns.
To detect and avoid these frauds, the verification company needs to constantly keep an eye out and monitor the ad the entire way. This is because fraudsters do not sit at a particular junction to hop on and hijack an ad; they follow it the entire way – waiting for the best moment to strike.
4. For Protecting Brand Reputation
When an ad fraud occurs, it is not only the company’s pulse that gets affected. The customers and buyers get affected as well.
This is because when these internet gangsters hijack your ad, they do not do so to keep your ad to themselves but to use it to target unsuspecting victims and people who fall for such scams end up blaming your company in return.
Hence, by protecting an ad, your brand indirectly protects itself from any form of reputational damage either immediately or in the future.
Risks and Challenges Associated With Ad Verification
There are several risks and challenges that your brand would likely run into when running ad verification and the following are some of the most common:
- It is a common occurrence for people to run into CAPTCHA tests and other technologies that result in IP blocks
- Geo-restrictions make it difficult to penetrate certain parts of the internet
- The need for anonymity even while carrying out this important task. This is because if ad fraudsters cannot steal your ad, they can as well try to steal your sensitive information
How Using Proxies Can Help Solve These Challenges
The severity of ad fraud calls for the use of only the best technologies to fight this evil. And one of such technologies is proxies. Fighting back requires using proper proxies such as residential proxies as they are tied to actual physical addresses, making it difficult to block them. They can also keep you highly anonymous while rotating proxies and locations to help you evade geo-restrictions.
For instance, using a Japanese proxy can help your brand perform ad verification and protect your investment in the Japanese digital space. If you are willing to investigate the benefits of using the Japanese proxy, read more.
Conclusion
Ad fraud can affect your business and your customers and is, therefore, an important activity that needs to be done regularly and with passion. It may face some challenges, but even these can be easily mitigated with the right sprinkle of proxy magic.