Ad fraud has become one of the most profitable schemes in the digital world. The World Federation of Advertisers predicts that, by the end of 2025, it could drain more than $50 billion globally, placing it just behind narcotics as a revenue source for organized crime.
That kind of scale puts the problem in perspective. Fraudulent clicks, fake impressions, and fabricated leads aren’t isolated glitches; they’re part of a global business designed to siphon money from advertisers everywhere.
The best place to start fighting back is with knowledge. By understanding the most common types of ad fraud and how they work, you can make smarter decisions about where your ad dollars go and how to protect them with ad fraud prevention experts.
1. Click Fraud
Research shows that around 14% of clicks on sponsored search advertisements come from fraudulent sources.
The motivations behind click fraud vary. Sometimes, competitors attempt to exhaust your advertising spending so that their campaigns gain an advantage. Other times, it’s shady publishers trying to inflate engagement numbers to charge advertisers more.
The result is the same: skewed data, wasted resources, and decisions based on false engagement. Because clicks are one of the most common campaign metrics, click fraud can be especially damaging.
If left unchecked, it influences how budgets are allocated and how future campaigns are planned.
What to Watch For
Unusual click patterns are often the first clue. Look for sudden spikes in activity from a single IP, repetitive clicks in quick succession, or high click volumes coming from regions that don’t align with your intended audience.
2. Impression Fraud
Fraudsters doing impression fraud typically use bots or low-quality sites that automatically “serve” ads to generate revenue, even though no meaningful exposure takes place.
It’s a type of fraud that often slips under the radar because impressions are such a high-volume metric. A campaign dashboard showing millions of impressions can look impressive. However, if most of those “views” never actually reach people, the spend is essentially wasted.
The risk here goes beyond wasted money. Inflated impression numbers can mislead marketers into thinking campaigns are performing effectively, causing them to double down on ineffective strategies. Over time, that creates a cycle of poor decision-making rooted in bad data.
Practical Check
Keep an eye on engagement metrics tied to those impressions. Impression fraud could be at play if your ads are supposedly being displayed to large audiences, but click-through rates, time on page, or other downstream interactions remain flat.
3. Ad Stacking
In ad stacking, multiple ads are layered on top of one another in a single placement. Only the top ad is visible to the user, but advertisers are billed for every ad in the stack.
The tactic can be difficult to spot because reporting systems often count each impression as valid, regardless of whether the ad was actually visible. As a result, your campaign might appear to be running smoothly while a portion of your budget is quietly disappearing.
Ad stacking can also impact brand visibility. Even if your ad was technically served, it didn’t stand a chance of being seen by the person browsing the page. When scaled across multiple placements, this can represent a significant loss.
How to Address It
Verification tools that replicate the browsing experience are effective at catching stacked ads. In addition, auditing placements and working with platforms that have strong anti-fraud safeguards reduces exposure to this tactic.
4. Domain Spoofing
Gitnux found that roughly 70% of ad fraud stems from domain spoofing, where scammers replicate legitimate publishers’ domains to trick advertisers.
A fraudulent site might pose as a well-known news outlet, tricking advertisers into paying premium rates for what they believe is high-quality inventory. Instead, ads are shown on sites with little to no real audience.
The consequences are twofold: ad budget is wasted, and brand reputation can also be put at risk. If your ads appear next to inappropriate or misleading content, it can undermine consumer trust in your brand.
Best Safeguard
Transparency is key. Work only with partners who provide detailed reporting on where ads are placed, and use tools that confirm the authenticity of publisher domains. Even simple verification steps can prevent large-scale losses to spoofing schemes.
5. Fake Leads or Conversions
Fake leads and conversions represent one of the more sophisticated forms of ad fraud.
Instead of faking clicks or impressions, fraudsters simulate end actions such as form fills, sign-ups, or purchases. On the surface, the process makes your campaign look like it’s achieving its goals, but there’s no genuine customer behind the numbers.
Fake leads are especially damaging because they influence downstream activity. Marketing teams may shift their budgets toward channels or campaigns that generate “high” conversions, unaware that those conversions are fraudulent.
Sales teams may waste time chasing leads that don’t exist. If data is polluted with false results, even long-term strategies can be derailed.
Red Flags
Common indicators include patterns of repetitive form submissions, incomplete or nonsensical contact information, or a cluster of leads from the same IP. Conversions may sometimes pass initial checks but fail later when no meaningful customer activity follows.
How to Fight Ad Fraud
Ad fraud is widespread and constantly evolving, but that doesn’t mean marketers are powerless against it. Combining the right practices and technologies can dramatically reduce exposure and protect campaign investments.
Continuous Monitoring and Analysis
Regular monitoring allows you to identify suspicious activity before it grows into a bigger issue. Watch for unusual trends in traffic, such as sudden spikes in clicks, mismatched locations, or irregular engagement behaviors.
The faster anomalies are identified, the easier it is to contain potential fraud.
White- and Blacklists
Proactively controlling where your ads appear helps reduce fraud risk. Whitelists allow you to select reputable, high-quality sites for placements. Blacklists, on the other hand, block ads from appearing on sites that are known to attract fraudulent activity.
Using both ensures that campaigns run in safer environments.
Trusted Partnerships and Verification
Working with reputable publishers and partners significantly lowers the chance of fraud. Choose platforms that vet their traffic sources and prioritize brand safety.
In addition, third-party verification services can independently confirm the authenticity of placements, adding another layer of security.
Educate Your Team
Fraud prevention works best when everyone involved in managing campaigns understands the risks. Training your team to recognize warning signs, such as suspicious spikes in activity or questionable referral traffic, can make it easier to respond quickly if issues arise.
Leverage AI-Powered Solutions
Technology has advanced significantly in detecting fraud. AI-powered systems can analyze patterns at scale, spotting anomalies that human monitoring might miss.
When paired with proactive monitoring, trusted partnerships, and careful placement management, AI solutions can play a crucial role in defending against fraudulent activity.
Ready to Protect Your Campaigns with Ad Fraud Prevention Technologies?
Work with KPAI to harness AI-powered programmatic advertising solutions that maximize visibility, minimize fraud, and help your brand shine in the digital world. Don’t let fraudsters win—take control of your campaigns today by booking a meeting with our team!
