Ad Fraud May Harm Programmatic Growth

With web fraud reaching near endemic proportions, advertisers and vendors face a number of hurdles in dealing with the problem. says Ashley J. Swartz, CEO of Furious Minds, in a commentary for Beet.TV on the topic. Issues include who bears the cost of fraud, how do advertisers step up and in what circumstances, and what are the better metrics to use as viewability is redefined.
In addition, the spread of fraud could impact the growth of programmatic advertising, Swartz posits. As advertisers shift dollars to programmatic, they may grow more cautious if fraud continues unabated. Experts estimate fraud is costing the ad business $6 billion a year.
With ad fraud anywhere from one-third to nearly two-thirds of web traffic, the industry is devoting more attention to combating it. The fraud issue may actually usher in a shift to using different metrics, specifically centered on business objectives and attribution, Swartz suggests. “Maybe we as an industry need to organize our workflow around the ability to deliver digital advertising vis a vis business KPIs and that’s going to be a whole new world for us. The more the conversation is about business and the less about media, then we will have a more meaningful dialogue and deliver more value,” she says.
She gives the wrap-up of last week’s Beet.TV Leadership Summit on Video Ad Fraud. Swartz was one of the event’s moderators. You can find videos from the event here.