Focus on Advocacy: The battle over bots

Daniel L. Jaffe

This article assesses the damage that bots - computer-generated signals that simulate visits to websites - can do to CPM, revenue and reputation, and shows how marketers are responding.

Focus on Advocacy: The battle over bots

Daniel L. Jaffe

Preventing bot fraud from damaging the Internet is an industry imperative

Bots are a significant problem facing digital marketers. These computer-generated signals, designed to trick advertisers into paying for phony visits to websites, can cause serious damage to an advertiser's CPM, revenue, and reputation. It is estimated that as much as 25 percent to 50 percent of money spent each year on digital advertising — translating into billions of dollars — is wasted because of bots.

Bots find their way onto premium-content websites and into premium-content ads. However, bots are...

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