The evolution of marketing: A strategy to combat digital ad fraud

David Beaton

Part of a four part series that explores the implications around the evolution of marketing, and how marketing leaders can best manage the many challenges facing them today.

So what is digital ad fraud all about? Essentially, it is malicious software hacks, often collectively referred to as bots, that are designed to look like genuinely engaged people but in fact are anything but. Bots drain ad budgets by doing the things digital marketers want…clicking, downloading, liking, even posting….but there are no real people behind this activity.  

How big a problem is this?  Huge, and growing…fast.

In its 2017 study, the Association of Canadian Advertisers put bot traffic at between 4.5% to 21% of all clicks on sites monitored. In 2022, the Association of National Advertisers in the US...

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