Top 10 Advertisement Frauds Marketers Must Avoid
Digital advertising is a powerhouse for businesses, driving growth and connecting brands with audiences like never before; however, with great opportunity comes great risk. Ad fraud is a silent thief, siphoning off budgets and skewing campaign results. In 2025, as programmatic advertising and AI-driven campaigns dominate, marketers must stay vigilant against advertisement frauds. [Learn more about programmatic advertising and its benefits.]
What Are Advertisement Frauds?
Advertisement frauds refer to deceptive practices that manipulate digital advertising systems to generate false impressions, clicks, or conversions—ultimately draining budgets and distorting campaign data. These schemes are carried out by bots, fake websites, or even unscrupulous publishers, and they can affect every channel, from display ads to video and search. As digital advertising grows more sophisticated, so do the techniques used by fraudsters, making it crucial for marketers to understand the risks involved. Therefore, here are the top 10 advertisement frauds to watch out for—and how to protect your campaigns.
1. Click Fraud: A Common Advertisement Fraud
Click fraud is one of the most common advertisement frauds today. In this scheme, bots or malicious actors generate fake clicks on PPC ads to waste marketers’ ad budgets. In some cases, competitors might use this tactic to sabotage campaigns, while shady publishers boost their revenue. Businesses must be vigilant about click fraud as it is one of the key advertisement frauds that undermines genuine campaign results. For instance, according to a 2024 report by Juniper Research, click fraud costs advertisers over $80 billion annually.
How to Avoid It: Use ad verification tools like DoubleVerify or Integral Ad Science to detect suspicious click patterns. Monitor your campaigns for unusual spikes in click-through rates (CTRs) from specific regions or devices. Implement frequency capping to limit ad impressions per user, reducing the impact of automated clicks.
2. Impression Fraud
Impression fraud involves generating fake ad impressions to inflate metrics. This often occurs on low-quality websites or apps that use bots to mimic human views. For instance, ads might load in hidden iframes or off-screen pixels, never reaching real users.
How to Avoid It: Partner with trusted platforms and demand transparency in ad placement. Use tools like Moat or Comscore to verify impressions. Check for anomalies, like high impression counts with low engagement, and prioritize premium publishers with verified traffic.
3. How Bot Traffic Drives Advertisement Frauds
Bots account for nearly 40% of internet traffic, per a 2023 Imperva study, and they wreak havoc on ad campaigns. Bots mimic human behavior, generating fake clicks, views, or form submissions, which skew analytics and waste budgets.
How to Avoid It: Invest in anti-bot solutions like Distil Networks or Cloudflare. Analyze traffic sources for red flags, such as consistent session durations or repetitive behavior. Work with demand-side platforms (DSPs) that filter out non-human traffic using machine learning.
4. Ad Stacking
Ad stacking is a deceptive practice in the world of advertisement frauds, where multiple ads are layered, yet only the top one is visible. Advertisers get charged for all impressions—even those never seen.
What to do: Use ad viewability tools to root out this advertisement fraud tactic.
5. Domain Spoofing and Its Impact on Brand Safety
In domain spoofing, fraudsters disguise low-quality or fake websites as premium ones to trick advertisers into bidding on their inventory. For example, a scammer might make a site appear as a reputable outlet like Forbes in an ad exchange.
How to Avoid It: Use ads.txt files to verify authorized sellers. Work with trusted SSPs (supply-side platforms) and DSPs that implement domain verification. Tools like Pixalate can help identify spoofed domains before you bid.
6. Cookie Stuffing
Another technique in advertisement frauds is cookie stuffing, where fraudulent affiliates drop tracking cookies onto users to steal credit for conversions. This manipulation affects the integrity of affiliate marketing.
How to tackle this fraud: Audit affiliates frequently and utilize strong attribution tools to prevent this form of advertisement frauds.
7. Fake Installs – Mobile Advertisement Frauds
In mobile app advertising, fake installs occur when fraudsters use emulators or device farms to simulate app downloads. As a result, this inflates install metrics, making campaigns appear successful while delivering no real users.In mobile app advertising, fake installs occur when fraudsters use emulators or device farms to simulate app downloads. Consequently, this inflates install metrics, making campaigns appear successful while delivering no real users.
How to Avoid It: Use mobile measurement partners (MMPs) like AppsFlyer or Adjust to track install sources and detect anomalies. Look for patterns like high install rates from a single IP or low post-install engagement. Work with reputable ad networks that prioritize fraud prevention.
8. Ad Injection
Ad injection is an evolving threat in the landscape of advertisement frauds, where unauthorized ads are inserted onto pages via malware or browser extensions. These ads replace legitimate ones, diverting revenue from advertisers and publishers.
Protection tactic: Audit your ad placements regularly and avoid using risky third-party scripts.
9. Conversion Fraud
Conversion fraud inflates reported conversions through fake form submissions, purchases, or sign-ups. Frequently, bots or low-quality traffic sources drive this, making campaigns look effective while delivering no real value.
Best practice: To prevent this, implement strict validation for conversions, like CAPTCHA or email verification. Additionally, use analytics to track user behavior post-conversion—real users engage differently than bots. For example, platforms like Google Analytics can help spot discrepancies in conversion funnels.
10. Geo-Masking
Geo-masking manipulates the geographic data of clicks, making low-quality ad traffic appear as if it is from premium countries. As one of the more technical advertisement frauds, this tactic can have a substantial impact on campaign targeting and cost.
To prevent this fraud:: Use geo-targeting verification tools to confirm traffic origins. Analyze IP data for inconsistencies and prioritize DSPs with robust geo-filtering. Avoid overly cheap inventory, as it’s often a red flag for geo-masked traffic.
Why Ad Fraud Matters
Ad fraud doesn’t just burn budgets—it erodes trust and distorts campaign insights. A 2024 study by Statista estimated global ad fraud losses at $100 billion, a number that grows as fraudsters leverage AI to create sophisticated scams. For marketers, especially those in programmatic advertising, staying proactive is critical. Every dollar wasted on fraud is a dollar not reaching your audience.
How to Prevent Advertisement Frauds
- Partner Wisely: Work with reputable ad platforms, DSPs, and SSPs that prioritize fraud prevention. Transparency is non-negotiable—demand clear reporting on traffic sources and ad placements.
- Leverage Technology: Tools like Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify, or Pixalate offer real-time fraud detection. Machine learning can spot patterns humans miss, like subtle bot behaviors or traffic anomalies.
- Educate Your Team: Train your marketing team to recognize fraud signs, from unnatural CTR spikes to suspiciously low engagement rates. Knowledge is your first line of defense.
- Audit Regularly: Review campaign data weekly for red flags. Cross-check metrics across platforms to ensure consistency. If something feels off, it probably is.
- Stay Updated: Ad fraud evolves fast. Follow industry blogs like AdExchanger or IAB to keep up with new threats and solutions.
Final Thoughts on Fighting Advertisement Frauds
Navigating the world of digital advertising in 2025 requires vigilance. Fraudsters are crafty, but with the right tools and strategies, marketers can protect their budgets and maximize ROI. By understanding these top 10 ad frauds—click fraud, impression fraud, bot traffic, ad stacking, domain spoofing, cookie stuffing, fake installs, ad injection, conversion fraud, and geo-masking—you’re better equipped to safeguard your campaigns. Stay sharp, prioritize transparency, and let your ads work their magic on real audiences.
At Adsarge, we’re committed to helping marketers combat fraud with targeted, transparent ad solutions. Our platform uses advanced analytics to ensure your campaigns reach genuine users, driving measurable results. Let’s build trust and growth together—contact us to learn more.
