In our previous discussions, we looked into deceptive practices that threatened the integrity of the mobile advertising ecosystem, ranging from Click Spamming to Attribution Fraud. In this third part of our series on advertising fraud especially for user acquisition, we will explore four additional forms of deception: Bots, Device Emulation, SDK Spoofing and Fake User Engagement.
Bots
What are Bots in Mobile Advertising Fraud?
Bots, short for robots, are automated scripts or software programs designed to mimic human behaviour and interact with mobile ads. They can generate fake clicks, impressions or even engage in simulated conversations to deceive advertisers.
How Bots Work:
Fraudsters deploy bots to engage with mobile ads, making them appear more popular and engaging than they actually are. Bots can click on ads, fill out forms and even view videos, all without any genuine user interest.
Deceptive Techniques:
Click Fraud: Bots can generate a high volume of fake clicks, leading to inflated click-through rates.
Impression Fraud: Bots create fake impressions, making it seem like ads are being viewed by real users.
Conversion Fraud: Some bots simulate conversions, misleading advertisers into believing their campaigns are highly effective.
Bots can exhaust ad budgets and undermine the credibility of ad performance metrics.
Detection and Prevention:
Behavioural Analysis: Employ behavioural analysis tools like Distil Networks or Imperva to identify patterns consistent with bot activity.
CAPTCHA and Verification: Utilise CAPTCHA solutions like Google reCAPTCHA or hCaptcha to distinguish bots from real users during interactions with your ads.
Bot Detection Tools: Utilise third-party bot detection services like PerimeterX, Radware Bot Manager to identify and block bot traffic.
Device Emulation
What is Device Emulation?
Device emulation is a deceptive practice wherein fraudsters mimic the characteristics of real mobile devices to generate fake impressions or interactions with mobile ads. This type of fraud aims to deceive advertisers by making them believe that their ads are being viewed by genuine users on various devices.
How Device Emulation Works:
Fraudsters use specialised software or tools to emulate different types of mobile devices, including their device IDs, operating systems and screen sizes. By doing so, they can create a facade of diverse users interacting with ads.
Deceptive Techniques:
User-Agent Spoofing: Fraudsters manipulate the User-Agent header in web requests to impersonate different device types and operating systems.
Device Fingerprinting: Fraudsters mimic the unique characteristics of genuine devices, such as device IDs and hardware attributes.
Device emulation can distort ad performance metrics, leading to incorrect targeting and ineffective advertising campaigns.
Detection and Prevention:
User-Agent Analysis: Analyse User-Agent headers to detect suspicious patterns and discrepancies using tools such as FingerprintJS
Device Fingerprint Validation: Implement checks to validate device fingerprints against known patterns of device emulation, using tools such as ThreatMetrix or DeviceAtlas.
Behavioural Analysis: Utilise user behaviour analysis platforms such as Adjust, Branch to monitor and identify anomalies that may indicate device emulation.
SDK Spoofing
What is SDK Spoofing?
SDK (Software Development Kit) spoofing is a fraudulent practice where fraudsters manipulate the data sent by mobile apps' SDKs to report fake ad impressions, clicks or other engagement metrics. This type of fraud is particularly challenging to detect because it occurs at the app level.
How SDK Spoofing Works:
Fraudsters tamper with the code of a mobile app, often through reverse engineering, to modify the information sent to the ad network's SDK. This altered data may include fake ad interactions or impressions.
Deceptive Techniques:
Data Manipulation: Fraudsters modify data sent by the app's SDK to report fraudulent ad interactions.
Impression Inflation: SDK spoofing can artificially inflate the number of ad impressions, making it appear as though the app has a larger user base than it actually does.
SDK spoofing can lead to advertisers paying for interactions that never occurred, wasting their ad budgets.
Detection and Prevention:
Code Audits: Conduct regular code audits using mobile app security solutions like Guardsquare's DexGuard or Arxan Application Protection to identify and remove any tampering or SDK spoofing in your app's code.
Impression Validation: Implement impression validation tools like MOAT or IAS (Integral Ad Science) to validate ad impressions and interactions for authenticity.
SDK Security: Choose SDKs from reputable providers known for their security measures, such as Google Mobile Ads SDK or Facebook Audience Network SDK.
Fake User Engagement
What is Fake User Engagement?
Fake user engagement involves fraudsters creating the illusion of genuine user interactions with mobile ads. This can include fake comments, likes, shares or other forms of engagement to deceive advertisers into thinking their ads are popular and effective.
How Fake User Engagement Works:
Fraudsters use automated scripts or networks of fake accounts to generate interactions with mobile ads. These interactions may appear legitimate but are entirely fabricated.
Deceptive Techniques:
Comment Spam: Fake user accounts leave scripted comments on ads to create the appearance of user engagement.
Like and Share Farms: Fraudsters may operate farms of fake accounts that like, share, or retweet ads to boost their apparent popularity.
Review Manipulation: In the case of mobile app ads, fraudsters may post fake positive reviews to improve app ratings.
Fake user engagement can mislead advertisers and distort the perceived effectiveness of their campaigns.
Detection and Prevention:
Content Analysis: Use content analysis tools such as Brandwatch to detect patterns of scripted or repetitive comments and interactions.
User Behaviour Analysis: Monitor user behaviour using platforms like emplifi to identify abnormal engagement patterns.
User Authentication: Implement user authentication methods with tools like Okta to verify the authenticity of user accounts and interactions.
These deceptive practices not only compromise ad budgets but also erode the trust between advertisers and their target audience which challenges the very foundation of effective user acquisition strategies. To combat these fraudulent practices and protect their ad budgets, advertisers must remain vigilant, employ sophisticated fraud detection measures and collaborate with trustworthy partners like PixelPulse Digital and similar platforms.