It's possible to stamp out ad fraud if all quarters of industry pitch in

THE advent of smartphones has been a major disruptor in the way we consume information. In fact, no other form of mass media has been adopted so quickly and by so many people. With an estimated three billion smartphone users globally, it is no surprise that businesses are increasingly placing most of their marketing dollars in digital advertising, as opposed to traditional channels that target a mass, unsegmented audience.

In discussing digital advertising, the issue of advertising fraud will inadvertently come up - with damages resulting from fraud costing marketers up to US$7.2 billion annually. The surge of online ad spend will only continue to provide rich pickings for fraudsters - but does that mean that advertisers either shift their ad spend away, or reluctantly accept ad fraud as the cost of digital advertising?

While fully eradicating ad fraud may seem like an extremely challenging task, it is definitely not impossible. Before delving into the solutions, however, it is important to be aware of the context in which this organised crime is taking place. In a general sense, mobile ad fraud is to generate revenue through falsely triggering ad impressions/clicks on mobile websites and apps. Advertisers are led to believe that they are paying for impressions/clicks that come from real users, when in fact they are paying for non-existent impressions/clicks.