Click fraud glossary

Geo spoofing is a deceptive technique where fraudsters mask their real location by using technology to fake their geographical origin. This allows them to generate false clicks from seemingly legitimate regions, tricking advertisers into paying for invalid traffic that appears to come from targeted areas but is actually fraudulent.

Ghost sites are fake or abandoned websites created solely to generate fraudulent ad clicks and traffic. These deceptive platforms mimic legitimate sites but exist primarily to trick advertisers into paying for invalid clicks, draining marketing budgets and skewing performance metrics with artificial web traffic.

The Google Display Network is a collection of websites and apps where advertisers can show their ads across the internet. It allows businesses to reach potential customers through targeted advertising, but it can also be vulnerable to click fraud, where competitors or bots generate fake clicks that waste advertising budgets and skew performance metrics.

A headless browser is a web browser without a visible user interface that can still load web pages, run JavaScript, and interact with websites programmatically. Fraudsters often use these tools to simulate human browsing behavior and generate fake clicks on ads, potentially draining advertising budgets through automated, deceptive traffic.

A hidden form field on a webpage that is invisible to human users but can be detected by bots. When a bot fills out this concealed field, it signals that the form submission is likely automated, helping advertisers identify and filter out fraudulent or invalid traffic that could artificially inflate click rates.

An IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to the internet. For advertisers, IP addresses help track the source of website traffic and can reveal patterns of potentially fraudulent clicks from suspicious or repeated locations.

IP blocking is a technique used to prevent specific internet addresses from accessing a website or online service. In the context of click fraud, it helps stop malicious actors from generating fake clicks on ads by identifying and blocking the IP addresses of known fraudulent sources, protecting advertisers from paying for invalid traffic.

IP spoofing is a deceptive technique where fraudsters disguise their real internet address to hide their true identity, often used to generate fake website clicks, mask the origin of invalid traffic, or conduct malicious activities that can drain advertising budgets and skew performance metrics.

Invalid Traffic (IVT) refers to any clicks or impressions generated by non-human sources or fraudulent human activity, such as bots, automated scripts, or deliberate click farms. These fake interactions can drain advertising budgets, skew analytics, and provide false engagement metrics that harm the accuracy and effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns.

Impression fraud occurs when someone artificially inflates the number of ad views on a website by using bots, scripts, or multiple devices to repeatedly load web pages. This deceptive practice tricks advertisers into paying for fake ad views that never reach real human audiences, wasting marketing budgets and skewing online advertising metrics.

An in-stream video ad is a commercial that plays before, during, or after online video content, often on platforms like YouTube. These ads can be targeted and may contribute to click fraud, where fraudsters generate fake views or clicks to drain advertising budgets and manipulate performance metrics.

Invalid clicks are fraudulent or unauthorized ad clicks that do not represent genuine user interest. These can be generated by bots, click farms, or competitors intentionally draining your advertising budget by creating fake interactions that do not lead to real customer engagement or potential sales.

Inventory misrepresentation occurs when an advertiser or ad network deliberately provides false information about the digital ad space being sold, such as claiming higher-quality traffic or more legitimate website placements than actually exist. This deceptive practice can lead to wasted advertising budgets and increased invalid traffic through fraudulent click and impression schemes.