What is Invalid Traffic? How to protect yourself from GIVT & SIVT

Damage caused by Invalid Traffic (IVT) to companies

Invalid Traffic is by no means just an annoying side effect for companies. The potential damage is manifold, so the problem should by no means be underestimated.

Although invalid traffic is not fundamentally a criminal act, general invalid traffic (GIVT) can also eat up unnecessary money and place a heavy burden on budgets.

Juniper Research estimates that global damage of $68 billion will be caused by ad fraud in 2022 – a large proportion of which will be caused by invalid traffic. Other experts even assume significantly higher damage amounts.

Damages from IVT to publishers

In addition to the high costs and limited advertising impact for companies, Invalid Traffic also has a negative impact on publishers and has been a growing threat for some time.

Possible consequences are distorted analytics data and thus an incorrect data basis for important business decisions.

Another serious consequence for publishers is the impairment of the value of ad inventory. If advertisers detect Invalid Traffic, they can put publisher websites on a block list. In the worst case, publishers’ accounts may even be blocked if ad networks like Google & Co. detect Invalid Traffic.

The best protection against these problems is therefore to prevent invalid traffic automatically using software.

Damages from IVT to advertisers

The negative consequences of Invalid Traffic for advertisers are usually more serious than for publishers and can be presented in three categories:

Waste of advertising spend

Clicks made by bots (fake clicks) exhaust the advertising budget and do not generate customers. They also simulate human behavior, which leads to distorted remarketing lists (fake remarketing) and thus further downstream waste of the advertising budget. As a result, bots can contaminate audiences and falsify data, making it almost impossible to optimize advertising campaigns in a targeted manner.

Polluted analytics data

Bots simulate a supposedly real browsing history and are now also capable of accepting cookie banners. Distortions of website statistics as well as opt-in rates occur. This website and CMP data leads to a distorted data base.

Polluted Funnel

Forms secured with CAPTCHAs have long been a no-brainer for bots. As a result, fake leads and incorrect data in the CRM are no longer uncommon. The sales team is confronted with unnecessary workload and has to distinguish bots from real users.

Since the consequences of Invalid Traffic for companies are very far-reaching, we have dedicated a separate article to the topic: Impact of Invalid Traffic on your marketing

Detect Invalid Traffic in Analytics Data

The serious consequences for advertisers can be prevented if invalid traffic is detected and blocked in advance. In many cases, your own Analytics data is already sufficient to identify Invalid Traffic. A close look at the data from Google Analytics or a comparable analysis tool provides initial indications of possible bot activities. Regular analysis of your own Analytics data is therefore an important basis for the fight against IVT.

Invalid Traffic can be identified by the following metrics:

• Session duration: bots leave the website immediately after the click, so the session duration is usually 0 seconds.
• Bounce rate: Humans react differently, but bots are programmed to always do the same thing. A bounce rate of 0% or 100% is a clear indication of bot traffic.
• Unusual locations: Unusual locations are countries that are not targeted as the main market. For example, traffic from developing countries may indicate click farms.
• Unusual traffic patterns: Peaks or outliers and unusual traffic at night can be clear alarm signals.
• Unusual referral traffic: Unknown or unusual referral sources may indicate that ads have been placed on non-public or questionable domains.

If you want to learn more about how to detect Invalid Traffic using your own Analytics data, we recommend our in-depth article on this: How to Detect Bots Using Your Own Analytics Data.

Block Invalid Traffic

If several signals such as high bounce rates, unusual referral traffic, low session duration, etc. show up, this can be a clear sign of Invalid Traffic. However, those affected do not have to accept the damage caused by Invalid Traffic by any means, but the IVT problem should not be underestimated either. It is important to minimize the scope of action of fraudsters and to protect one’s own advertising budget.

Combating IVT is a major challenge; manual measures are time-consuming and cost-intensive; moreover, Invalid Traffic can hardly be blocked with these limited means. Manual interventions are only ever possible reactively after the fact, when the budget has already been wasted. However, the goal must be proactive protection against financial losses, so it is important to block harmful bot traffic reliably right from the start.

For effective impact, bot detection must be active in real time. Collective protection based on different manual and automated measures is recommended. These include, for example:

• Set up IP block lists on advertising channels.
• Manually check publishers and exclude them if necessary
• Restricting campaigns to geolocation
• Regular review of analytics data
• Installing an alert system and reacting as quickly as possible when warning signals occur

For effective protection, software is indispensable that unerringly detects and actively avoids Invalid Traffic.