‘It’s a Problem, but we can Fix It’: Marketers Vow to Defeat Ad Fraud

In a Campaign Asia-Pacific article written by Will Clem, the piece covers a panel discussion on programmatic buying at the Media 360 summit in Hong Kong last month. Marketing executives from across the globe shared their insights on the programmatic ecosystem, including the topic of ad fraud and how to tackle the issue. Below is an excerpt from the article:

The massive scale of ad fraud has been in the headlines recently, but while it needs to be treated seriously there is no reason to startle the horses too much, the panel concluded.

“Even though it is a problem, it is flexible,” said James Sampson, vice-president and general manager, APAC, of DataXu. “Bots are getting more sophisticated. People can build things that actually look like people. They browse, they click things, and they pause. That makes them harder to spot, but it can be done.”

Sampson was moderating a panel on ‘Fraud and trust in programmatic buying’, addressing a packed room in one of the summit’s afternoon discussion tracks.

“More and more is being transacted this way, so more and more is being measured,” he said. “We can look at things that we never used to be able to see. Everybody is looking at this and taking it very seriously.”

Sam Ahmed, SVP and head of marketing for APAC, Middle East and Africa at MasterCard, said that while programmatic was in its infancy, credibility was crucial and the problem of ad fraud could damage “the whole ecosystem”.

We can’t lose credibility in this area for the business,” he said. Although fraud is not “very prevalent”, “It is bad for your business — all of us in the industry need to look out for fraud,” he said.

The panel of four agreed that while genuine, the risk of ad fraud was far outweighed by the savings and efficiencies that programmatic buying made possible.

Read the rest of the article at Campaign Asia-Pacific.