Rejects clicks made by an Emulator or Bot.

For this purpose, the user agent and the browser of the traffic are checked and the IP addresses are compared to our IP database.

Note: This filter is available for both clicks and conversions in 24Metrics AdSecurity Platform.

Bot Clicks, Bot Conversions and Emulators

The Ultimate Guide to Detecting Fraudulent Traffic

In today's digital marketing landscape, detecting and mitigating click bot, conversion bot, and fraudulent internet traffic in general has become crucial for protecting ad budgets and ensuring accurate data analytics.

With the rise of advanced emualtors and bot activity and click farms, 24 Metrics Adsecurity platform employs robust ad fraud detection methods to maintain the integrity of online companies.

Understanding Click Bot activity

Click Bots refer to an instance where automated scripts, rather than human users, click on ads or links. These bot clicks artificially inflate traffic statistics, leading to skewed campaigns analytics and increase ad spend.

Bot Conversions are instances where bots automate conversion actions, such as filling out forms, making purchases or app installs. These false conversions can significantly increase the ads cost, distort marketing metrics and lead to misguided business decisions.

The role of Emulators in generating graudulent traffic

• Emulators make use of sophisticated techniques able to mimic real human behaviour by replicating the functionality of various devices and browsers.
• While they have legitimate uses in development and testing, malicious actors exploit them to target Facebook or Google ads, for example, and generate fraudulent internet traffic.
• By using emulators, fraudsters can create large volumes of fake traffic that appear genuine, making it challenging for traditional detection methods to differentiate between real and fake human behavior.
• According to 24Metrics Adsecurity platform, emulators and bots can replicate various actions, including clicks, form submissions, fake search results and even complex multi-step conversions.

This ability to mimic human behaviour poses a significant threat to digital marketers running online ads and campaigns.

Key Strategies for Detecting Bots and Emulators

1. Behavioural Analysis:

• Time Spent on Page: bad bots often spend less time on websites, apps, ads and landing pages compared to human users. Analysing session site, or CTIT, can help detect bots and block the suspicious activity.
• Interaction Patterns: Real users exhibit varied behaviours, such as scrolling, mouse movements and random clicks. Bots often follow repetitive patterns.

2. Device Fingerprinting:

• Browser and Device Browser Fingerprints: Collecting detailed data about devices and browsers can help detect anomalies. Bots ad fraud often use the same configurations repeatedly.
• IP Addresses Monitoring: Multiple clicks or conversions from a single device / IP address can indicate bot activity. Implementing IP filtering can mitigate this issue.

3. Machine Learning:

• Anomaly Detection: Machine learning models can identify unusual patterns that deviate from normal user behaviour.
• Predictive Analytics: Using historical data, predictive models can forecast expected traffic patterns and highlight deviations indicative of fraudulent activity.

4. CAPTCHA and Honeypots:

• CAPTCHA: Implementing CAPTCHA challenges can effectively block ad fraud and detect automated scripts from completing actions on your site.
• Honeypots: Hidden form fields that are invisible to human users but detectable by bots can help trap automated scripts.

5. Adsecurity platform: real-time monitoring and alerts:

• 24 Metrics Adsecurity Dashboards: Real-time analytics dashboards provide immediate insights into traffic anomalies.
• Automated Alerts: Setting up automated alerts for unusual activity can enable quick response to potential bot traffic.

Insights from 24metrics

24metrics provides a sophisticated tool and various methodologies to detect emulators and bots:

• Velocity Checks: Monitoring the speed and frequency of clicks and conversions. Bots often perform actions at unnaturally high speeds.
• Blacklisting and Whitelisting Database: Maintaining lists of known malicious IP addresses and trusted sources can help filter out fraudulent traffic.
• User-Agent Analysis: Bots and emulators may use outdated or uncommon user-agent strings. Identifying these anomalies can aid in detection.
• Geo-Location Analysis: Unexpected geographic patterns can be a red flag. For example, a sudden spike in traffic from regions that typically do not engage with your content.

Mitigating the Impact of Bot Traffic

• Regular Audits: Conducting frequent audits of your traffic sources and patterns helps maintain data integrity.
• Vendor Solutions: Partnering with specialised vendors like 24 Metrics that offer advanced bot detection services can provide an extra layer of protection.
• Education and Training: Keeping your team informed about the latest trends and techniques in bot detection ensures they are equipped to handle emerging threats.

Conclusion

Detecting bot clicks, bot conversions and emulators is an ongoing challenge that requires a combination of advanced technology and strategic vigilance.

By implementing behavioural analysis, device fingerprinting and proactive monitoring, marketers can protect their marketing investments and ensure accurate data-driven decisions.

Stay ahead of fraudsters by continuously evolving your detection strategies and leveraging the latest in cybersecurity advancements.

By understanding and addressing the complexities of bot generated traffic, you can safeguard your digital marketing efforts, be cost effective and maintain the trust and reliability of your online presence.