Ensuring Fraud-Free Campaigns on InMobi DSP

When managing ad campaigns on InMobi DSP and collaborating with a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP), it is crucial to adopt industry best practices that protect your investment and optimize performance. InMobi DSP employs a comprehensive approach to fraud prevention, ensuring campaigns reach authentic users.

Key considerations for advertisers

You need to adhere to the following considerations to keep your campaigns fraud-free:

Choose your partners wisely

You need to choose your partner based on which stage you need their service.

Note:

Before the campaign starts, inform the DSP team which fraud-prevention partner you have employed.

Stage 1: Ad request

In the initial stage of ad buying on a DSP, the ad request is filtered to ensure it is genuine and safe. This stage has the following processes:

  • IVT filtering: This step filters out invalid traffic (IVT) and ensures that only genuine ad requests are processed, reducing the chances of fraud. The DSP supports mFilterIt for IVT filtering.  
  • Fraud detection: This step identifies and blocks fraudulent activities right at the beginning. 

Note:

If you use any other fraud tools for IVT filtering and fraud detection, please confirm with the InMobi team if InMobi DSP supports them.

Stage 2: Ad placement

Once the ad request is verified, the next stage involves placing the ad in viewable slots. The DSP supports DoubleVerify (DV) and Integral Ad Science (IAS) for verifying the viewability of ads. These tools ensure that ads are placed in locations where they are likely to be seen by users, enhancing their effectiveness and reducing the risk of ad fraud. 

Note:

If you use any other fraud tools for viewability, please confirm with the InMobi team that the DSP supports them.

Stage 3: Post ad rendering

After the ad is placed, the focus shifts to measuring its performance and ensuring accurate attribution.

  • Audience measurement: The DSP supports Comscore and Nielsen to measure audience engagement and the impact of ads post-rendering. This stage helps in understanding the reach and effectiveness of the ads.
  • Attribution partner: InMobi DSP supports integration with AppsFlyer, Adjust, Kochava, Singular, and Branch to accurately track and attribute ad interactions and conversions. You can use these MMPs to ensure that ad campaign performance is correctly measured and reported. 

Note:

If you use any other fraud tools for measurement and attribution, please confirm with the InMobi team that the DSP supports them.

Understand mobile ad fraud types

Awareness of common mobile ad fraud types helps in securing campaigns:

  • Click spam: Generates fake clicks to steal attribution.
  • Click injection: Injects clicks during app installation to claim last-click attribution.
  • SDK spoofing: Mimics SDK communications to fake app installations.
  • Fake installs: Uses bots and emulators to simulate non-existent app installs.

Implement robust fraud detection mechanisms

You should implement strong fraud detection mechanisms (or tools like mFilterIt) and continuously monitor campaign metrics beyond installs, focusing on post-install behaviors.

Some of the common fraud behaviors are:

  • Scenario 1: The overzealous fraudster
    High-quality user traffic outperforming reliable sources by a large margin can be a fraud.
  • Scenario 2: The flat funnel
    Significant discrepancies in the events or installs funnel from standard patterns can be a fraud.
  • Scenario 3: The limits of in-app engagement
    Bots relying on a weak SDK authentication often show imbalanced engagement, signaling non-human traffic.

Key actions for advertisers

You can take the following actions to avoid any fraud and maximize return on ad spend and accurate attribution:

  • Set clear fraud terms: To ensure accountability, define explicit fraud terms with all media sources and discuss those terms with the InMobi team prior to launching a campaign.
  • Monitor engagement patterns: Regularly analyze in-app engagement and raw data reports for anomalies.  InMobi regularly checks for anomalies, but please flag any that you find.
  • Use secure SDK providers: Choose SDK providers known for robust security measures.
  • Update measurement SDKs: Keep your measurement SDKs updated to benefit from the latest security updates of InMobi DSP and your fraud detection partners.

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Last Updated on: 25 Nov, 2024