The study found that turning on fraud filters increased the rate of fraud such as bots and fake ad calls across 27 digital ad exchanges. Fraud filters increased costs by 44-67% without reducing fraud. Simple blacklists of fraudulent websites and apps were more effective than advanced fraud filters, but blacklists can also be tricked. Exchanges should aim for win rates between 5-15% and blacklist sites above 70%. Turning fraud filters on consistently led to higher fraud rates and costs compared to leaving filters off.

1. September 2017 / Page 0marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Fraud Filter Effectiveness Study
KEY FINDINGS
1. Rate of fraud (bots, naked ad calls, other obvious abnormalities) was higher in ALL
cases when fraud filters were turned ON.
2. Viewability was not studied because the fraud filters did not/could not account for it.
3. Costs for using fraud filters were 44 – 67% higher on an eCPM+ basis than not using.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Simple blacklists of sites and apps worked better in all cases; but note that on some
exchanges blacklists don’t work very well – i.e. fraud sites can easily trick lists.
2. Exchangewide win rates should be in the 5 – 15% (avg ~10%); blacklist sites and apps
that have egregious win rates (e.g. >70%)
Marketing Science studied impressions across 27 exchanges with and without the four
most common fraud filters, all set to exclude NHT. Entire set reproduced three times. All
app inventory was manually excluded because none of the filters work filter fraud apps.
We expected the fraud filters to reduce some fraud; but the actual outcomes were the
exact opposite – when fraud filters are ON, the fraud is HIGHER, in ALL cases.
Filter 1
eCPM Cost: +44%
Fraud: +17-24%
Filter 2
eCPM Cost: +67%
Fraud: +17-18%
Filter 3
eCPM Cost: +56%
Fraud: +36-43%
Filter 4
eCPM Cost: +44%
Fraud: +12-29%
On Off On Off On Off On Off
Isolating NHT
• NO reduction when
fraud filter is ON
(same height)
Isolating Naked Ads
• MORE naked ads w/
fraud filter is ON
(ON is higher)
NO Fraud Filter