Abstract:

Online advertising is a multibillion dollar business with a growing pace of +/-15% per year, even during the economic crisis. This economic figures have motivated fraudsters to implement different mechanisms to obtain economic benefits out of not legitimate website visits, converting fraud in one of the most important problems for the online advertising industry. This presentation will present an overview of fraud in online advertising. We will first introduce the causes and an estimation of the current impact of fraud on the online advertising industry as well as its potential social implications. Thereafter, we will present a few specific examples of online fraud mechanisms. Finally, we will propose some potential countermeasures that could be adopted by the industry to reduce fraud.