Stop 06 · Paid Advertising (PPC)Topics · 12/12

Ad Fraud & Brand Safety Basics

In short

Not every click is a person, and not every website is a place you'd want your ad. Ad fraud wastes budget, and unsafe placements can embarrass your brand.

Awareness of click fraud, bot traffic, and placements next to inappropriate content — real risks that can waste budget and damage brand reputation if left unmonitored.

Think of it like this

The pamphlet boy and the gutter

You pay a boy to hand out 1,000 pamphlets. He dumps half in a gutter and says 'done'. Worse, a few got pasted on a wall you'd never want your name on. That's ad fraud and brand safety in one afternoon.

Watch it happen

Reading a Display placement report

news site 0.4%

recipe blog 0.6%

game app 11%

cricket site 0.5%

unknown site 9%

1/5Each placement shows where your ad appeared and its click-through rate.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Invalid traffic

Bots and fake clicks inflate numbers. Platforms filter some of it, but not all.

Brand safety

Avoid placing ads next to harmful or offensive content using the platform's content and placement controls.

Exclusion lists

Keep a running list of sites, apps and channels you never want your ads on.

Watch for odd patterns

Very high click rates with no sales, or traffic from unexpected countries, are warning signs.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Celebrating a Display campaign with a 10% click rate and no sales.

Do this instead

That's suspicious. Check placements and exclude the ones bringing clicks but no results.

Oops

Running Display without ever opening the placement report.

Do this instead

Review where ads appeared every week, especially in the first month.

Your mission

Draft a brand safety checklist

~15 min

Quick check

One app in your placement report has a 12% click rate and zero conversions. What's the best move?

Go deeper

1Learn the basic signs of click fraud (unusually high CTR with no conversions).
2Research brand safety controls (placement exclusions) available in major ad platforms.
3Understand why monitoring, not just launching, is part of running a healthy paid campaign.