In 2019, before the coronavirus era, a major European retail company launched an online ad campaign to promote its new clothing line. They spent millions of dollars, anticipating a massive return on investment (ROI). However, after a few months, their marketing team noticed something unusual. Despite millions of dollars being spent, sales have not increased. Then they hired an expert to investigate. After a thorough investigation, they discovered that their ads were not being displayed to real people; instead, they were being shown to bots. They also noticed that their ads appeared on some websites considered dangerous, and they would never want their company associated with them. Ad fraud had cost the company a lot of money, so they took swift action. Every year, this crime costs businesses billions of dollars. They respond by using proxies for ad verification to prevent ad fraud. This approach ensured that their advertisements were seen by actual people, in addition to avoiding fraudulent ones who had no intention of making a purchase. From tiny start-ups to multinational behemoths, many brands deal with the same issue. Understanding proxies is crucial for ad verification.
What Is Ad Verification and Why Does It Matter?
Ad verification is the process of ensuring that your online ads are displayed to the right people who are willing to buy or take an action in a safe and secure environment. Consider the case where you paid for a sign to be displayed in your city. Then you later find out that your billboard is in the center of a desert where no one can see what you are advertising. When you ignore your verification, this is what happens to your online ads.
Ad verification is necessary because:
- Your money is saved: You won’t have to waste millions of dollars on fake people and businesses.
- Your brand reputation is safe: you don’t want your company or business to appear on harmful websites.
- There is fairness: As an advertiser, you should receive what you paid for, not the other way around.
- You build trust: Your business and customers will benefit when ads are correctly shown.
The Role of Proxies in Ad Verification
Why hire an expert to check your ads when you can use proxies? You can use these proxies to check your ads yourself to see where they appear.
Here are the roles proxies play in ad verification:
1. Finding fake traffic
Proxies can help you identify fake scammers who use bots to get clicks and impressions. They act like real users from different places.
2. Get a better Return on Investment(ROI) through Transparency
Proxies will ensure your money works for you by showing fraud, errors, and wasted ad spend. Transparency will lead to more informed spending decisions and better returns.
3. Making sure geo-targeting is correct
It costs money for an ad to run in New York, but it shows up in Brazil instead. Advertisers can test geo-targeting by using proxies from different places to see if it’s really working.
4. How to Spot Domain Spoofing
Fraudsters sometimes create low-quality sites that appear to be high-quality ones. Proxy servers enable ad verification from multiple entry points, which helps identify these tricks.
5. Looking at Ads from Competitors
With proxies, advertisers can see where and how their rivals’ ads are running without giving away their own identities. This provides us with helpful information to improve our plan.
Benefits of Using Proxies for Ad Verification
Here are some benefits:
I. Discover Ad Fraud: Proxies will help you find fake ad clicks, bots, and impressions that waste your ad spend.
2. Make sure your ads show up where they should: You can follow up on your ads to make sure they are not showing up on harmful sites.
3. Take a record of Geo-Targeting Accuracy: Advertisers can use proxies from different parts of the world to see if their ads display correctly in certain towns or countries.
4. Improve Security: Proxies protect you from harmful sites that try to block ad verification.
5. Increases ROI(Return on Investment): You will receive 10x every dollar spent. Proxies reduce waste of ad spend and fraud.
Key Challenges Without Proxies
When you don’t use proxies for ad verification, Challenges like this happen a lot:
- You waste your ad budgets. Money is lost on bots and fake clicks.
- Your ad may not appear in the intended countries or locations, resulting in a geo-targeting error.
- Loss of credibility, Ads may appear on sites with harmful content.
- You make bad decisions because you can’t really tell how well their campaigns are doing.
If you don’t use proxies for ad verification, it’s like you are running a race blindfolded; you think you are ahead, but you are actually far behind.
Choosing the Right Proxy Provider for Ad Verification
Proxy servers come in different types. For ad verification, you must select the correct option; otherwise, the verification will not be successful.
Here are some ideas to choose the right one:
- Check for reliability: There are many providers of stable, fast, and reliable proxies. You should find one that you can trust.
- Geo-targeting checks work well because they utilize a large number of IP addresses from various countries.
- Anonymity: When you are truly anonymous, fraudsters can get around your defenses.
- Scalability: Choose a service provider that can scale with your growing brands.
- Customer Service: It’s essential to get quick and helpful service when something goes wrong.
- Reviews: Before making a decision, always read reviews and consider the ratings.
As a result, when you are making your choice, consider providers that specialize in proxies for ad verification. These providers are fully aware of the needs of advertisers. They assist in preventing fraud, protecting companies against fraudulent clicks, and making sure their ads appear in the appropriate locations. Proxy servers can help businesses ensure that their ads only appear on safe websites. are visible to the intended audience, and are charged equitably. This saves money, builds trust, and maintains the integrity of advertising.
Conclusion
Every year, ad fraud costs businesses that work hard to market their goods and services a significant amount of money (billions of dollars). Paves the way for advertisers to fight back. They become stronger, protect their brand, and ensure their money is well spent.
The European company demonstrates that even large budgets can be wasted if not managed correctly. Ads can help a business grow and connect with real people, though, if it has the right tools (proxy).
Proxy servers are more than just useful tools in a world where trust is crucial; they keep things open and fair, protecting individuals and maintaining transparency.