Sourced Traffic -- Buyer Beware!

According to the BuzzFeed News story quotAt the core of Social Puncher39s report is the finding that the audience on IBT that saw CFPB39s ads was disproportionally made up of cheap traffic purchased from ad networks amp160The traffic is generated via popup or popunder browser windows on file sharing and pirated video streaming websitesquotThe report itself alleges quota massive purchase of trafficquot and quotconcealment of traffic buyingquot amp160It also states that quotamong the traffic sources there are sites that have obvious repetitive anomalies of audience behavior claiming that most of their traffic is artificialquotThe concept of sourced traffic or traffic sourcing any method by which digital media sellers acquire visitors through third parties is unique to digital advertisingamp160 Television media companies do not quotsourcequot traffic amp160Print media companies do not quotsourcequot trafficamp160 So why is this such a common and unchallenged practice in digital mediaSourced traffic can be problematic for many reasonsMarketers are often unaware that their digital media buys include sourced trafficSince the sourced traffic audience is a step or more removed from a publisher39s organic audience the quality of such traffic could be inferiorSourcing traffic results in an alarmingly high level of bot fraud ie nonhuman trafficamp160 According to the most recent ANAWhite Ops Bot Baseline report there was 36 times as much fraud coming from sourced traffic than nonsourced trafficMedia companies can arbitrage sourced traffic amp160A media company can buy traffic from a third party for one price and then sell it back to the advertiser for a higher priceANA encourages advertisers to take the following action stepsBe Aware Ask Questionsamp160amp160Advertisers must be aware of sourced traffic amp160Work closely with your media agency and media partners to clearly understand the use of sourced traffic in your media scheduleRequest Transparency amp160Buyers should request transparency from publishers around traffic sourcing and build language into RFPs and insertion orders that requires publishers to identify all thirdparty sources of trafficRequest Reporting from Agencies amp160Marketers need to hold their media agencies accountable for reporting and analytics and such reporting should include sourced trafficSet Reasonable Campaign Goals amp160Advertisers should set reasonable campaign goals for audience delivery amp160With overly aggressive goals sellers may not have the organic inventory available to fulfill the targets and might then turn to traffic sourcingPay Particular Attention to Mid and LongTail Publishers amp160When looking at sourced traffic from a risk perspectiveamp160advertisers should pay particular attention to midand longtail publishers as they are more likely to have issues with sourced traffic given their smaller audiencesHave Guidelines on Sourced Traffic amp160Advertisers should consider having formal written guidelines on sourced traffic that are shared with agencies and all media companies amp160Such guidelines could set rules about what goodbad practices of publishers are and could even prohibit sourced traffic or limit it under certain circumstancesSupport TAG39s Certified Against Fraud Programamp160 TAG launched this to combat invalid traffic in the digital advertising supply chain The program includes theamp160Publisher Sourcing Disclosure Requirementsamp160PSDR which foster trust in the marketplace by disclosing the amount of sourced traffic for a given publisherIn an era where marketers continue to have transparency concerns related to their advertising investments sourced traffic serves as a contributing factor in the erosion of trust in the digital supply chainamp160 Let the buyer bewareClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Sourced Traffic -- Buyer Beware!

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Bill Duggan

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