Programmatic advertising delivers scale and efficiency, but it also creates fertile ground for fraud. Bots—automated scripts designed to mimic human behavior—drain billions from advertiser budgets each year. Unlike viewability issues, bot-driven fraud produces completely wasted impressions and clicks, reducing ROI and undermining trust in digital media buying.

How Bots Affect Programmatic Advertising

Invalid traffic at scale

According to the IAB Tech Lab, 13% of global digital ad spend is lost to invalid traffic, primarily bots, translating into $68.2 billion in 2023 (IAB Tech Lab, 2023).

Sophisticated techniques

• Basic bots generate fake impressions by auto-loading ads on invisible pages.

• Sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) simulates user behavior, making detection harder.

• Device farms produce fraudulent clicks at industrial scale.

Programmatic vulnerability

Because programmatic trades millions of impressions in real time, buyers cannot manually check each placement. This creates an opportunity for bot networks to slip through exchanges undetected.

Key Facts

• 13% of digital ad spend lost to bots/invalid traffic in 2023 (~$68.2B) (IAB Tech Lab, 2023).

• Juniper Research forecasts ad fraud, much of it bot-driven, could reach $150B by 2026 (Juniper, 2024).

• Studies suggest bots account for up to 40% of internet traffic (Imperva, 2023).

• Fraudulent impressions still consume energy, adding to advertising’s carbon footprint (Scope3, 2022).

Forecasts and Trends

1. Rising sophistication: Botnets increasingly mimic human browsing, rendering simple detection methods ineffective.

2. CTV exposure: Connected TV programmatic environments are particularly vulnerable, as ad verification is less mature.

3. AI vs. bots: Detection technologies now use machine learning to flag anomalies in click, session, and device behavior.

4. Industry alignment: Standards like ads.txt, sellers.json, and supply path optimization are reducing—but not eliminating—bot exposure.

Practical Takeaways / Solutions

• Pre-bid bot filtering: Require DSPs to integrate verification vendors that block invalid traffic before bidding.

• Adopt standards: Ensure partners use ads.txt, app-ads.txt, and sellers.json to authenticate supply sources.

• Log-level auditing: Contractually demand log-level data access to detect anomalies in impressions and clicks.

• Focus on quality supply: Reduce exposure to MFA sites and long-tail exchanges where bot activity is concentrated.

• Continuous monitoring: Fraud evolves—ongoing anomaly detection and adaptive models are essential.

Benefits for media planners

1. Cost efficiency: Lower wasted impressions increases effective ROI.

2. Client trust: Transparent, bot-filtered reporting strengthens relationships.

3. Sustainability: Eliminating bot impressions reduces wasted energy and CO₂ emissions.

Conclusion

Bots are an unavoidable reality in programmatic advertising, but their cost is staggering: tens of billions lost annually, with forecasts pointing toward $150 billion by 2026. For advertisers, the solution lies in layered defenses—combining pre-bid verification, log-level transparency, and supply chain standards. Media planners who prioritize bot mitigation not only protect budgets but also deliver cleaner, more sustainable campaigns.

FAQs

Q1. Why are bots so hard to stop in programmatic?

Because trades happen in milliseconds and at massive scale, fraudulent impressions can slip through before detection systems intervene.

Q2. Which channels are most exposed to bot traffic?

Programmatic display and CTV environments, due to fragmented supply paths and weaker verification standards.

Q3. Does reducing bot traffic improve sustainability?

Yes. Every fraudulent impression still consumes energy, meaning bot reduction cuts CO₂ emissions as well as wasted spend.

References

IAB Tech Lab. (2023). Ad fraud and invalid traffic estimates. Cited in Veracity Trust Network. Retrieved from https://veracitytrustnetwork.com/blog/ad-fraud-prevention/the-bots-are-here-and-theyre-wreaking-havoc/

Imperva. (2023). Bad Bot Report 2023. Imperva Research Labs.

Juniper Research. (2024). Ad fraud market forecast 2023–2026. Cited in Veracity Trust Network. Retrieved from https://veracitytrustnetwork.com/blog/ad-fraud-prevention/the-bots-are-here-and-theyre-wreaking-havoc/

Scope3. (2022). The Climate Cost of Programmatic Advertising. Scope3 Report.

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