Indonesia consistently ranks among the top 10 countries globally for digital advertising fraud. ANA and JICWEBS studies estimate that 15-25% of digital impressions in Indonesia come from invalid traffic (IVT) — bots, click farms, and ad stacking.
Types of Ad Fraud in Indonesia
**General Invalid Traffic (GIVT):**
Known data center traffic, crawlers, and scrapers. Basic detection removes most GIVT. Your DSP should filter this automatically.
**Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT):**
Bot-generated traffic designed to mimic human behavior. Harder to detect — uses real device fingerprints, mimics human scroll patterns, and bypasses basic detection.
Common SIVT tactics in Indonesia:
- Click farms in Java and Sumatra generating fake clicks
- App install fraud for mobile campaigns
- Domain spoofing (impersonating premium Indonesian publishers)
- Ad stacking (multiple ads stacked invisibly at same placement)
Protection Strategies
**Pre-Bid Protection:**
- Use IAS or DoubleVerify fraud filtering in your DSP settings
- Set maximum IVT thresholds (reject any auction with >10% IVT risk)
- Use DV's Programmatic fraud avoidance targeting segment
**Post-Bid Verification:**
- Compare DSP delivery with IAS/DoubleVerify post-buy reports
- Flag any campaign with IVT >8% for investigation
- Request make-goods or credits for campaigns with verified fraud delivery
**Publisher Vetting:**
- Maintain approved publisher lists for all direct buys
- Verify new publishers through AOP Indonesia certification or IAS publisher vetting
- Require publishers to participate in ads.txt and sellers.json for transparency
The Cost of Ignoring Fraud
A campaign delivering 10 million impressions with 20% IVT means you paid for 2 million fake impressions. At IDR 20,000 CPM, that's IDR 40 million wasted. Fraud protection tools cost a fraction of that.
