Fraud Detection and Brand Safety

Affiliate fraud costs billions. Fraud types, detection, platforms, response, prevention, measurement.

Why anti-fraud

Affiliate fraud costs billions industry-wide. Without detection, you pay for non-incremental or fake conversions. Mature programs invest heavily in fraud prevention.

Fraud types

• Coupon code stuffing (last-touch on coupon sites).
• Cookie stuffing.
• Brand bidding (PPC on your branded terms).
• Fake conversions (bot traffic).
• Adware / browser hijacking.
• Click farms.
• Self-referrals.
• Customer manipulation (post-purchase coupon).
• Sub-affiliate fraud.
• Trademark infringement.

Detection

• Last-touch analysis (coupon over-attribution).
• Time-to-conversion patterns.
• Device / IP fingerprinting.
• Sub-affiliate origin tracking.
• Brand bidding monitoring.
• Conversion path analysis.
• Geographic anomalies.
• Velocity-based detection.

Anti-fraud tools

• FraudScore, Brand Verity: Specialized.
• Network-native: Impact, Awin built-in features.
• BrandVerity: Brand bidding monitoring.
• Forensiq, TrafficGuard: Click fraud.
• Custom rules and monitoring.

Response

• Investigation protocol.
• Partner communication.
• Suspension procedures.
• Commission clawback.
• Termination criteria.
• Documentation.
• Legal action when warranted.

Prevention

• Strong approval process.
• Terms of service explicit on banned practices.
• Brand bidding policy.
• Coupon affiliate policy.
• Sub-affiliate transparency required.
• Regular partner audits.
• Compliance education.

Measurement

• Fraud rate (suspected / total).
• Clawback volume.
• Partner termination rate.
• Brand bidding incidents.
• Coupon attribution share.
• Annual fraud cost estimate.

Advanced

• Anti-fraud tools deployed.
• Detection rules tuned.
• Brand bidding monitoring.
• Coupon attribution policies enforced.
• Sub-affiliate transparency required.
• Partner audit calendar.
• Response protocol documented.
• Legal partnership for severe cases.
• Annual fraud assessment.
• Industry information sharing.

Mistakes

• Anti-fraud tools absent.
• Brand bidding tolerated.
• Coupon attribution unchecked.
• Sub-affiliate transparency missing.
• Response protocol absent.
• Annual audit skipped.
• Partner education absent.
• Legal partnership absent.
• Industry sharing absent.
• Fraud rate not measured.

Checklist

• Anti-fraud tools deployed
• Detection rules tuned
• Brand bidding monitoring
• Coupon attribution policies
• Sub-affiliate transparency
• Partner audit calendar
• Response protocol
• Legal partnership
• Annual fraud assessment
• Industry information sharing

Part of the Affiliate Marketing series.