Invalid traffic
Invalid traffic (IVT) is any ad activity, such as impressions or clicks, that does not come from a real person with genuine interest. It ranges from known crawlers and accidental activity to deliberate fraud like bots, hidden ads, domain spoofing and device farms. Industry practice separates general and sophisticated IVT.
What is invalid traffic?
Invalid traffic, abbreviated IVT, is the industry term for ad activity that should not be counted or paid for. Measurement guidelines split it into general invalid traffic (GIVT), which includes known bots, spiders and data centre traffic identified through lists and routine filtering, and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT), which covers harder-to-detect fraud such as hijacked devices, malware, hidden or stacked ads and spoofed inventory. Transparency standards such as ads.txt and sellers.json help prevent spoofing, while specialist verification vendors detect behavioural fraud. Both pre-bid and post-bid controls are common.
How invalid traffic works
Detection systems analyse signals such as user agent, IP, device behaviour, interaction patterns and data centre origin. General IVT is filtered with lists and routine checks, while sophisticated IVT needs advanced analytics and cross-campaign patterns. Flagged traffic is blocked before bidding or removed from billing afterwards.
- Traffic signals such as IP, device, user agent and behaviour are collected for each request or event.
- Known bad sources are filtered using industry lists and routine rules for general IVT.
- Advanced models look for patterns that indicate sophisticated IVT.
- Suspect traffic is blocked pre-bid or excluded from reporting and billing post-bid.
- Sources found to send invalid traffic are removed from supply and the findings shared with partners.
Why it matters
Invalid traffic wastes advertiser budgets, distorts performance data and undermines trust in publishers. Removing it protects both sides of the market.
For advertisers
Controlling IVT protects budgets and keeps performance data reliable enough for good decisions.
For publishers
Clean traffic sustains buyer trust; publishers should vet traffic sources and avoid buying low-quality visits.
For adtech platforms
Platforms are expected to filter IVT in their pipes and act quickly on partners that send it.
Practical example
A DSP notices that a group of apps shows click patterns with no human variation, classifies the traffic as sophisticated IVT and stops bidding on it.
Key considerations
- Fraud techniques evolve, so detection must be updated continuously.
- Different vendors may measure IVT differently, which can cause reporting discrepancies.
- Paid traffic acquisition by publishers is a common source of IVT and needs careful scrutiny.
More Measurement & Optimization terms
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GIVT and SIVT?
GIVT is invalid traffic identifiable through routine filtering such as known bot lists, while SIVT requires advanced analysis to detect, such as hijacked devices or ad stacking.
Is all invalid traffic fraud?
No. Some IVT, such as search engine crawlers or accidental duplicate clicks, is non-malicious but still should not be billed as human activity.
How does ads.txt help against invalid traffic?
It lets buyers check that a seller is authorised to sell a domain’s inventory, which helps prevent domain spoofing.