SSP Operator: Ensuring Inventory Quality and Transparency

Japan’s biggest SSP operator, adstir. Today we talked with Mr. Nagata, a supply operations manager, about how he uses SpiderAF to combat ad fraud.

Goal

・Secure quality and transparent inventory as an SSP operator

Topics

・ There’s little room for improvement when we can not comprehend ad fraud with data only from the demand side
・Identify countermeasures for  in ad fraud

Results

・We were able to stop fraudulent media at a large scale
・We can appeal to the public that we are taking measures against ad fraud by using a third-party organization, and are able to build a strong relationship of trust with the demand side.
・By joining SBL MEMBERS, we are able to catch up with the latest info on ad fraud and share know-how with every company involved.

Q: Could you tell us the timing and reason of when you felt that countermeasures were needed for ad fraud?

Starting from spring to summer last year, the number of people from our network pointing out fraudulent media was spiking. Operators on the demand side were contacting us, letting us know that fraud was occurring in our inventory. In the midst of all of this we felt that there was a need to have countermeasures in place since ad fraud was getting more and more sophisticated everyday.

Q: Before you started using SpiderAF and joined the SHARED BLACKLIST (SBL), what kind of measures did you have in place against ad fraud?

We implemented stops on media and accounts based on the info that we got from operators on the demand side. However, things couldn’t completely improve since we were only using this info, there was an absence of comprehensiveness about ad fraud. So the number of fraudulent accounts was still increasing every day, and there was no way to deal with it.

Q: Please tell us what the deciding factor was for using SpiderAF and its comparison with other tools?

We were using a competitor product in the past. But when we signed up for SpiderAF’s trial, we were happy to see its ease of use and high detection accuracy. The level of support was also a deciding factor, as the lecture on how to use and the contents of the ad fraud analysis were explained in an easy-to-understand manner.

Q: Thank you very much. When you started using it, how many people actually used it?

We operate with a team of 2 people. Once a month we get a report. Based on that, we confirm and delete fraudulent media. We also use the API from IP Blacklist to automatically eliminate access from fraudulent IPs.

Q: Could you tell us some of your favorite functions on SpiderAF?

Because it is visualized, you can quickly understand what is ad fraud by just taking a glance at the report screen. Plus, we reference a lot of the feedback we get from SpiderAF’s customer success team. Since up until now we’ve only been cleaning up fraud, I think going forward, we want to build up our own knowledge of ad fraud based on this feedback.

Since the SpiderAF customer success team provides explanation and feedback as to how they deduced that something is fraudulent, our company can correctly decide what is fraud without any specialization from our staff.

Q: How does Spider AF contribute to adstir?

We’ve had months where we could stop transmissions from over 100 fraudulent sources. We can visually reduce ad fraud and keep transparency at a high level. We can provide an environment where media can be delivered with confidence.

Q: How are you using SBL? Could you tell us what functions you find convenient and what functions you use often?

We’ve been able to reply “No Ad” for requests from IPs included in SBL. In the future, we would like to automate domains that contain fraud deemed by other companies so that they can be prevented before they occur.

Q: Could you tell us what your opinion is about the R & D seminar held with only SBL MEMBERS?

I’ve learned a lot since joining the R&D seminars.


We’ve been able to hear a lot of topics from many different companies and get to understand what sort of measures they use. They give examples of what sort of situations they dealt with and it’s been very informative learning from that. We get the latest information about ad fraud and it truly feels like a significant seminar.

Q: What is your outlook for businesses and services, including the use of SpiderAF?

In the future, we believe that SSP providers will be required to further increase the quality and transparency of their inventories. We want to aim to be in a position where we can implement timely countermeasures against the evolving nature of ad fraud and distribute ads with confidence. In the future, SpiderAF will support real-time detection and blocking, so we will continue to work together to provide a clean inventory.

We’re planning a big release on real time functions for this year, so we hope in the future for more cooperation and initiatives with adstir!