Invalid traffic protection

In advertising systems, invalid traffic refers to clicks and conversions that don't result from genuine user interest. This traffic is harmful to advertisers because it may drain their budgets, distort statistics, and waste their time processing invalid requests.

Invalid traffic is divided into two types:

• Fraudulent traffic includes deliberate actions aimed at deceiving the advertiser, for example:

  • Clicks made by bots or fraudulent software.

  • Clicks made by real users for a monetary reward, rather than out of genuine interest.

• Random traffic encompasses unintentional ad clicks that have no value to the advertiser. For example, this includes repeated clicks on the same banner.

This traffic is excluded from statistical reports in Yandex Direct and you aren't charged for it. Fraudulent conversions aren't used for strategy training.

Anti-fraud update for Yandex Advertising Network and Yandex Search campaigns

The effectiveness of your promotion depends on all market participants:

• Platforms implement solutions to effectively identify leads and combat fraud.
• Yandex Direct continually improves its algorithms for precise targeting and ad platform selection. The anti-fraud system helps filter out fraudulent traffic.

Previously, the Yandex Direct anti-fraud system was aimed at protecting advertisers' budgets. The algorithm operated retrospectively, analyzing user behavior after they visited the site. Invalid impressions, clicks, and conversions were then excluded from Yandex Direct statistics. However, the system didn't prevent such traffic from reaching your site.

Now, the anti-fraud system not only protects the advertiser's budget, but also reduces the risk of invalid traffic on their site.

How the anti-fraud system works

Before click-through to the site

Stage 1. Before ad impression

Based on aggregated user behavior data, we can recognize and block invalid traffic proactively. If the system is confident that it has detected a bot or scammer, no ads are displayed to them.

Stage 2. During ad click

If a user's interaction with the ad appears suspicious, the system uses CAPTCHA to verify that they are human.

After click-through to the site

If fraudulent traffic reaches your site, the system automatically detects it through multi-level filtering. In addition, requests submitted during a session on the site that contain invalid data, such as a non-existent phone number, are also categorized as invalid traffic.

Fraudulent actions are excluded from Yandex Direct reports and aren't used for strategy training.

All site sessions, including fraudulent ones, are recorded in CRM and analytics systems. Any fraudulent activity that you see there has already been filtered out in Yandex Direct reports.

Accounting for invalid traffic in statistics

Money spent on invalid traffic is automatically refunded to the shared account, and filtered-out impressions, clicks, and conversions are excluded from all Yandex Direct statistical reports.

To see the number of clicks and conversions filtered out by the anti-fraud system over a selected period, launch the Report wizard and open General statistics or Search queries reports (Invalid clicks and conversions line). These figures may change over time if a portion of clicks are considered invalid during future filtrations.

Clicks and conversions that are deemed invalid are removed from statistics. All associated expenses are automatically refunded to the balance of the shared account. In some cases, a paid conversion may be identified as invalid even if it came from a click that successfully passed through filtering. Furthermore, a click may be identified as invalid even if the resulting conversion successfully passed through filtering.

The number of invalid clicks and conversions for all ad campaigns linked to your account is available in the Report Wizard. You can only filter them by campaign. Other cross sections and settings (including selection of specific goals) don't affect the displayed data on invalid clicks and conversions.

In Yandex Metrica, statistics in reports belonging to the "Yandex Direct" group are based on recorded clicks — those that were not filtered out by the fraud protection system in Yandex Direct. In other cross sections, Yandex Metrica shows statistics without taking ad filtering into account.

If the number of ad clicks or impressions shows a sudden spike, this isn't necessarily related to invalid traffic. Most often, this is caused by other factors. For answers to the most frequently asked questions on sudden changes in statistics, see this section.

What user actions aren't filtered out by the anti-fraud system

Clicks and requests from real but non-target users

These refer to actions taken by real users who clicked your ad but did not complete a conversion action. This can happen for various reasons: the price was too high, the advertised service was not what the user was seeking, or they were simply exploring the market.

Repeat conversions within different sessions

Sessions are defined according to one of four attribution models. For example, a user submitted a request during different sessions. These conversions are not filtered out.

A session on the "Thank you for your purchase" page is set as a goal, but the user forgot to close the page and the conversion was counted twice. These conversions are not filtered out.

To avoid such situations, use verifiers that prevent users from sending the same data again. Either change the attribution model or the goal for optimization.

Fields filled in incorrectly

• Contact details. An invalid email or phone number specified by the customer isn't considered invalid traffic.

• Inappropriate use of fields. For example, a user left feedback in the contacts form or submitted other information instead of a phone number. The system also doesn't filter out forms that were filled out in exchange for a reward promised on the site.

  To avoid such situations, carefully adjust the data format in forms and try not to mislead users.

Note that Yandex can only check conversions for fraud if they occurred over the past 30 days. It is technically impossible to itemize conversions for an earlier period.

If you suspect that some conversions were made deliberately to drain your ad budget, contact us.

Have questions?

Scan the QR code or tap it to follow the link.

If you select Telegram or WhatsApp, keep in mind that Yandex does not control and is not liable for how third-party messengers store your data and chat history.