Based out of Chorley, UK, PPC Protect is the fastest-growing click fraud protection platform on the market. Recently, the company has raised £2M funding in an oversubscribed seed round led by Fuel Ventures and other angel investors.
With the funding, the UK company aims to ramp up its Automated Real-Time Click Fraud Protection solution to continue to provide the best protection for businesses’ online spending.
Launched Global PPC Click Fraud Report
On the other hand, PPC Protect also launched its annual Global PPC Click Fraud Report. As per the company’s claims, it has examined over 1 billion ad clicks to uncover the sheer global impact this fraudulent activity has on businesses of every size – accounting for between £14,000 and £700K per year lost to each business.
Handled 1 billion ad interactions
According to PPC Protect’s report, 11% of search clicks and 17% of clicks associated with connected TV campaigns were fraudulent. Founded by Neil Andrew, and Segev Hochberg, PPC Protect handled more than one billion ad interactions in the last 12 months.
The report also found out that 38% of fraudulent activity is through automated bots and bot fraud. The company says that criminal gangs are investing heavily in sophisticated bots to do their dirty work without having to lift a finger.
Rise in fraudulent activity
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on online advertising fraud, claims PPC Protect. The report states that the educational industry upped their spending on online advertising, which fueled a rise in fraudulent activity and payouts for click-fraudsters.
PPC Protect found that as a result education saw the highest rates of click fraud with 31% of clicks being invalid. Furthermore, healthcare also hit hard as click fraud grew by 53% for healthcare advertisers.
Notably, 2020 also saw losses in the travel market reduced by 21% due to the market shrinking significantly, demonstrating that criminals are following market trends to make their activities payout hugely.
Neil Andrew, founder, and CEO of PPC Protect said, “Despite the impact of Covid-19, digital ad spend still increased 2.4% in 2020 to a record $332bn2 as consumers turn to the web in their masses to stay informed, in touch, and entertained. For fraudsters, this is like shooting fish in a barrel. With little effort, they can defraud small, independent businesses relying on online ad spend to increase their presences out of tens of thousands of pounds a year. We are handling huge volumes of ad traffic to make sure these businesses are protected and with this new investment we can explore how our solution stays one step ahead of more sophisticated ad fraud tactics and expand internationally.”
Mark Pearson, founder, and managing partner of Fuel Ventures added, “Neil and the PPC Protect team are at the frontline of the click fraud prevention space and built the first truly automated cybersecurity-driven fraud detection engine that stops bad traffic and fake clicks. They are a security-first not adtech-first firm and their priority on keeping businesses safe is paramount. We are excited to be backing this innovative company with excellent leadership.”
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