Ad Fraud Expert on Scams, Bots, Spoofs

Ad fraud represents a pervasive threat to digital advertisers, with estimates indicating that 30% to 50% of ad spend is lost to fraudulent activity. Jeromy Sonne, founder of Daypart.ai, explains that while walled gardens like Meta and Google offer some protection, the open web programmatic ecosystem is rife with sophisticated scams, including bot-driven impressions, misdeclared inventory, and cookie stuffing. These fraudulent practices thrive because of misaligned incentives within the ad tech supply chain, where volume often takes precedence over traffic quality. To combat these threats, brands must move beyond surface-level metrics by implementing rigorous data verification, utilizing third-party tracking, and conducting incrementality studies. Ultimately, increasing return on ad spend requires a proactive, "trust but verify" approach to ensure marketing budgets reach real human audiences rather than fueling illicit bot farms.