Invalid traffic protection

Invalid traffic means any clicks or conversions that did not come as a result of user intended actions, including fraudulent traffic. For example, invalid traffic includes clicks made by bots, motivated traffic, and accidental clicks, like those made unintentionally because of the ad unit's location.

You are not charged for this traffic, and it isn't included in statistics reports in Yandex Direct.

Examples of invalid traffic

• Accidental clicks, like those made unintentionally when browsing on a mobile device or because of the ad unit's location.
• Clicks made using automated tools, robots, or other fraudulent software.
• Repeated clicks on the same banner on the same page.
• Clicks made by users who are performing tasks for a reward.

How the Yandex antifraud system works

To protect users from invalid traffic, Yandex uses antifraud algorithms. We use several thousand different factors from different sources to train this system. For example:

• Aggregated statistics on user interaction with advertising on Yandex sites and in the Yandex Advertising Network.
• Aggregated statistics on user behavior in the company's services.
• Aggregated conversion data shared with us by advertisers through the Conversion center.
• Traffic data shared with us by Yandex external partners.

All the data that we receive from advertisers and external Yandex partners helps us train our algorithms to distinguish real users from suspicious activity like accidental clicks, bots, and motivated traffic. The more data we get from advertisers, the better our algorithms are at identifying invalid traffic.

Most invalid traffic (accidental clicks, bots) is filtered out automatically in real time (when the click occurs). You are not charged for this traffic, and it isn't included in statistics reports. Then goes the offline filtering, which checks for new or previously undetected invalid traffic. Offline checks account for less than 1% of all events. If offline filtering detects invalid traffic, any expenses associated with this traffic are automatically refunded to the shared account, and filtered-out impressions and clicks are deleted from all statistics 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 deleted from all statistics 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. Because of this, the number of invalid conversions may differ from the number of invalid clicks.

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 isn't considered an invalid conversion

Examples of conversions that are not considered invalid or filtered out by the antifraud system:

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.

Questions?