Fraud & invalid traffic · also called Browser fingerprinting
Device fingerprinting
Device fingerprinting identifies a device by combining many small technical traits, such as screen size, fonts and browser version, into one recognisable signature.
No single setting identifies a device, but the combination often does: operating system, browser build, screen dimensions, time zone, language, graphics hardware and dozens more. Together these form a fingerprint.
In fraud detection the fingerprint is used for two checks. Consistency: does the story hold together? A visitor claiming to be an iPhone whose graphics traits match a Linux server is lying. Repetition: are thousands of "different users" really the same few devices, or one emulator with tiny variations? Both are central to finding SIVT, because bots and click farms can change IP addresses through a residential proxy far more easily than they can fake a coherent device.
For search arbitrage, fingerprint signals let a publisher or feed provider spot that a cheap source is recycling the same devices, before the search engine's own review produces a clawback.
There is a privacy side. Fingerprinting can also be used to track people for advertising without cookies, which regulators treat as processing personal data. Under GDPR and similar laws it needs a lawful basis and proper disclosure, even when the purpose is security.
Think of it like this
One detail, such as height or shoe size, describes thousands of people. Height, shoe size, gait, accent and handwriting together describe one.
Related terms
IVT detection
IVT detection is the set of methods used to tell real, interested visitors from bots, fraud and accidental activity, before or after an ad is clicked.
Headless browser
A headless browser is a real web browser run by a program with no visible window, able to load pages and click exactly as a person's browser would.
Residential proxy
A residential proxy routes someone's internet traffic through an ordinary home connection, so a bot or distant operator appears to be a normal household user.
SIVT (sophisticated invalid traffic)
SIVT is invalid traffic designed to look like real people, which can only be found with advanced analysis that compares many signals at once.
GDPR
GDPR is the European Union's data protection law, which requires a lawful basis, such as consent, before a business processes personal data.
Bot traffic
Bot traffic is visits and clicks made by software instead of people, ranging from harmless crawlers to programs built to imitate real users.
Sources: MRC Invalid Traffic Detection and Filtration Standards Addendum (June 2020 update)