The glossary

233 terms, each answered in one sentence, then explained properly with an analogy and a worked example.

A

Accidental click IVT: An accidental click is a click on an ad that the user did not mean to make, usually because of where or how the ad was placed.
Ad stacking IVT: Ad stacking is layering several ads on top of one another in one slot so that only the top one is visible while all of them are counted.
ads.txt IVT: ads.txt is a public text file on a website listing the companies authorised to sell that site's ad space, so buyers can spot unauthorised or counterfeit sellers.
Adware IVT: Adware is software on a user's device that shows or injects extra ads, opens pages or triggers searches the user did not ask for, to earn money for its maker.

Bot traffic IVT: Bot traffic is visits and clicks made by software instead of people, ranging from harmless crawlers to programs built to imitate real users.
Botnet IVT: A botnet is a network of malware-infected computers or phones, controlled remotely, that can be made to visit pages and click ads without their owners knowing.

Click farm IVT: A click farm is a group of low-paid workers, or racks of real phones, used to click ads and perform searches by hand so the activity looks human.
Click fraud IVT: Click fraud is deliberately generating ad clicks with no real interest behind them, to earn publisher revenue or to drain an advertiser's budget.
Click injection IVT: Click injection is fraud in which software on a user's device inserts a fake ad click the user never made, usually to steal credit for an action already under way.
Click spam IVT: Click spam is the mass generation of fake or background clicks in the hope that a few will be credited with real revenue or conversions.
Cloaking IVT: Cloaking is showing one version of an ad or page to a platform's reviewers and a different version to real users, in order to hide rule-breaking content.
Cookie stuffing IVT: Cookie stuffing is secretly planting tracking cookies or click records on a visitor's browser so the fraudster is later credited for sales or clicks they did not cause.

Data-center traffic IVT: Data-center traffic is visits that originate from servers in hosting facilities and cloud providers, where programs run, not from homes or phones where people browse.
Device fingerprinting IVT: Device fingerprinting identifies a device by combining many small technical traits, such as screen size, fonts and browser version, into one recognisable signature.
Domain spoofing IVT: Domain spoofing is falsely claiming that traffic or ad space comes from a well-known, trusted website when it really comes from somewhere else.

Fake conversion IVT: A fake conversion is a reported sale, sign-up or other goal that did not really happen or was not made by a genuine customer.

GIVT (general invalid traffic) IVT: GIVT is invalid traffic that routine checks can catch, such as known crawlers, data-center addresses and browsers that declare themselves as automated.

Headless browser IVT: 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.
Hidden ads IVT: Hidden ads are ads loaded where no person can see them, for example in a one-pixel frame or behind other content, yet still counted and sometimes clicked by software.

Incentivised traffic IVT: Incentivised traffic is visitors who came because they were rewarded with points, cash or perks, not because they cared about the page or its ads.
Invalid click IVT: An invalid click is a click on an ad that does not reflect genuine interest in the advertiser, so the advertiser should not be charged for it.
Invalid traffic (IVT) IVT: Invalid traffic is any click, search or ad view that does not come from a real person with genuine interest, whether caused by bots, fraud or honest accident.
IVT detection IVT: 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.

Keyword stuffing (keyword forcing) IVT: Keyword stuffing in search arbitrage is pushing high-paying search terms onto a page or visitor even though they have little to do with the content or the upstream ad.

Lead fraud IVT: Lead fraud is submitting fake, stolen or recycled contact details through an advertiser's enquiry form so that someone gets paid for a customer who does not exist.

Malvertising IVT: Malvertising is the use of online ads to spread malware, scams or forced redirects, so that simply viewing or clicking an ad harms the user.
MRC (Media Rating Council) IVT: The MRC is a US non-profit industry body that sets standards for media measurement, including invalid traffic, and audits and accredits the companies that measure it.

Post-click analysis IVT: Post-click analysis studies what visitors did after clicking, in aggregate, to find invalid traffic that looked normal at the moment of the click.
Pre-click filtering IVT: Pre-click filtering checks each visitor the moment they arrive and withholds the search ads from those judged invalid, before any click can be charged.

Query fraud (fake search queries) IVT: Query fraud is sending a search feed searches that no real person chose to make, in order to trigger valuable ads.

Referrer spoofing IVT: Referrer spoofing is faking the information that says which page a visitor came from, to make low-quality traffic appear to come from a trusted source.
Residential proxy IVT: 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.

Search hijacking (browser hijacker) IVT: Search hijacking is when unwanted software changes a browser's search engine, home page or results so the user's searches are diverted to pages that earn someone ad money.
Self-clicking IVT: Self-clicking is a publisher, or people acting for it, clicking the ads on its own pages to increase its earnings.
SIVT (sophisticated invalid traffic) IVT: SIVT is invalid traffic designed to look like real people, which can only be found with advanced analysis that compares many signals at once.

TAG certification IVT: TAG certification is a seal from the Trustworthy Accountability Group showing that an advertising company meets its standards for fighting fraud and invalid traffic.
TQI Score™ IVT: The TQI Score™ (Traffic Quality Index) is ClearTrust's measure of traffic quality, built from more than 150 filters for bots, fake clicks and fake impressions.
Traffic blending IVT: Traffic blending is mixing cheap, low-quality or invalid traffic with good traffic so that the average looks acceptable and the bad part goes unnoticed.
Traffic laundering IVT: Traffic laundering is passing low-quality or prohibited traffic through intermediate sites and redirects so it reaches a search feed looking clean and legitimate.