Open-Source Ad Fraud IOC Databases Signal New Era in Invalid Traffic Detection for PPC Teams

A new open-source indicator-of-compromise database focused on ad fraud and invalid traffic has been released to the market, giving researchers and security teams a shared feed of domains, apps and other identifiers linked to fraudulent activity. For PPC professionals, this points to a broader shift toward more transparent sharing of invalid traffic signals that can inform how platforms and vendors like ClickPatrol protect ad budgets from fake clicks.

From our perspective at ClickPatrol, open IOC-style feeds are a welcome development. They help validate what many advertisers already see in their own accounts: a persistent layer of suspicious traffic that distorts performance metrics and quietly drains spend from Google Ads, Meta Ads and Microsoft Ads.

What this new ad fraud IOC-DB is trying to solve

The newly published database is positioned as an open-source intelligence feed specifically created to support fraud researchers, developers and system administrators who are working on invalid traffic mitigation. Rather than focusing on malware in general, it concentrates on entities tied to ad fraud, such as:

• Domains used by fraudulent websites or redirect chains
• Mobile apps identified as generating non-human or incentivized traffic
• Other identifiers that can be used to flag abnormal activity patterns

The stated goal is to give security and ad tech teams a structured, machine-readable way to blacklist or closely monitor high-risk entities within their own systems. This aligns closely with how we at ClickPatrol treat high-risk sources: as signals that need to be evaluated in combination with behavioral data from each click.

Key insights and metrics highlighted in the release

The announcement around this ad fraud IOC database underscored the continued scale of invalid traffic in digital advertising and the need for better collaboration around threat intelligence. Among the headline points were:

• Invalid traffic continues to represent a material share of programmatic ad impressions, with ad fraud frequently estimated in industry research as a multi-billion dollar issue for advertisers each year.
• The database is positioned as the “first” open-source intelligence feed focused specifically on ad fraud indicators, rather than generic security threats.
• The IOC list is designed to be updated on an ongoing basis, which is critical because ad fraud operations regularly rotate domains, apps and infrastructure.
• The feed is intended for integration into security workflows, content filters and custom detection systems used by developers and analysts.
• The creators frame it as a community resource that can complement other fraud detection methods already in place in ad verification or traffic quality tools.

For advertisers, the exact counts of domains or apps in the database are less important than what these signals represent: a persistent, evolving attempt to monetize fake users across the open web and mobile environments.

What this means for PPC advertisers and agencies

Open IOC lists are useful, but on their own they are not enough to protect a media budget. Most PPC click fraud problems we see at ClickPatrol are not caused by a single, obvious bad domain that can simply be blocked. Instead they come from a mix of:

• Automated traffic coming through otherwise legitimate sites or apps
• Click farms that rotate IPs and user agents to avoid simple blacklists
• Competitor click spam that repeatedly hits specific campaigns or keywords
• Proxy and VPN networks that obscure the real origin of the user

IOC feeds can flag known offenders, which is valuable, but serious advertisers also need real-time behavioral analysis of every click. That includes metrics like time on site, scroll depth, conversion behavior, IP and device patterns, and how users move through remarketing funnels.

Without that deeper analysis layer, there is a risk that you either miss sophisticated click fraud, or block too aggressively and cut off real users. Our view is that IOC lists should inform, not replace, dynamic detection and rules tailored to your specific campaigns.

How open fraud intelligence feeds fit with platform controls

Google Ads, Meta Ads and Microsoft Ads already apply their own invalid traffic filters at the platform level, and each publishes policies around non-human or incentivized activity. However, any advertiser who has audited logs against spend knows that platform filters do not catch everything. That is why third-party detection and independent validation are now standard practice in larger accounts.

Open-source ad fraud IOC databases provide an additional input that can be used in several ways:

• Enriching internal allow and block lists at the network or web server level
• Feeding SIEM or security tools so security teams can correlate ad fraud with broader network threats
• Informing rules inside traffic quality tools and click fraud protection systems
• Providing research material for agencies and analysts who investigate suspicious campaigns

For PPC teams, the practical question is how to turn this intelligence into fewer wasted clicks and cleaner performance data, without adding excessive operational overhead.

ClickPatrol’s perspective: why behavioral signals still matter most

At ClickPatrol, we already combine multiple layers of signals when deciding whether to block or allow a click. Domain- and app-level intelligence, including any external IOC sources, is one of those layers. But equally important are behavioral indicators that only emerge when you observe how a supposed user interacts with your site or app.

For example, we regularly see patterns such as:

• Large clusters of clicks from different IPs that all show identical on-site behavior and no real engagement
• Traffic that looks normal at the domain level but produces near-zero scroll, instant bounces and no movement through key conversion steps
• Sudden spikes in clicks from specific geographies or devices, especially on competitive keywords, with no corresponding lift in leads or sales

By correlating these behaviors with known high-risk sources, we can make more confident block decisions and feed better data back into your PPC optimization. IOC-style feeds can strengthen that process, but they are just one piece of the puzzle.

Practical steps for advertisers in light of this development

Given the arrival of open-source ad fraud IOC databases and the ongoing scale of invalid traffic, advertisers and agencies should consider three immediate actions:

1. Review your current protection stack. Confirm what your existing tools use as inputs for invalid traffic detection. If all you rely on are basic IP exclusions and platform filters, there is likely a lot of uncaught waste.
2. Connect fraud signals with performance metrics. Look beyond click counts and CPC. Compare suspected fraud sources with KPIs like conversion rate, qualified lead rate and revenue to understand the true budget impact.
3. Layer in dedicated click fraud protection. A specialist tool like ClickPatrol can translate both external intelligence and on-site behavior into automated blocking across Google Ads, Meta Ads and Microsoft Ads, so you invest more in traffic that actually converts.

For teams that want to see what this looks like in practice, you can start a free trial of ClickPatrol or speak with us to review your current invalid traffic exposure. Open-source fraud intelligence is a positive signal, but it becomes truly valuable when it is combined with granular, click-level protection directly tied to your campaigns.

Abisola

Meet Abisola! As the content manager at ClickPatrol, she’s the go-to expert on all things fake traffic. From bot clicks to ad fraud, Abisola knows how to spot, stop, and educate others about the sneaky tactics that inflate numbers but don’t bring real results.

View all posts by Abisola (Abisola)

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