Fake Followers Are the Latest Data Fraud Issue Hurting Brands

Opinion: Legitimate data providers and agencies are also affected

Data-driven marketing has a problem.

Unilever chief marketing officer Keith Weed set off alarm bells recently when he called for “urgent action” in response to the problem of fake followers of supposed social media “influencers.” Given Unilever’s $8.4 billion marketing budget and hundreds of consumer brands, those comments carry tremendous weight.

Beyond social media, third-party data also is coming under increased scrutiny. Bot fraud is estimated to have duped client companies out of $6.5 billion in 2017, according to the Bot Annual Baseline Report.

The truth is that the fake-follower problem is part of a much larger data fraud problem plaguing the advertising industry.

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