AdTech Insights Newsletter

Issue #4 | January 20, 2026
From the Desk of Jason A Wood – Navigating the Digital Frontier

Hello, fellow innovators and marketers!

In this edition, we’re diving deep into the Imperva 2025 Bad Bot Report, a wake-up call for anyone in digital marketing and adtech. Released amid the ongoing AI boom, this report paints a stark picture of how automated threats are reshaping the internet. I’ll break down the key findings, outline the profound impacts on our industry, and spotlight why Specificity (www.specificityinc.com) stands out as the premier tech solution to combat these challenges. Let’s cut through the noise and get strategic.

Executive Summary: The Imperva 2025 Bad Bot Report

Based on data from Imperva’s global network, which blocked a staggering 13 trillion bad bot requests in 2024, the report reveals a seismic shift: Automated traffic now surpasses human activity, making up 51% of all web traffic—for the first time in a decade. Bad bots account for 37% of this (up from 32% in 2023), driven by AI tools that lower barriers for attackers. Key highlights include:

• AI’s Dark Side: Generative AI enables rapid bot creation, refinement, and evasion, with 2 million daily AI-enabled attacks.
• Sophistication Surge: 55% of bot attacks are advanced or moderate, exploiting business logic; simple attacks rose to 45% due to accessible tools.
• API Vulnerabilities: 44% of advanced bots target APIs, leading to data scraping (31%), payment fraud (26%), account takeovers (12%), and scalping (11%).
• Industry Hits: Travel (27%), retail (15%), and education lead targets; OWASP automated threats comprise 31% of attacks.
• Evasion Tactics: 21% use residential proxies; 46% impersonate Chrome browsers.
• Growth Trends: Account takeovers up 40% in 2024; bots now a global problem eroding trust, inflating costs, and degrading services.

The report emphasizes that bots aren’t just a security issue—they’re a business killer, with a dedicated case study on marketing fraud (more on that below).

How Bad Bots Are Ravaging Digital Marketing and AdTech: A Detailed Outline

Bad bots aren’t mere annoyances; they’re sophisticated saboteurs that drain budgets, distort data, and undermine campaigns. Drawing from the Imperva report and broader industry insights, here’s a structured breakdown of their impacts:

1. Wasted Ad Spend and Click Fraud

• The Mechanism: Bots simulate human interactions, generating fake clicks, impressions, and engagements on paid ads across platforms like Google, Meta, and programmatic networks. The report notes AI-powered bots mimicking behaviors to evade detection, inflating costs without conversions.
• Quantified Impact: Up to 40% of click fraud stems from AI bot networks (per FraudLogix data). Advertisers lose billions annually—estimates peg ad fraud at $81 billion globally. In the report’s marketing fraud case study, a global talent agency saw 83% of website traffic from bots, wasting hundreds of thousands on ads that yielded zero ROI.
• AdTech Ramifications: Higher customer acquisition costs (CAC) and depleted budgets force reallocation from genuine growth. Programmatic bidding wars escalate due to artificial demand, eroding margins for DSPs and SSPs.

2. Skewed Analytics and Misguided Decisions

• The Mechanism: Bots flood sites with non-human traffic, distorting metrics like traffic volume, bounce rates, time-on-site, and conversion funnels. Imperva highlights how bots exploit APIs for data scraping, further polluting datasets.
• Quantified Impact: 28% of website traffic is “non-human” (Adobe/Wall Street Journal), leading to inflated engagement stats. In retail and travel sectors (heavily targeted per the report), bots skew look-to-book ratios and pricing models, causing competitive disadvantages.
• AdTech Ramifications: Marketers chase phantom audiences, optimizing campaigns based on false data. This results in poor channel allocation (e.g., overinvesting in bot-ridden social media) and tarnished KPIs, making ROI calculations unreliable. For adtech firms, it erodes trust in verification tools like IAS or DoubleVerify, as bots slip through.

3. Eroded Customer Trust and Experience

• The Mechanism: Bots create artificial scarcity (e.g., scalping tickets or inventory hoarding in retail, as noted in the report’s airline spotlight) and slow sites via high-volume attacks, leading to cart abandonment.
• Quantified Impact: Site slowdowns from bots reduce organic engagement by up to 50%, per industry studies. The report’s retail analysis shows bot spikes during sales events doubling operational challenges, frustrating real users.
• AdTech Ramifications: Lower conversion rates and abandoned funnels hurt attribution models. In digital marketing, bot-driven fraud like fake accounts exploiting promotions (e.g., AI bots flooding sign-ups) dilutes campaign effectiveness, damaging brand reputation and loyalty.

4. Regulatory and Compliance Risks

• The Mechanism: Bots enable data exfiltration via API abuse (44% of advanced attacks), violating privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA.
• Quantified Impact: Increased fines and chargebacks from fraud; the report ties this to 25% of attacks abusing business logic.
• AdTech Ramifications: Stricter scrutiny on data practices could limit targeting capabilities, forcing a shift to first-party data amid cookie deprecation.

5. Broader Ecosystem Disruption

• The Mechanism: AI evolution makes bots harder to detect (e.g., 46% browser impersonation), amplifying threats like DDoS or credential stuffing.
• Quantified Impact: Bad bots now 37% of traffic, with a 280% rise in travel attacks over three years.
• AdTech Ramifications: Ecosystem-wide waste—marketers face declining ROI (e.g., CTRs 4x below potential), while platforms struggle with fraud, potentially leading to higher fees or reduced innovation.

In essence, bad bots are turning digital marketing into a minefield, where 51% automated traffic means half your efforts could be futile. The Imperva report warns that without advanced mitigation, businesses face financial losses, eroded trust, and competitive edges dulled by AI-fueled threats.

Why Specificity is the Clear Tech Play to Solve This

In a sea of generic bot blockers, we emerge as the hybrid powerhouse tailor-made for digital marketing and adtech woes. As a fusion of creative agency and AdTech innovator, we don’t just detect bots—we redefine campaigns to thrive despite them. Here’s why we’re the go-to solution:

1. AI-Powered Fraud Prevention at the Core

• Specificity’s proprietary AI ad verification ensures ads reach real humans, slashing waste from bot clicks. Our tech exposes Big Tech’s bot vulnerabilities (detailed in our 8-part series), preventing the 83% bot traffic scenarios like Imperva’s case study.
• Differentiator: Unlike basic tools, we integrate verification with intent-based targeting, using bot-free data updated daily to avoid fraudulent engagements.

2. Clean, Ownable Data for Accurate Insights

• Building on first-party data (legally compliant and opted-in), Specificity resolves website traffic into CRM profiles, filtering out bots to deliver pure analytics. This counters skewed metrics, enabling precise ROI tracking and decisions.
• Differentiator: Polygon-powered granular targeting (by job title, industry) yields 4.1x industry-standard CTRs and up to 1,368% ROI, turning bot threats into data advantages.

3. Platform-Agnostic, End-to-End Optimization

• From CTV to social and display, our automated workflows handle retargeting and campaign management without platform biases. This mitigates API exploits and scalping by focusing on high-intent, human audiences.
• Differentiator: As the first hybrid model, we blend creative (ad design, video) with tech (DSP partnerships, deep analytics), saving $6,600–$33,000 monthly in waste while generating hundreds of millions in revenue for clients.

4. Proven Results Against Report’s Threats

• Directly addressing Imperva’s warnings—AI bots, API attacks, marketing fraud—Specificity’s stack blocks evasion tactics like residential proxies and browser impersonation, ensuring campaigns aren’t drained by the 37% bad bot surge.
• Differentiator: Billions of impressions served with measurable outcomes, positioning them as disruptors in a fraud-riddled industry.

In short, Specificity isn’t reactive; we’re proactive architects of bot-resilient marketing. Visit www.specificityinc.com to explore how our solutions can safeguard your ad spend and amplify results.

Final Thoughts

The Imperva report isn’t doom and gloom—it’s a roadmap for adaptation. Bad bots are here to stay, but with smart tech like Specificity’s, we can reclaim control. What’s your biggest bot headache? Reply or tweet @Angryceospty—let’s discuss.

Stay vigilant,

Jason Wood
CEO and Founder
Specificity
(SPTY:OTCID)