Nuanced Intelligence: Addressing Made for Advertising Sites

When the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) released its Programmatic Media Transparency Study, the research highlighted the impact of made-for-advertising (MFA) sites on the digital advertising landscape and ignited much discussion. Since the phenomenon began, HUMAN has taken a methodical and analytical approach to determine an optimal solution to this industry challenge. 

Understanding made for advertising sites

MFA websites tend to be designed with a specific focus: maximizing ad revenue and page views at the expense of user experience and content quality. These sites have rapidly proliferated throughout the digital landscape. The ANA’s 2023 report estimated that MFA sites accounted for more than $10 billion in ad spend, a figure that continues to threaten the integrity of the programmatic advertising supply chain. While the industry has been working to eliminate MFA, HUMAN has already identified MFA inventory that accounts for more than 1 trillion bid requests per month in 2025.

MFA sites frequently employ aggressive tactics to drive user traffic. The creators of these sites often drive traffic to their sites by purchasing cheap display ads or by advertising on social media platforms and requiring users to click through multiple intermediate sites to arrive at their intended content. This arbitrage model enables MFA operators to profit from the difference between their low user acquisition costs and the higher revenue generated per page view.

HUMAN’s multi-layered approach to MFA identification

The traditional approach to ad fraud, which tends to focus on identifying clear instances of automated activity, is not designed to combat MFA sites. MFA sites are not necessarily fraud or invalid traffic, though they do pose significant inventory quality concerns. With this in mind, HUMAN has taken an approach based on an objective understanding of the characteristics and behaviors that tend to be associated with MFA sites.

HUMAN has been working closely with our customers to provide data-driven insights that enable them to detect and assess potential MFA threats. Our solution leverages a multi-layer classification, identifying MFA inventory using concrete, measurable indicators, not singular, static definitions: 

• Concrete indicators rather than binary judgments or simplistic classifications
• Statistical techniques identify MFA characteristics across the programmatic ecosystem
• Intelligent MFA classification evaluates multiple signals beyond simplistic domain blocklists
• Comprehensive MFA insights enable platforms to develop customized quality strategies aligned with their clients’ specific needs

By providing this granular intelligence, HUMAN empowers customers to make their own informed decisions about inventory quality. 

The impact of MFA on advertisers and publishers

For brand advertisers, MFA sites present significant quality and reputation risks. These pages often feature low-quality, irrelevant, or even misleading content, potentially tarnishing the image of the brands associated with them. As MFA pages typically host more ad slots than the average website, ad spend is wasted on low-quality impressions, reducing the overall efficiency of programmatic campaigns.

What makes MFA sites particularly insidious is their ability to exploit ad technology purchasing algorithms. These algorithms often prioritize domains with high viewability, low invalid traffic (IVT), and the appearance of engaged users–all metrics designed to measure quality advertising opportunities. MFA sites often go out of their way to ensure viewability metrics are high to encourage the purchasing of their inventory, leading advertisers to believe they’re purchasing quality inventory when, in reality, their ads appear on clickbait-filled pages.

While they are often less concerned about inventory quality if they can meet short-term key performance indicators, performance advertisers face long-term risks to reputation when associated with low-quality sites. HUMAN has observed the practice we named “path-dependent content loading,” in which MFA sites use seemingly legitimate domain names to obscure the nature of their content, often leading users to inappropriate or illegal material. For example, users may think they’re being driven to  “latest-legal-news[.]com”, when, in fact, they are being directed to articles that contain vulgar, inappropriate, or illegal content (think: “latest-legal-news[.]com/50-words-to-make-your-wife-fume”). 

Publishers, too, are feeling the impact of the MFA problem. The proliferation of low-quality content not only undermines the value of original work but also encourages the scraping (or copying) and repurposing of legitimate content. AI-powered tools make it easier for MFA sites to generate vast quantities of low-quality content based on stolen intellectual property, creating an unfair playing field that favors those willing to cut corners.

Moving forward: A multifaceted approach to made for advertising sites

After observing and assessing proposed MFA solutions and the evolving landscape, it’s clear that addressing this issue requires a collaborative, multifaceted approach from the industry. We at HUMAN believe the following strategies are crucial:

1. Increased transparency in bidding declaration fields, including information about the number of ads on a page.
2. Broader industry agreement on ad quality standards with actionable enforcement mechanisms.
3. Development of advanced detection methodologies that go beyond traditional ad fraud markers.
4. A shift from relying solely on lists of known MFA sites, as new ones can be created easily.
5. A deeper understanding of the characteristics and supply sources of MFA sites to identify them regardless of where they appear.
6. Publishers prioritizing quality content and investing in content protection measures.

By collaborating and implementing these strategies, the industry can combat the potential threat posed by MFA sites, protect the value of original content, and restore trust in the programmatic ecosystem. 

As we move forward, HUMAN remains committed to monitoring this evolving landscape while developing targeted solutions that directly address the challenges our customers face in the digital advertising ecosystem. For more on how to identify MFA inventory and also protect your environment from Invalid Traffic (IVT), check out HUMAN’s Ad Fraud Defense.