In the world of digital advertising, Made-for-Advertising (MFA) sites have become a significant concern. These websites exist primarily to serve ads, often relying on artificial traffic or clickbait rather than providing genuine content. While MFAs can temporarily boost metrics like impressions and clicks, they dilute the quality of supply, mislead advertisers, and ultimately harm both publishers and the integrity of the entire digital ecosystem. Addressing and eliminating MFA publishers is crucial to ensure that advertisers’ investments reach legitimate audiences and that real publishers are properly supported.
In a recent conversation between Andrew Casale, President and CEO of Index Exchange, and Helen Mussard, CMO of IAB Europe, Casale emphasised the company’s leading role in tackling MFAs. Index Exchange was one of the first to recognise and confront this issue, launching a bold investigation into MFA activity as early as 2022. At the time, they noticed a handful of small publishers experiencing unprecedented growth, raising red flags about artificial traffic practices. "We straight away put a team on it to investigate who these publishers were and what type of content was being produced. This is when we realised that whilst the domains were legitimate, the publishers themselves were fraudulent. They had produced a series of websites covering all types of content for the sole purpose of supporting ads. This sparked a bigger discussion into the speed of which MFAs were growing and the sophisticated techniques they had employed to secure legitimate domains. We quickly blocked those publishers and removed them from our exchange.
Despite the risks to revenue, Index’s dedicated exchange quality team, made the decision to proceed with an extensive investigation into MFA publishers, knowing the long-term importance of prioritising quality over short-term profits. "We knew this would impact our revenues in the short term, but quality always pays off in the long run," Casale said, underlying Index Exchange's commitment to maintaining a transparent, high-quality ecosystem for advertisers and publishers alike.
Over the following years, Index Exchange led the industry by conducting multiple waves of audits — eight in 2023 alone — to identify and remove traffic arbitrageurs. They implemented stringent guidelines, filtering 100% of supply to ensure it came from real human traffic. These efforts resulted in the termination of MFA domains, removing bad actors who were inflating their traffic through non-organic means.
However, Casale acknowledged that no exchange can claim to be completely MFA-free, noting that it’s about identifying new MFA activity as it appears and swiftly shutting it down. Casale recognises that new threats are always on the horizon. For that reason, he believes the responsibility for eliminating MFAs cannot rest on one company alone.
"We were the first to take this leap, but it’s a responsibility for all," Casale urged. He advised other exchanges and platforms to follow Index Exchange’s lead, acknowledging that while the path may temporarily impact revenue, it’s critical for the long-term health and integrity of the digital advertising industry. The entire ecosystem, he believes, must pivot from focusing on lists of domains to focusing on lists of legitimate publishers.
"Publishers are hurting," Casale stressed. "The last thing they need is for supply to be diluted any further." Index Exchange is dedicated to building a strong economic model that uplifts true publishers, not supporting traffic arbitrageurs who exploit artificial growth for short-term gains.
In short, while Index Exchange has led the charge against MFAs, Casale calls for industry-wide action. Andrew Casale is advocating for industry-wide adoption of sellers.json files, pushing for greater transparency and accountability in how traffic is generated and sold. Casale stressed the importance of collaborative efforts across the industry, both on the supply and demand sides, to protect the quality of advertising and ensure that advertisers’ money is going to publishers who deserve it — not traffic arbitrageurs. By taking a proactive, transparent approach — even at the cost of short-term revenue — the digital advertising industry can ensure that real publishers and advertisers thrive in a healthy, trustworthy ecosystem. "Quality always pays," Casale said, urging others to take responsibility and follow Index Exchange’s pioneering lead in tackling MFAs head-on.