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FraudSensor Parameters

FraudSensor’s detection tags collect various signals that HUMAN uses in our decisioning. Many of these signals come in the form of parameters, which are discrete data points collected at the time of each impression. Certain parameters require you to provide key/value pairs in the body of the detection tag when an ad is served; other parameters are detected automatically and require no action on your part.

Below you’ll find information about the specific parameters that are collected by FraudSensor’s detection tags, along with a description of each parameter.

  • The Tag parameters section includes a list of parameters that you must provide in the detection tag.
  • The Detected parameters section includes a list of parameters that are automatically detected by HUMAN.

Data from all parameters, regardless of whether they’re tag parameters or detected parameters, is available through the HUMAN Dashboard and in reports.

Tag parameters

Tag parameters are parameters that you must manually provide to HUMAN—we don’t detect these signals automatically. You can provide us with tag parameters by building your detection tag to include the relevant key/value pairs in the body of the detection tag itself.

We’ve broken down this list into required, recommended, and optional tags. Certain parameters are only required if you’re using FraudSensor in conjunction with MediaGuard; we use these MediaGuard-specific parameters to close the loop between solutions. Recommended and optional parameters aren't strictly necessary; however, some recommended parameters help us make more accurate decisions about your traffic, and optional parameters provide you with more detailed data to view in reports.

NOTE

Unless indicated otherwise, all parameters are supported across all environments.

caution

For any tag parameter where there is no value to report, like in the case of a null or unknown value, pass an empty string through the body of the tag (in other words, leave the value blank). For example, if the au parameter has an unknown value, but the subsequent ar parameter has a known value, that snippet of the tag body should be formatted as ...&au=&ar=25….

Required - High Priority parameters

App ID (ap)

Required - High Priority // Mobile App and CTV traffic only

The app bundle in which the ad was served (as reported by the device where the impression occurred).

For in-app mobile and CTV traffic, the App ID value should match the App/Bundle ID (as outlined by IAB Tech Lab standards). This parameter is case-sensitive; do not alter the value by changing it to all lowercase or uppercase.

Maps to the appId MediaGuard parameter.

Significant impact - This field is used by the machine learning model to generalize post-bid FraudSensor IVT to pre-bid. Leaving this field blank will severely limit our ability to use post-bid data to identify IVT in real-time in pre-bid as well as the ability to flag IVT that might occur at the app level, such as with Out of Context Advertising.

Examples:

  • iOS: 324715238
  • Android: com.example.Example
  • Roku CTV: 41468
  • Samsung CTV: G15115002089
  • Vizio CTV: vizio.tubitv

Detection Tag ID (dt)

Required - High Priority // All traffic types

The numeric identifier of the detection tag that detected the impression.

When HUMAN generates a new detection tag, this value is inserted into the body of the tag by default; however, HUMAN cannot automatically detect this information if the required key/value pair is absent from the tag, so make sure not to delete the parameter by mistake.

Significant impact - Without this parameter, it will be extremely difficult for HUMAN to troubleshoot integration issues or perform health checks if you have multiple tags deployed. However, the tag will still perform its primary function of identifying IVT even if this parameter is not included.

Domain Intended (di)

Required - High Priority // Desktop traffic only

The domain where the ad was intended to be delivered. This value should include the full top-level domain, but should exclude the protocol and path.

Maps to the url MediaGuard parameter.

Significant impact - This field is used by the machine learning model to generalize post-bid FraudSensor IVT to pre-bid. Leaving this field blank will limit our ability to use post-bid data to identify IVT in real-time in pre-bid.

Examples:

  • reddit.com
  • bbc.co.uk
  • m.wikipedia.org

Media Type (md)

Required - High Priority // All traffic types

The media type of the ad inventory, corresponding to a number between 1 and 4. For example, if the inventory was a video, this parameter should have a value of 2.

Maps to the mediaType MediaGuard parameter.

Limited impact - Leaving this field blank will cause a small decrease in detection efficacy. HUMAN uses this similar to the user agent, where some techniques will only apply to certain types of inventory, such as video or audio.

Possible values:

  • 1 = Banner
  • 2 = Video
  • 3 = Audio
  • 4 = Native

OpenRTB 2.5 Reference: sections 3.2.6-3.2.9

Prediction ID (pv)

Required - High Priority (MediaGuard users only) // All traffic types

A unique identifier that HUMAN uses to link pre-bid and post-bid data. This value should correspond to the value of the lookupId field returned by the MediaGuard API or MediaGuard SDK for the impression's corresponding bid request. If your MediaGuard integration is built on the MediaGuard SDK, you'll need to convert the value of lookupId from a base64-encoded raw byte value to a UUID string.

Maps to the lookupId MediaGuard parameter.

Significant impact (MediaGuard users only) - This parameter is used to link the FraudSensor results with the MediaGuard prediction, which allows for the re-training of MediaGuard to your specific traffic. This parameter is also used to link pre and post-bid results when conducting fraud investigations. Without this parameter, these functions will not work.

Example: defc04b9-6558-11e9-9196-1271b71e9caa

For more information, see Closing the loop.

Prediction Timeout (to)

Required - High Priority (MediaGuard users only) // All traffic types

Whether an impression's corresponding bid request was sent to MediaGuard, and if so, whether MediaGuard successfully returned an IVT prediction for that bid request.

For example, if you sent the bid request to MediaGuard and MediaGuard successfully returned an IVT prediction, this parameter should have a value of 3. If you sent the bid request to MediaGuard and MediaGuard timed out without responding, this parameter should have a value of 1.

Moderate impact - Without this parameter, the tag will still perform it's IVT detection functions, but this parameter is useful for troubleshooting MediaGuard issues.

Possible values:

  • 0 = N/A (MediaGuard was not called at all)
  • 1 = Response timeout (MediaGuard was called but did not respond)
  • 2 = Error response (MediaGuard was called but responded with an error)
  • 3 = Successful response (MediaGuard was called and returned an IVT prediction)
  • 4 = Other

For more information, see Closing the loop.

Product Type (pd)

Required - High Priority // All traffic types

A unique identifier that HUMAN uses to identify the product you are using.

Limited impact (advertising product users only) - This parameter defaults to the advertising product line, avt if left blank.

Significant impact (non-advertising product users) - This parameter defaults to avt, which means non-advertising product users will have the wrong product assigned if the parameter is left blank.

Possible values:

  • avt (default) = The FraudSensor for advertising fraud product. This is the default in the majority cases.
  • mkt = The BotGuard for marketing product.

Transaction ID (ti)

Required - High Priority // All traffic types

A unique identifier that HUMAN uses to identify each impression.

To use this parameter properly, you must generate a new random value every time you serve an ad and pass this value through the tag accordingly.

Significant impact (non-MediaGuard users only) - This parameter links Impression Sync data with FraudSensor data. Without this parameter, HUMAN will not be able to conduct certain health checks or fraud investigations.

Limited (MediaGuard users only) - This parameter is optional for MediaGuard users and is linked using the Prediction ID (pv) parameter.

Maps to the impressionId MediaGuard parameter.

Example: 4d2ab6f3189e72166c3e8ca424aa1528

Publisher ID (pp)

Required - High Priority (Non-MediaGuard users), Required (MediaGuard) // All traffic types

The final seller of the traffic source. This value must be consistent with OpenRTB’s Publisher ID and should match the value in the second field of the ads.txt file. One or more Publisher IDs will correspond to a single Supplier ID.

Maps to the publisherId MediaGuard parameter.

Significant impact - This field is used by the machine learning model to generalize post-bid FraudSensor IVT to pre-bid. Leaving this field blank will severely our ability to use post-bid data to identify IVT in real-time in pre-bid.

Examples:

  • pub-4177862836555934
  • testpub123

Supplier ID (sr)

Required - High Priority // All traffic types

The domain of the ad system that created the current version of the bid request that corresponds to the impression. This value should match the first field of the associated entry in the publisher’s ads.txt or app-ads.txt file. If you are a supply-side platform (SSP), this is usually your own domain.

Maps to the supplierId MediaGuard parameter.

Significant Impact - This field is used by the machine learning model to generalize post-bid FraudSensor IVT to pre-bid. Leaving this field blank will severely our ability to use post-bid data to identify IVT in real-time in pre-bid.

Examples:

  • openx.com
  • adx.com
  • rubiconproject.com

Required parameters

Device Type (de)

Required // All traffic types

The type of device where the ad was displayed, corresponding to an integer between 1 and 7. For example, if the ad was displayed on a tablet, this parameter should have a value of 5.

Maps to the deviceType MediaGuard parameter.

Possible values:

  • 1 = Mobile/tablet
  • 2 = Desktop
  • 3 = Connected TV
  • 4 = Phone
  • 5 = Tablet
  • 6 = Connected device
  • 7 = Set-top box

*OpenRTB 2.5 Reference: Object: Device: devicetype (section 3.2.18)

User ID (ui)

Recommended // All traffic types

A unique identifier to identify the user driving each impression. For in-app mobile and CTV traffic, this value should match the relevant device ID (e.g., IDFA for iOS, AAID for Android, RIDA for Roku, and so on). For browser-based traffic, this value should be a cookie or some other unique identifier in your system.

To learn more about advertising identifiers on over-the-top (OTT) devices, consult the IAB Tech Lab’s guide.

Maps to the userId MediaGuard parameter.

Examples:

  • Mobile: c3f927f4-3ef9-4b53-8887-d794c4daea82
  • CTV: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  • Web: d50dfe81909e606ac6a6801b14875058

Buy Type (bt)

Recommended // All traffic types

Whether the ad was purchased through programmatic buying or direct buying.

Possible values:

  • programmatic
  • direct

Cache Buster (cb)

Recommended // Desktop and Mobile Web traffic only

A randomly-generated value that ensures each detection tag has a unique URL. These unique URLs will prompt users’ devices to reload HUMAN’s detection tag every time a page is loaded rather than loading a cached version of the tag.

To use this parameter properly, you must generate a new random value every time you call HUMAN’s detection tag and pass this value through the tag accordingly.

info

If your Transaction ID (ti) parameter corresponds to a globally unique value for each ad impression, the Cache Buster parameter will be redundant. However, if your Transaction ID values are not globally unique, implementing the Cache Buster parameter in addition to the Transaction ID parameter will ensure that each detection tag still has a globally unique URL.

Campaign ID (ac)

Recommended // All traffic types

A unique identifier for tracking your advertising campaign. This parameter can follow any format of your choosing; we suggest setting its value to the same identifier that you use to track your ad campaigns.

Examples:

  • summersale20
  • bluthcampaign

Creative ID (cr)

Recommended // All traffic types

A unique identifier for the ad creative (such as an image or video) that was displayed to users.

Custom Parameters (c1 – c10)

Recommended // All traffic types

Any custom data that you’d like to pass to HUMAN’s detection tag. We don’t use these parameters as part of our IVT decisioning, but you can access your custom data through the HUMAN Dashboard, the Reporting API, and transaction-level (TLX) reports.

Each Custom Parameter can include any value of your choosing. You can also use Reporting Parameters (which are functionally identical to Custom Parameters) to pass additional custom data to HUMAN’s detection tag.

Dimensions (dm)

Recommended // All traffic types

The width and height of the ad creative, measured in pixels.

Examples:

  • 30x500
  • 640x280

Geo / Country (gt)

Recommended // All traffic types

The two-letter ISO code of the country where the impression originated.

Examples:

  • US
  • GB
  • JP

Purchased Source (ps)

Recommended // All traffic types

The domain from which an ad impression was purchased (if pt=1). This value should include the full top-level domain, but should exclude the protocol and path.

Examples:

  • facebook.com
  • google.com

Purchased Traffic (pt)

Recommended // All traffic types

Whether an ad impression was received organically or purchased as part of a traffic arbitrage model.

Possible values:

  • 0 = Organic (not purchased)
  • 1 = Purchased traffic

Rendered Ad Type (rt)

Recommended // All traffic types

The type of ad rendered, corresponding to a value between 0 and 8. For example, if the ad was a video bumper ad, this parameter should have a value of 6.

Possible values:

  • 0 = Unknown
  • 1 = Native/display (rich media)
  • 2 = Native/display (static)
  • 3 = Video/audio (skippable in-stream ad)
  • 4 = Video/audio (non-skippable in-stream ad)
  • 5 = Video (video discovery ad)
  • 6 = Video (bumper ad)
  • 7 = Video (outstream ad)
  • 8 = Video (masthead ad)

Reporting Parameters (r1 – r10)

Recommended // All traffic types

Any custom data that you’d like to pass to HUMAN’s detection tag. We don’t use these parameters as part of our IVT decisioning, but you can access your custom data through the HUMAN Dashboard, the Reporting API, and transaction-level (TLX) reports.

Each Reporting Parameter can include any value of your choosing. You can also use Custom Parameters (which are functionally identical to Reporting Parameters) to pass additional custom data to HUMAN’s detection tag.

Site ID (si)

Optional // All traffic types

The site where the ad was displayed. This value may overlap with your Publisher ID; however, since this is a self-defined parameter rather than a globally recognized parameter like the Publisher ID, you can use the Site ID for your own custom purposes.

Video/Audio Auto-Play (au)

Recommended // All traffic types

For video and audio ads, whether the ad was configured to play automatically (without user interaction).

Possible values:

  • 0 = No
  • 1 = Yes

Video/Audio Auto-Refresh (ar)

Recommended // All traffic types

For video and audio ads, how long the ad was configured to play before auto-refreshing to play another ad, measured in seconds.

Examples:

  • 20
  • 77

Video/Audio Continuous Play (cp)

Recommended // All traffic types

For video and audio ads, whether the ad was followed by another video or audio file that played automatically (without user interaction) after the ad ended.

Possible values:

  • 0 = No
  • 1 = Yes

Video/Audio Forced Duration (fd)

Recommended // All traffic types

For audio and video ads, how long the ad was configured to play before users were given the option to skip past it, measured in seconds. If users were given the option to skip past the ad immediately after the ad began playing, this parameter should have a value of 0.

Examples:

  • 0
  • 15
  • 42

Detected parameters

Detected parameters are parameters that FraudSensor’s detection tags automatically detect at the time of each impression. As long as you’re serving a detection tag with each ad, you don’t need to pass key/value pairs to the tag or take any further action.

NOTE

Some of the parameters listed below might not be detected for every impression. Certain signals may be unavailable in specific circumstances, while others may only apply to ads served in certain environments.

App Mismatch

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates a mismatch between the app ID reported by the device where the impression occurred and the actual app ID detected by HUMAN (for in-app mobile environments only).

Bot/IVT

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the impression was identified as invalid traffic (IVT).

Domain Mismatch

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates a mismatch between the Domain Intended (di) parameter that you passed to the detection tag and the True Domain parameter detected by HUMAN.

GIVT

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the impression was identified as General IVT (GIVT).

Href Domain

The domain of the page or iframe where the impression occurred.

IVT Categories

A list of the specific IVT categories associated with the impression.

IVT Subcategories

A list of the specific IVT subcategories associated with the impression.

Page

The webpage where the impression occurred.

Prevention Call

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the ad impression was scanned by HUMAN’s pre-bid MediaGuard service.

Referring Domain

The domain that referred the user to the site of the impression.

SIVT

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the impression was identified as Sophisticated IVT (SIVT).

Tag Type

The type of FraudSensor tag that detected the event.

True Domain

The domain of the page where HUMAN’s detection tag was attached. If HUMAN's detection tag was attached inside of an iframe, this parameter may not be populated.

Nonstandard - Incentivized

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the impression was driven by a user receiving some form of incentive or compensation.

Nonstandard - Proxy

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the user who viewed the ad was using a proxy service.

Nonstandard - VPN

A Boolean value that, when true, indicates that the user who viewed the ad was using a virtual private network (VPN).

OS Name

The operating system of the device where the ad was delivered, as reported by the device’s user agent.

UTM Campaign

The utm_campaign parameter that was attached to the impression's Href URL (if applicable).

UTM Content

The utm_content parameter that was attached to the impression's Href URL (if applicable).

UTM Medium

The utm_medium parameter that was attached to the impression's Href URL (if applicable).

UTM Source

The utm_source parameter that was attached to the impression's Href URL (if applicable).