The rules, filters, and layered checks top-performing advertisers rely on to separate real users from noise at scale.
Start With the Signals That Matter Most
Not every filter deserves equal weight. IP reputation, ASN, and device type catch the majority of low-quality and reviewer traffic on their own. Start there before layering in more granular behavioral rules — it's easier to tune a small set of high-impact filters than to debug twenty low-impact ones at once.
Combine Rules Instead of Relying on One
A single filter is easy to route around once someone identifies it. Stacking two or three independent signals — say, datacenter ASN plus inconsistent header order plus abnormal click timing — is far harder to spoof simultaneously, and it's the layering itself that makes modern filtering resilient.
Don't Over-Filter Real Users
The most common mistake in traffic filtering isn't letting bad traffic through — it's blocking good traffic by accident. VPN usage, for example, is common among entirely legitimate visitors in some regions. Rather than hard-blocking every VPN connection, route it to a secondary check instead of an instant reject, and watch your real conversion rate to confirm the filter is actually helping.
Review and Refine Weekly
Traffic patterns shift with every algorithm update on the ad network side. A filter set that performed perfectly last month can quietly start blocking legitimate traffic this month. A short weekly review of your blocked-traffic breakdown is enough to catch drift before it costs you real conversions.
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