Invalid Traffic (IVT)
01 Definition
Invalid Traffic (IVT) meaning: Ad impressions or clicks that do not come from genuine human interest.
Invalid traffic is the industry term for ad activity that should not be billed because it is not a real, interested user. It splits into general invalid traffic, like known bots and crawlers, and sophisticated invalid traffic, which mimics human behavior and is harder to catch. Vendors measure it against recognized industry guidelines.
Also called
Why it matters
How Invalid Traffic (IVT) fits the work
IVT gives advertisers a standard way to quantify wasted impressions and clicks, so tracking it separates genuine reach from traffic that carries no real value.
In context
The verification report flagged an 8 percent invalid traffic rate on one placement, most of it sophisticated bots imitating real browsing behavior.
Practical note
General invalid traffic is filtered fairly reliably, but sophisticated invalid traffic often slips through, so a low reported IVT rate does not guarantee clean inventory.