Invalid traffic, or IVT, includes impressions or clicks that do not represent genuine user activity. It can include automated traffic, repeated activity, accidental clicks and traffic from unreliable sources. Different systems evaluate these signals using their own filters, data availability and processing timelines.
A publisher report may initially include an event that a platform removes during later filtering or earnings finalization. A verification vendor may also classify more or less traffic as invalid because it sees different device, page, identity or behavioral evidence. That means an IVT discrepancy does not automatically prove that either counter is broken.
Investigate the same date range, timezone, inventory, device, geography and traffic source in both systems. Compare matched request or event IDs where available, separate estimated from finalized data and look for concentrated changes after a new traffic partner, implementation or app version. Escalate with evidence, but do not attempt to reverse-engineer or bypass a platform's fraud controls.