“Publishers are trying really hard to make ends meet in a very challenging economic climate,” said Jeremy Gan, svp of revenue operations and data strategy at the Daily Mail, who emphasized that defining MFA was largely a good thing that would help premium publishers. “We vilify MFA and publishers doing the wrong thing but, conversely, when publishers do the right thing we don’t talk about it enough.”

Kane told Adweek the definition was designed to not be overly punitive to publishers.

“There is a real risk that buyers are embarking on an MFA witch hunt that winds up harming reputable publishers,” Kane said. “We’re trying to be thoughtful about this and avoid the temptation to work off anecdotes.”

And even if the new MFA definition will be gamed by some publishers, that doesn’t mean it won’t improve the programmatic ecosystem as a whole.

“This is the constant battle of any ecosystem. You work to stamp out fraud, and it doesn’t mean you make it impossible,” said Curt Larson, chief product officer of SSP Sharethrough. “You keep raising the bar that keeps the level of fraud down.”