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PixelCommons Specification

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PixelCommons

Pixels. Verified. Secure.

PixelCommons is an open-source AGPL-3.0+ specification and modular PPC bot protection platform designed to verify legitimate visitors, detect automated traffic, and protect advertising campaigns from invalid clicks and fraudulent conversions.

PixelCommons provides a privacy-conscious, extensible architecture for identifying suspicious traffic through layered verification systems including browser intelligence, behavioral analysis, threat scoring, conversion validation, and community-driven security improvements.

Specification

Design Goals

PixelCommons is designed around a modular security architecture that allows organizations, developers, and advertising platforms to deploy configurable traffic verification systems without vendor lock-in.

The system separates core verification capabilities from optional integrations, allowing deployments to scale from small marketing campaigns to enterprise advertising infrastructure.

Core design principles:

  • Human verification over simple click tracking
  • Multi-layer bot detection
  • Privacy-conscious analytics
  • Modular security components
  • Extensible plugin ecosystem
  • Transparent threat scoring
  • Open-source collaboration

Core Modules

1. Visitor Identity Module

Provides anonymous visitor identification and session tracking.

Features:

  • Browser fingerprint generation
  • Device characteristic analysis
  • Session identity management
  • Fingerprint history tracking
  • Duplicate visitor detection
  • Privacy-controlled identifier storage

2. Behavioral Analysis Module

Analyzes interaction patterns to distinguish human visitors from automated systems.

Features:

  • Mouse movement tracking
  • Scroll behavior analysis
  • Keyboard interaction patterns
  • Click timing analysis
  • Page engagement measurement
  • Human activity scoring

3. Bot Detection Module

Provides layered automated traffic detection.

Features:

  • Known bot pattern detection
  • Headless browser detection
  • Automation framework detection
  • Browser anomaly detection
  • Suspicious session identification
  • Automated traffic classification

4. Threat Intelligence Module

Combines multiple signals into a unified security assessment.

Features:

  • Real-time threat scoring
  • Visitor risk classification
  • Suspicious behavior correlation
  • Fingerprint reputation scoring
  • IP activity monitoring
  • Dynamic blocking decisions

Threat levels:

  • Trusted
  • Low Risk
  • Suspicious
  • High Risk
  • Blocked

5. Machine Learning Module

Provides an extensible framework for intelligent bot classification.

Features:

  • ML-ready detection pipeline
  • Behavioral pattern learning
  • Threat prediction models
  • Custom model support
  • Continuous improvement framework
  • Classification feedback loops

6. Conversion Verification Module

Ensures only verified interactions trigger advertising conversions.

Features:

  • Conversion validation
  • Verified conversion events
  • Delayed pixel activation
  • Invalid conversion prevention
  • Multi-step verification checks
  • Advertising fraud reduction

7. Rate Limiting Module

Controls excessive activity from suspicious sources.

Features:

  • Fingerprint-based limits
  • IP-based limits
  • Session throttling
  • Request frequency monitoring
  • Automated abuse prevention

8. Security Logging Module

Provides transparency into detected activity.

Features:

  • Suspicious visitor logging
  • Threat event records
  • Security audit trails
  • Exportable reports
  • Historical activity tracking

9. Analytics Dashboard Module

Provides visibility into traffic quality.

Features:

  • Human versus bot statistics
  • Threat score visualization
  • Campaign traffic analysis
  • Blocked traffic reporting
  • Conversion verification metrics
  • Historical trend analysis

Optional Plugin Modules

PixelCommons supports optional plugin modules that extend functionality without modifying the core platform.

Advertising Platform Plugins

Optional integrations for:

  • Google Ads conversion tracking
  • Meta Ads conversion tracking
  • TikTok Ads tracking
  • LinkedIn Ads tracking
  • Custom advertising platforms

CAPTCHA Challenge Plugins

Adaptive human verification extensions.

Features:

  • Invisible challenges
  • Risk-based CAPTCHA triggering
  • Additional verification workflows
  • Custom challenge providers

IP Reputation Plugins

External intelligence integrations.

Features:

  • VPN detection
  • Proxy detection
  • Abuse database integration
  • Geographic risk scoring
  • Threat feed synchronization

Community Threat Intelligence Plugin

Optional shared security network.

Features:

  • Community blocklists
  • Shared fingerprint reputation
  • Anonymous threat reporting
  • Collective bot intelligence
  • Threat pattern exchange

Alerting Plugins

Notification integrations.

Supported examples:

  • Email notifications
  • Slack alerts
  • Discord alerts
  • Webhooks
  • Security monitoring systems

Commerce Platform Plugins

Integration modules for:

  • WordPress
  • WooCommerce
  • Shopify
  • BigCommerce
  • Custom ecommerce platforms

Framework Integration Plugins

Developer integrations for:

  • React
  • Vue
  • Angular
  • Node.js
  • PHP
  • Python applications

Deployment Plugins

Infrastructure deployment modules.

Supported environments:

  • Docker
  • Cloudflare Workers
  • AWS Lambda
  • Serverless platforms
  • Edge computing environments

Configuration System

PixelCommons uses a configurable architecture allowing administrators to customize:

  • Threat thresholds
  • Verification requirements
  • Rate limits
  • Data retention settings
  • Logging preferences
  • Plugin activation
  • Conversion rules

Security Architecture

PixelCommons uses layered verification:

  1. Visitor identification
  2. Behavioral analysis
  3. Automated traffic detection
  4. Threat scoring
  5. Optional challenge verification
  6. Conversion approval

This prevents single-point failures and improves protection against evolving automated traffic systems.

Privacy Design

PixelCommons supports privacy-focused deployments.

Features:

  • Configurable data retention
  • Anonymous identifiers
  • Minimal data collection
  • Deployment-controlled analytics
  • User-managed storage policies

Deployment Models

PixelCommons supports:

  • Self-hosted installations
  • Enterprise deployments
  • Edge deployments
  • Cloud deployments
  • Local infrastructure

Contribution Areas

Community contributions are welcome in:

  • Bot detection methods
  • Machine learning improvements
  • Analytics modules
  • Plugin development
  • Platform integrations
  • Privacy enhancements
  • Security research

PixelCommons
Pixels. Verified. Secure.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Optional

License & Notice Requirements

PixelCommons is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

  • All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
  • Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
  • PixelCommons specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
  • The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments.
  • Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update notice.md.
  • When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
  • Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – PixelCommons

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

  • Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – March 22, 2026
    Created the repository for PixelCommons. Developed the open-source PPC bot protection platform that combines browser fingerprinting, behavioral analysis, machine learning, and community-driven intelligence to eliminate invalid traffic and protect advertising budgets.
  • [Add other contributors here] – [Date]
    [Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – PixelCommons

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points:

  • You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
  • All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
  • The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.

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