It depends on whether the ad engagement / views were real people or bots - if you're a competitor, then using bots to use up your competitor's ad budget is a st

It depends on whether the ad engagement / views were real people or bots - if you're a competitor, then using bots to use up your competitor's ad budget is a strategy. If you display ads on your website, then sure, it doesn't matter if a bot or real person viewed/clicked on your ad if you get paid regardless - to the point where there's a big industry of putting ads on sites then having bots engage with the site and its ads. Billboards are a bit different because that's paid per week / month, but internet ads are paid per impression or click.