Customers obviously can see performance.
How is it that you imagine that you know this better than these people do?
Then, data transparency is a thing and advertisers can obviously also measure their performance.
For example, you and I have no idea if the ad networks are bidding against their own advertisers in order to drive revenue. They hold all the cards.
Ad fraud is a growing business and ad networks are not the ones getting hurt directly by it.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/677466/digital-ad-fraud-...