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Mark AndrewsDec 09, 20201 min read

Ad Fraud, A Thorn In The Side Of Digital Advertising.

Firstly, let's get something straight. All advertisers are unfortunately affected by ad fraud in digital media buying. It is an unfortunate consequence and side effect of the rapid growth in digital media investment over the last 10 – 15 years.

This is not meant to scare anyone away from online advertising, rather get everyone to accept that unfortunately it happens and it’s not until we accept it, that we can begin to protect and prevent investment from falling into the hand of fraudsters.

The six vantage points of media performance

On the positive side, there is continued effort by industry bodies, advertisers, technology companies, consultancies, agencies and more to help safeguard your investment.

IAB have just released their latest instalment ‘The IAB Europe guide to ad fraud’ which helps to summarise the current landscape and proactive measures that can be taken. Key highlights from the report include:

·   According to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), it is estimated that by 2025, over $50 billion will be wasted annually on ad fraud.

·   Even though it is pervasive, there continues to be general confusion around how detrimental ad fraud is for the digital advertising ecosystem.

·   Ad fraud fluctuated from 0.4% -11.7% depending on whether buyers implement an ad fraud prevention or detection strategy

·   Ad fraud is a problem that shows little sign of disappearing any time soon, but there are ways you can help the industry to beat the bots.

In summary, ad fraud requires your attention and ID Comms believe that advertisers who lean in now and take this seriously (vs. leaving it solely to their partners to solve), will reap the benefits in the long term.

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