A recent report from Ad Age found that there was a 20% drop in the overall level of programmatic ad fraud in Q4 2015 compared with Q4 2014. This is, of course, excellent news for all marketers who have been plagued with wasted ad dollars because of this type of fraud for many years.
This data is coming from research conducted by Integral Ad Science. While this type of fraud is still expected to cost as much as $7.2 billion in this year around the world, the report is an excellent sign that some of the efforts made by ad networks and others are actually working. This large drop is part of a continuing trend of reduction in this specific type of fraud, which the IAS says has been dropping for five quarters in a row now.
Some of the drop is attributed to the increased use of ad blocking software that prevents hidden ads and other types of fraud from ever displaying. While ad blocking software comes with its own set of concerns for marketers, it does help reduce this type of fraud, which is nice.
In addition to that, marketers are wising up to the fact that they need to be buying higher quality ads in order to get the results they want. While it is more expensive up front, it allows them to get a real return on investment, which is the most important thing anyway.
David Hahn, who is the Senior VP of Product Management at Integral Ad Science said, “I think over the past 18 to 24 months there’s been an increased awareness that the better the quality of the media bought, the better the advertising typically does.”
You can access the full report HERE.
