- CNBC, Friday, March 17, 2017 8:16 AM
New research suggests that ad fraud may cost brands $16.4 billion globally this year, and that nearly 20% of total digital ad spend was wasted in 2016. That's according to a report by Adloox which
looked at "invalid traffic" in which bots rather than humans view or click on adverts on websites. This type of traffic was estimated to cost advertisers $12.5 billion in 2016, according to the ad
verification company. "However, the figures from agency group The&Partnership estimates the cost will increase by almost $4 billion this year. It worked with Adloox to look at 200 billion 'bid
requests,' a method by which online publishers sell advertising inventory, across 2016. It also examined ad 'calls,' when a publisher automatically contacts its ad server to 'serve' or show an ad on
its website, and ad impressions – the number of times an ad is displayed or viewed on a web page," according to a CNBC report. Viewability, a metric by which advertisers determine whether an ad
has been seen or clicked on by a person, is a huge concern for brands. Online advertising campaigns bought via automated or programmatic technology are at higher risk of fraud, according to
The&Partnership's research. "It calculates that 29% of the $27 billion spent on this kind of advertising globally in 2016 was on invalid traffic, equivalent to $7.8 billion," CNBC reports. And 12%
of the online advertising bought directly from publishers, and not via programmatic methods, suffered from ad fraud, equating to $4.65 billion.
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