• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, October 5, 2022

Following recent years of privacy-framework updates that have wreaked havoc on mobile ad-targeting effectiveness, Apple's latest iOS update is good news for Madison Avenue.

According to an analysis released this morning by ad fraud researcher Pixalate, the September 12 release of Apple's new iOS16 version has driven invalid traffic rates -- also known as "ad fraud" -- down to its lowest level of any iOS version measured in the analysis.

The study -- which measures invalid traffic rates by version between of September 1 and September 28 -- found that iOS16 delivered 15% fraudulent impressions, two percentage points lower than its previous iOS15 version, and significantly less than older versions.

The analysis shows the new version isn't just impacting new iPhone users, but owners of older versions that have upgraded their operating systems since the new versions release.