Digital ad fraud losses worldwide 2023-2028

It was estimated that the costs related to digital advertising fraud worldwide would increase within the five years between 2023 and 2028, from 88 billion to 172 billion U.S. dollars. That means that the figure will grow roughly 14 percent annually and nearly double in the presented period. However the source projected that the share of losses in digital advertising spending will remain approximately flat. With the growing digitization of processes, including those in advertising, comes a growing risk of fraud. Today when more and more ads are traded programmatically, fraud detection processes are not yet fully developed, and so the bulk of advertising ends up being served to bots instead of potential customers.

Fraud in advertising – costs and concerns

On the one hand, programmatic advertising is very convenient, owing to the automation of buying and selling processes of online ads. However, such systems can increase the likelihood of scams. In 2021, close to 18 percent of ad impressions served programmatically in the United States were fraudulent. Unsurprisingly, nearly one fifth of U.S. marketers consider ad fraud a challange. Until effective tracking tools and stricter regulations on online ad publishing are put in place, ad fraud will remain a significant problem for advertisers and media buyers.