2022 Ad Fraud Trends Report: Summary of Key Findings for Advertisers

You might be surprised, but research shows that advertisers will lose $120 billion globally by 2023 because of ad fraud. And our own annual Ad Fraud Report findings (based on an analysis of over 223 billion advertising events across 245 territories) confirm that no organization is safe from the threat of ad fraud. Fraudsters target all industries, verticals, advertising channels, and geographies with increasingly sophisticated ad fraud techniques. 

For this reason, we surveyed 39 people working in the advertising industry -- most holding C-level or management positions -- to find out how prepared they are to deal with the current ad fraud trends and how their goals could be at odds with the omnipresence of ad fraud throughout the industry. 

Moreover, we gathered this data for advertisers like you to use as a resource to keep on top of what’s going on in the industry and, as a result, stay ahead of your competition. In this summary of the Ad Fraud Trends Report, we look at the top-level results -- many of which may surprise you!

Advertisers’ main goals and priorities for 2022 center around sales and ROAS 

Our findings revealed that advertisers' goals are all about sales. Over three-quarters of those surveyed state that generating more quality leads and online sales is their main advertising objective this year.

Plus, while the majority of advertisers have a set of key metrics in place for measuring ad effectiveness, 80% of respondents reveal that improving their return on ad spend (ROAS) is a key strategy they’ll be pursuing this year. 

Unfortunately for advertisers, ad fraud creates significant obstacles to achieving both of these goals. From fake leads to bad data, ad fraud poses a huge threat to advertisers’ main objectives and metrics.

Advertisers still aren’t aware of how detrimental ad fraud is to their campaigns

Although ad fraud is rapidly rising, our findings show that many advertisers are unaware of how detrimental its effects are.

Almost 7 out of 10 advertisers claim they haven’t experienced ad fraud recently, but the majority don’t actually have solutions to measure it. Only one respondent stated they are ‘very confident’ that they’re not affected by ad fraud at all. In contrast, our data show that an estimated 14% of all clicks on pay-per-click (PPC) ads (social and search) are considered click fraud.

However, half of the respondents are concerned about ad fraud, which shows that awareness of its impacts is finally on the up. Our findings also show that more established organizations with higher budgets are taking it seriously. 

Advertisers are prioritizing search, social, and affiliate advertising in 2022

When asked about their plans for distributing ad budgets across channels, advertisers are prioritizing search, social, and affiliate advertising. Social channels will account for 25-50% of ad spend, while search will account for 50%. 

However, advertisers also suspect that affiliate and native networks have the highest rates of ad fraud. Combine this with the fact that 40% of respondents have not yet implemented an anti-ad fraud solution, and it’s clear that advertisers’ strategies are highly vulnerable.  

Final words: Summary of ad fraud trends and recommendations

One significant theme within the Ad Fraud Trends Report is that advertisers are still unaware of how detrimental ad fraud is and will be to their ad campaigns, goals, and future objectives. 

Fraudsters are siphoning eye-watering amounts of money from advertisers’ pockets. Fortunately, the report demonstrated that larger firms with higher budgets are taking the threat of ad fraud seriously -- which we hope will set an example for smaller companies with big objectives. 

If advertisers want to reach their goals, they need to both broaden their understanding of the impact of ad fraud and take prompt, robust measures against it.  

What else can you discover in the 2022 Ad Fraud Trends Report?

Eager to discover deeper insights into the key advertising and ad fraud trends for advertisers? Here’s what else you can access by downloading the full 2022 ad fraud trends report: 

• Why advertisers need anti-ad fraud strategies to improve their ROAS
• What advertisers must do to guarantee the validity of their traffic and deliver results
• How ad fraud affects all advertisers -- no matter which channels they use 
• The full spectrum of questions we asked advertisers to answer and a thorough analysis of their responses 

Download the report and access the complete data and further insights.