Pixalate Says 30% Of Programmatic Ad Impressions In Australia Are Invalid… So Is Online Advertising A Scam?
Best-selling author and self-declared advertising contrarian Bob Hoffman has come out this week and declared the advertising industry is involved in an “unspoken conspiracy” when it comes to online advertising.
It is a conspiracy driven by greed, he argued in his blog, that has seen the online advertising industry deliberately and knowingly deceive clients.
“By concealing their knowledge of deceit and dishonesty in online media, the ad industry has failed at one of their most consequential responsibilities – being trustworthy stewards of their clients’ money,” he said.
Whether or not what Hoffman said is true or not (he has long been extremely critical of online advertising), he does touch on the topic of ad fraud in the context of his conspiracy theory.
Research released this week by fraud management company Pixalate shows Australia to have the third-highest rate of ad fraud globally, with nearly one of every three (30 per cent) programmatic ad impressions believed to be invalid.
Only in India (39 per cent) and Colombia (35 per cent) is ad fraud more pervasive, while the US (19 per cent) and the UK (11 per cent) are significantly lower.
Pixalate’s methodology states algorithms were used to identify both “General Invalid Traffic” and “Sophisticated Invalid Traffic” across over 80 million domains, over 1.5 million apps, and over 75 million OTT/CTV devices, although it does not distinguish between the two types of invalid traffic.
So why is ad fraud such a problem in Australia?
Media agency GroupM has also recently released research on the topic, pointing to Australia’s broad market as the problem.
“In Australia, there are 264 open exchanges serving 19 billion impressions per month,” the agency said.
“However, not all of these exchanges have 100 per cent fraud-free environments.
“GroupM removed the vast majority of these sellers and decided that the key criterion for inclusion was that the operator have an office in Australia.”
GroupM’s research, however, paints a very different picture for the scale of ad fraud in Australia, compared with Pixalate.
According to GroupM, average invalid traffic in Australia is 1.4 per cent, accounting for $87m, while globally it is worth $22.4 billion.
Additionally, GroupM’s figures show Australia to have the lowest invalid traffic figure of any region.
A spokesperson from GroupM in Australia added: “We believe that with the right strategies, and with the high level of criteria and stringent brand safety guidelines we have in place, it’s possible to mitigate the risk for advertisers.”
The large disparity between the two findings is most likely due to the different methodologies used by the firms, with GroupM recognising its measurement to be “considerably lower than some of the global estimates”.
The China problem
Although the GroupM research paints a more promising picture for the Australian market, it does highlight the scale of the ad fraud problem in China.
“According to this data there is $18.7B of ad fraud in China, making it over 80 per cent of the total ad fraud market globally,” said GroupM.
The agency cited market-specific challenges such as local tech vendors that are yet to mature and unfamiliarity with the practice of brand safety.
In addition, the ‘walled’ nature of the Chinese online ecosystem leads to a very different outcome when compared to Western markets.
Social media
The two biggest online advertising players, Google and Facebook, have been criticised in the past for their role in contributing to problems around brand safety.
However, both companies have made a very public effort to improve in the space over the past 18 months, and GroupM said the results are coming through.
“Both YouTube and Facebook have improved their internal oversight and advertiser-configurable brand suitability controls,” GroupM said.
“Since 2016, our continuous pushing for improved internal controls and independent third-party verification has achieved some success.
“YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and others now maintain viewability APIs that allow human-viewable optimisation.”
Latest News
Have A Shot At Your Own Vaccine Ad & Enter B&T’s Good AZ Gold Adland Challenge!
If Kyle Sandilands can make a semi-decent vax ad then it really can't be that hard, can it? Prove B&T wrong here.
Initiative Crowned Top Performing Media Agency For June
IPG’s Initiative has been crowned R3’s best performing agency for new wins for the month of June. Initiative climbed 15 spots from the month previous with some huge wins that included IAG, Afterpay and Quest Apartments. OMD once again took second spot, Publicis’ Spark Foundry relinquished top spot for third, PHD took fourth after snaring […]
Thinkerbell Retains Top Spot For New Wins For June, As Clems Has An Absolute Flyer
Thinkerbell retained the number one spot on R3’s list of new business wins for the month of June. But the win was arguably overshadowed by Clems, who stormed 28 places to take second position for the month. Indie agency Thinkerbell won the month for the third time in a row with wins that included REA […]
This New Apple Watch Ad Will Make You Want To Start That Health Kick
With a range of health and fitness tracking tools, as well as a sleek design, an Apple Watch is the perfect way to encourage any potential health kick. And Apple has tapped into this sense of promise in its latest work. ‘Hello Sunshine’ shows a woman attempting to relax, all while fantasising about a few […]
Don’t Miss Out! Register Now For B&T’s Changing The Ratio Webinar
Our second Changing the Ratio event will be taking place as a webinar – make sure you tune in! After the blazing success of the first Changing the Ratio breakfast earlier this year, we’ve settled on a date for our second. That’s right, tune in on the 12th of August at 10 am for Changing […]
“If It Has A Point Of Difference, We’re Winning”: 10’s Chief Sales Officer Rod Prosser On The Network’s Future
Network 10 has made some significant announcements in the last months, particularly with regard to their streaming and sports offerings. B&T sat down with 10 ViacomCBS’s chief Sales Officer Rod Prosser to discuss the changes. Earlier this year, 10 ViacomCBS announced the introduction of another streaming service into the Australian market: Paramount+. Part of the offering […]
Monday TV Wrap: Olympics Sees 500,000 Fall From Sunday But Still Easily Nabs Top Spot
Monday’s night coverage of the Olympic Games was once again the overall winner with 1,439,000 viewers, a decrease of over 500,000 from the peak of Sunday night’s coverage. Yesterday night saw the Opals beat Puerto Rico in the basketball, moving on to face the USA on Wednesday. All eyes will be on that match, as […]
Lion And Cricket Australia Call Last Drinks
Cricket Australia will be without the sponsorship of Lion this summer, after the drinks company decided not to renew its contract. Lion – which owns brands such as XXXX and Hahn – has partnered with Cricket Australia over the past four years, signing on after CUB’s VB ended its 20-year partnership back in 2017. In […]
The MFA Launches A Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Advisory Council
The Media Federation of Australia (MFA) has launched a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council, consisting of 13 media agency professionals from diverse backgrounds, with the aim of providing guidance to the industry across all facets of diversity and inclusion. The MFA DE&I Advisory Council will promote the MFA’s ambition to build a diverse, equitable […]
Fenty Beauty Is The Most Profitable Celebrity Beauty Brand
Cosmetify has revealed the most successful celebrity beauty brands and Rhianna’s Fenty Beauty reigns supreme. Fenty Beauty, at only 4 years old, is the wealthiest celeb beauty brand in the world. The brand has even managed to surpass Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop – that has. been around for over ten years. Fenty Beauty has made a […]
Gus Worland’s Gotcha4Life Launches “Mind Your Mate Pledge” Via Initiative Studio
Australian mental fitness charity Gotcha4Life is launching its most comprehensive communications platform via a national campaign produced by Initiative Studio. Gotcha4Life works to end suicide by delivering programs that create meaningful mateship, build emotional muscle and strengthen social connection in local communities. The charity was established as a not-for-profit foundation by media personality Gus Worland in 2017. https://vimeo.com/582293453/872cd42796 […]
Theory Crew Snares Four New Clients
One month into the new financial year, Melbourne-based agency Theory Crew has won four new clients across the beauty and FMCG divisions. New clients include the gourmet fruit spread range from France St. Dalfour; organic tea range Higher Living, new to market Australian baby skincare range from Biophysics Group Avo Baby, and soon to be […]
SMI Data: June Delivers The Largest Ad Spend Ever In Aussie Adland History
Australia’s advertising market has stepped up its strong COVID recovery by creating history in June after delivering the largest month of ad spend ever recorded in a first half period in SMI history, with the feat also ensuring the market total was above the pre-COVID levels of June 2019. Total bookings soared 44.3 per cent […]
SCA Appoints 2020 Brian White Scholarship Winner As Part Of Regional Investments
SCA has appointed Commercial Radio Australia Brian White Scholarship winner Zac De Silva (pictured) to its Albury newsroom as it invests in new talent for regional radio newsrooms nationwide. De Silva received the prestigious Brian White Scholarship in 2020 and completed a paid internship at SCA as part of the award. He is just one […]
Spinach Appointed By Property Developer Beulah
Spinach has been appointed to manage the media strategy, buying and data capabilities for Australian property developer Beulah. The Melbourne-based developer has several projects in the works including STH BNK by Beulah, one of the most ambitious developments to be undertaken in Australia. With backing from the City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne Committee, the $2 […]
Google Tells Marketers To “Rethink The Line” In Campaign Via The Hallway
Following on the success of last year’s Think with Google “Rethink The Mix” campaign, this week sees the brand inviting marketers to “Rethink the Line” via a campaign created by The Hallway. The campaign is spearheaded by a video that tells the story of “The Line ” via animation and is complemented by a collection of shorter videos and […]
Digitas APAC Appoints Adrian Farouk To CEO
Digitas, the Connected Marketing Agency, part of Publicis Groupe, has announced the promotion of Adrian Farouk as CEO of Digitas APAC. Farouk (pictured above) is currently CEO of Digitas & Epsilon ANZ, he will take on the new role with immediate effect whilst continuing his leadership at Epsilon, the group’s data and tech platform business […]
Adland Sexism: Where Are All The Male Voices?
This comment piece is by Jasmin Bedir, CEO of Innocean and founder of FckTheCupcakes. It’s been a month since Zoe Scaman’s amazing article. When I read it, I kept nodding along and readied myself for an industry discussion in Australia. But nothing happened. Not a peep. And it’s not because we’re so much better in […]
Magnite Confirms Australian Leadership Team
Magnite (Nasdaq: MGNI), the world’s largest independent sell-side advertising platform, today announced that James Young will remain as Managing Director of Australia for Magnite following the acquisition of SpotX.
Bundaberg Brewed Drinks Pours Zenith Brisbane Its Media
Zenith Brisbane wins Bundaberg Brewed Drinks' media and, with the extra staff, creates a glass half-full conundrum.
Sports Teams Unite In Latest Campaign Against Sports Bet Advertising
Major sporting clubs and local sporting leaders have united in response to community concern about the effect of prolific sports betting advertising on young people in the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s new Love the Game campaign. The ‘Join the club’ campaign includes elite and community level players and administrators, parents, kids, umpires and coaches from […]
Haylie Marchant Appointed Executive Director Of Red Havas Brisbane
Red Havas has announced the appointment of Haylie Marchant to the role of executive director, Red Havas Brisbane. In addition to leading the agency to drive growth in the Brisbane market, Haylie will also join the Red Havas national senior management team. Marchant brings 15 years experience building and running successful agencies in Australia and […]
The Monkeys’ ECD Vince Lagana Departs
After three years as executive creative director, Vince Lagana has departed The Monkeys to explore new interests and opportunities. Lagana said: “I’ve really enjoyed these three years as ECD at The Monkeys but now feels like the right time in my career to pursue other new and exciting opportunities. I’m proud to have worked on […]
Wavemaker Snares L’Oréal’s $70 Million Media Account Away From Carat
As part of L’Oréal’s global corporate governance process, which sees a media review completed every four years, L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand have appointed GroupM agency Wavemaker as its new media agency from 1st October 2021. The review process was overseen by Ebiquity, an independent advisor to manage the process on behalf of L’Oréal Australia and […]
Outage Leaves Australians Locked Out Of Microsoft Accounts
Outage leaves Aussies locked out of Microsoft accounts. And it's not like Bill's farting about going into space & all.
BrandCrowd Creates Shareable Logo For Government’s ‘Arm Yourself’ Campaign
Logo designer BrandCrowd has created its own logo to align with the federal government’s ‘Arm Yourself’ vaccine campaign. Taking inspiration from the iconic World War Two image of Rosie the Riveter, the logo was created by a network of designers. According to BrandCrowd, “with the Australian government’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout under increasing scrutiny and accompanying […]
$10 Million JobKeeper Boost Sees Lachlan Murdoch’s Nova Reap Financial Rewards
Rupert, Lachlan & co forced to spit their Beluga cavair from laughing so much after fleecing $10 million in JobKeeper.
B&T’s Tokyo Olympics Wrap: Knitting, COVID-19 And Cockroaches!
It's your Olympics madness wrap! Yes, all the oddball action from Tokyo that Bruce McAvaney dare never tells you about.
Google And News Corp To Train 750 Journalists With Digital News Academy
In one of the great ironies, two of the great destroyers of journalism have teamed up to actually support journalism!
Mindshare Melbourne Gobbles Up Jenny Craig’s $8 Million Media
After eight months on Jenny Craig, unfortunately the B&T editor's 'after' photo is so far yet to materialise.
