IAS Media Quality Report Finds Mobile Ad Fraud Holds Steady in the U.S. and Globally

Key to beating back fraud is widespread adoption of optimization and prevention strategies

Fraudsters leveraged the Winter Olympics, leading to temporary spikes in fraud

NEW YORK – May 9, 2023 – Integral Ad Science (Nasdaq: IAS), a global leader in digital media quality, today released its highly anticipated 2022 Media Quality Report which found that the mobile phone ad fraud rate in the United States remained steady, creeping up 0.1 percentage points to 0.70% in 2022, compared with 0.60% in 2021. Worldwide mobile ad fraud rates were essentially unchanged, down 0.01 percentage points, declining from 0.40% in 2021 to 0.39% in 2022.

Risks remain, however, with IAS researchers discovering that fraudsters leveraged the 2022 Winter Olympics for their schemes – which caused a 100% jump in U.S. ad fraud during the games, generating an additional 77 million ad fraud violations.

Despite the significant spike during the Olympics, the overall ad fraud trend was held in check in the U.S., thanks to marketers deploying sophisticated anti-fraud techniques, such as AI and optimization strategies to ensure their ads reach real people. 

“Data drives the advertising industry and IAS’s Media Quality Report provides the benchmarks that power decisions made by marketers worldwide,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS. “The Media Quality Report serves as a compass throughout the year, enabling marketers to maximize their ROI and stay ahead of the curve. IAS’s Research team is the best in the industry and serves as a significant source of insight for our customers.”

While a majority of ad budgets are aimed at mobile users, desktop fraud did see an increase last year, climbing in the U.S. from 1.60% in 2021 to 1.95% in 2022, and globally from 1.17% in 2021 to 1.35% in 2022.

In this 18th edition of its Media Quality Report, IAS’s Research team analyzed hundreds of billions of global data events at the impression level in 2022, creating the industry’s gold standard for insights into the performance and quality of digital media worldwide. 

Additional highlights from the data include: 

• Viewability and Time-in-View

In the U.S., the annual average viewability rate, combining all environments and formats, rose to 75.3% in 2022, while time-in-view grew from 17.84 seconds in 2021 to 18.09 seconds. Globally, annual average viewability reached 74%, and time-in-view declined from 16.79 seconds in 2021 to 16.54 seconds in 2022.

• Quality Path Optimization (QPO) Uptake on the Rise

Adoption of Quality Path Optimization (QPO), which identifies cost-efficient supply paths to quality inventory, surged globally in 2022. The number of ad buyers who have adopted QPO climbed by 533% worldwide over the course of the year. Optimized supply paths in 2022 had an 84% quality rate worldwide and drove conversions at a 25% lower cost per conversion, compared with non-optimized paths.

IAS’s Media Quality Report offers a powerful tool for ad buyers and sellers to benchmark their campaigns and inventory. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, marketers must continually adapt their strategies to new environments, formats, and technologies to stay ahead of the game. The full Media Quality Report can be found here.

About Integral Ad Science 

Integral Ad Science (IAS) is a global leader in digital media quality. IAS makes every impression count, ensuring that ads are viewable by real people, in safe and suitable environments, activating contextual targeting, and driving supply path optimization. Our mission is to be the global benchmark for trust and transparency in digital media quality for the world’s leading brands, publishers, and platforms. We do this through data-driven technologies with actionable real-time signals and insight. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York, IAS works with thousands of top advertisers and premium publishers worldwide. For more information, visit integralads.com.

Contact: press@integralads.com