What you need to know:

• Australia is the desktop video ad fraud capital of the world, a new study from Integral Ad Science has found, with rates jumping more than 300 per cent in the past year.
• Fraud rates for desktop video jumped to 2.4 per cent in H1 2021, from 0.7 per cent. But most of it is targeting publisher direct models.
• Australia also leads the world in the percentage of desktop video ads watched all the way through, at 84.2 per cent.

Australia has the highest rates of ad fraud in the world in the desktop video category, more than tripling levels recorded a year ago and double the global average, latest data suggests.

Ad verification company Integral Ad Science (IAS) said fraudsters targeting Australian publishers' direct video inventory pushed ad fraud rates from 0.7 per cent in 2020 to 2.4 per cent in 2021.

IAS released its Media Quality Report for the first half of 2021, which looks at the latest trends in ad fraud, viewability and brand safety across display, video, mobile web, and in-app advertising.

Australia scored above the global average for ad fraud across all the digital channels IAS measured. The worldwide average for ad fraud for “non-optimised” campaigns, those that did not include anti-fraud measures, were much higher – 9.4 per cent on desktop display ads, for example.

Desktop display ads had a fraud rate of 1.3 per cent in Australia (the worldwide optimised campaign average was 1.0 per cent), while mobile web display had a fraud rate of 0.6 per cent (the worldwide average was 0.4 per cent). Mobile web video ads had 0.6 per cent rate pf fraud (the worldwide average was 0.3 per cent).

While Australia registered the highest level of desktop video fraud in the world, it also recorded the highest viewing rate of desktop video ads. On average – globally –  91.4 per cent of users watched the first quarter of a desktop video ad. In Australia, that figure was 94.2 per cent.  

Japan scored worst for ad fraud on mobile web display and mobile video advertising, with 2.3 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively, and was second worst after Singapore for desktop display ads. France, Poland and Sweden were among the safest markets for most types of ad fraud. 

The programmatic advertising industry is a lucrative field for ad fraud, according to experts such as Augustine Fou, who thinks rates may be much higher than reported. 

Annual digital ad spend in Australia stands north of $10bn, with video making up the bulk of general display expenditure.