Mike O’Brien wrote an article on Clickz that delved into just how much ad fraud is costing companies.
The article referenced a study called The 2015 Bot Baseline Report, that report concluded that advertisers will lose $7.2 billion in 2016.
The report breaks things down by media buys and what percentage are bots. The article goes on to look at ways advertisers can fight ad fraud.
From the article:
Released yesterday, The 2015 Bot Baseline Report estimates that advertisers around the world will lose $7.2 billion in 2016, as a result of fraudulent impressions. That number is relatively the same from last year, just a little higher to account for an increase in digital spend.
“The staggering financial losses and the lack of real, tangible progress at mitigating fraud highlights the importance of the industry’s Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) in fighting this war. It also underscores the need for the entire marketing ecosystem to manage their media investments with far greater discipline and control against a backdrop of increasingly sophisticated fraudsters,” says Bob Liodice, president and chief executive (CEO) of the ANA.
Chalk it up as the cost of doing business, not like PPC rates are rocking the charts, how much did it make them compared to traditional ads… glass half full side of things
This is an area that I believe the new gen tld’s and large Corp extensions will make a difference. More internal controls, specific targeted campaigns , less reliance on mega platforms bots target.
The companies serving the ads certainly don’t appear to mind. I think one report suggested over 97% of ad clicks were bots, not real eyeballs. Gargoogles fortune was/is made from bots. I always wondered if they were the ones creating the bots? Or a division of them???
Similar to the garbage food manufacturers consider “food”. Their other division is the medical/health company selling you the cure to your problem. Nasty, nasty stuff. If it comes in a box, run, run for your life!!!
Can you say “class action”? Way, way overdue.