Pixalate’s data science team analyzed over 50 billion open programmatic ad transactions across 5.1 million mobile apps in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in Q1 2024 to compile this global research, including breakdowns by region (North America, EMEA, APAC, LATAM); Top Global Category “Video Gaming” Sees 19% IVT rate totaling $725 million in lost ad revenue; 32% IVT rate seen in “Technology & Computing” apps in North America

LONDON, June 17, 2024 -- Pixalate, the global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the inaugural Global Mobile App IVT Trends: IAB Categories for Open Programmatic Advertising Report. The Q1 2024 report analyzes the invalid traffic (IVT) rates across the top ten IAB categories by region, based on the share of mobile app global open programmatic ad spend across the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Pixalate also released North America, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Latin America (LATAM) versions of the report.

The report also reveals the most prevalent types of IVT detected and identified within IAB ad categories. As advertisers consider contextual advertising in light of expected cookie deprecation, understanding IVT trends can empower advertisers to avoid wasted ad spend and enhance contextual targeting. Learn more about the types of invalid traffic detection, as defined by Pixalate: https://www.pixalate.com/knowledgebase/reported-invalid-traffic-ivt-types 

KEY FINDINGS:

Global:

• “Video Gaming” IAB mobile app category had a global IVT (including ad fraud) rate of 18%, resulting in $725M ad spend lost in this category alone in Q1 2024
• “Technology & Computing” had the highest IVT rate (31%) among the top 10 IAB app categories based on estimated open programmatic ad spend
• “Healthy Living” (30%), “Business & Finance” (27%), “Hobbies & Interests” (24%), and “Music & Audio” (20%) all had global IVT rates of 20%+
• “Display Impression Fraud” was the most common IVT type among the top 10 IAB app categories, accounting for 18% of all global IVT

Regional Breakdowns:

North America (20% overall regional IVT rate):

• “Technology and Computing” had the highest IVT rate (32%) among the top 10 North American categories
• “Video Gaming” (top regional ad spend share at 69%) experienced a 19% IVT rate
• “Display Impression Fraud” had the highest regional share of invalid traffic (17%)

Latin America (21% overall regional IVT rate):

• “Business and Finance” had the highest IVT rate (32%) among the top 10 LATAM categories
• “Video Gaming” (top regional ad spend share at 61%) experienced a 14% IVT rate
• “Display Impression Fraud” had the highest regional share of invalid traffic (24%)

Asia Pacific (APAC) (27% overall regional IVT rate):

• “Personal Finance” had the highest regional IVT rate (40%) among the top  10 APAC categories 
• “Video Gaming” (top region ad spend share at 54%) experienced a 19% IVT rate
• “Duplicate Impressions” and “Display Impression Fraud” had the highest regional share of IVT (11% each)

Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) (19% overall regional IVT rate):

• “Business and Finance” had the highest IVT rate (30%) among the top 10 EMEA categories
• “Video Gaming” (with a top regional ad spend share of 72%) had a lower IVT rate in EMEA (15%) than in other regions
• “Display Impression Fraud” had the highest regional share of invalid traffic (28%)

Pixalate’s data science team analyzed over 50 billion open programmatic ad transactions across 5.1 million mobile apps in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in Q1 2024 to compile the research in this series. Pixalate's datasets consist predominantly of buy-side open auction programmatic traffic sources.

Download the reports for a complete analysis and review of each region’s top 10 categories and top IVT types within each category:

About Pixalate

Pixalate is a global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform. Pixalate works 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value by offering the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and CTV for the detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Mobile App IVT Trends: IAB Categories Reports, reflect Pixalate’s opinions with respect to the factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends pertaining to the time period studied.