Pixalate Releases Q4 2023 Global Ad Fraud Benchmarks for Mobile Apps: 21% Invalid Traffic (IVT) Rate Across Apps in Google, Apple App Stores - Google Apps Had 37% Higher IVT Than Apple

Research into Q4 2023 global invalid traffic (IVT, including ad fraud) in open programmatic mobile in-app advertising reveals that overall IVT decreased 16% YoY

London, 13 March, 2024 -- Pixalate, the global market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the Q4 2023 Global Mobile App Invalid Traffic Benchmark Report, analyzing the invalid traffic (IVT, including ad fraud) rates for open programmatic advertising on mobile apps from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

To compile the research, Pixalate’s data science team analyzed over 35 billion open programmatic mobile in-app ad impressions in Q4 2023. The report benchmarks IVT and ad fraud across mobile apps by global region (Global, North America, EMEA, APAC, LATAM), by country, app-ads.txt files, and additional breakdowns.

Key Findings: 

IVT Benchmarks in Open Programmatic Advertising on Mobile Apps

• In Q4 2023, the global mobile app IVT rate in the open programmatic mobile in-app ad marketplace was 21%, higher than the global average of all open programmatic advertising (18%)
  • The IVT rate on mobile apps that do not have an app-ads.txt files was 73% higher compared to apps that have an app-ads.txt file
  • Mobile in-app IVTrate during the same period last year (Q4 2022) was 25%, marking a 16% reduction YoY
• Traffic purportedly from Thailand and South Korea had the highest IVT rates in the open programmatic mobile in-app ad marketplace (33%)
• The APAC region had the highest mobile in-app IVT rate of 23%, followed by LATAM at 21%, and both North America and EMEA regions at 20%
• Mobile apps with no listed country of registry in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store had the highest IVT rate 32%
• Traffic from‘Health & Fitness’ apps in the Google Play Store had a 35% IVT rate

Download a free copy of the report today:

About Pixalate

Pixalate is a global platform for privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and data intelligence in the digital ad supply chain. Founded in 2012, Pixalate’s platform is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is MRC-accredited for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). www.pixalate.com 

Disclaimer

The content of this press release, and the Q4 2023 Mobile App Invalid Traffic Benchmarks Report (the "Report"), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to 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 programmatic advertising activity across mobile apps in the time period studied. Pixalate does not independently verify third-party information. Per the Media Rating Council (MRC), “‘Invalid Traffic’ is defined generally as traffic that does not meet certain ad serving quality or completeness criteria, or otherwise does not represent legitimate ad traffic that should be included in measurement counts. Among the reasons why ad traffic may be deemed invalid is it is a result of non-human traffic (spiders, bots, etc.), or activity designed to produce fraudulent traffic.” IVT is also sometimes referred to as “ad fraud.” Per the MRC, “'Fraud' is not intended to represent fraud as defined in various laws, statutes and ordinances or as conventionally used in U.S. Court or other legal proceedings, but rather a custom definition strictly for advertising measurement purposes.”