GITNUXREPORT 2026

Ad Fraud Statistics

Ad fraud cost the world $115 billion in 2023, draining billions from nearly every ad channel.

Rajesh Patel

Team Lead & Senior Researcher with over 15 years of experience in market research and data analytics.

First published: Feb 13, 2026

Our Commitment to Accuracy

Rigorous fact-checking · Reputable sources · Regular updatesLearn more

Statistic 1

33% of bot traffic mimicked human behavior for ad fraud in 2023

Statistic 2

Methbot-style video ad fraud generated $5M daily from 300M fake views in 2023 variants

Statistic 3

Data center bots accounted for 52% of ad fraud bot traffic worldwide 2023

Statistic 4

Residential proxy bots evaded detection in 41% of ad fraud cases 2023

Statistic 5

Mobile emulator bots inflated app install fraud by 67% in 2023

Statistic 6

Headless browser bots simulated 28% of fraudulent video completions 2023

Statistic 7

IoT device bots contributed to 14% of ad stacking fraud in 2023

Statistic 8

Scraping bots hijacked 19% of dynamic ad pricing data 2023

Statistic 9

Automated click farms using bots generated 2.5B fake clicks monthly 2023

Statistic 10

Domain generation algorithm bots created 10M fake sites for ad fraud daily 2023

Statistic 11

47% of bad bots targeted premium publishers for ad fraud in 2023

Statistic 12

Browser automation tools like Puppeteer powered 35% ad fraud bots 2023

Statistic 13

Server-side ad insertion bots faked 22% of video ad starts 2023

Statistic 14

Click injection bots intercepted 18% of real user journeys 2023

Statistic 15

Pixel stuffing bots hid 1px ads in 29% fraudulent impressions 2023

Statistic 16

Ad warping bots altered creatives in 16% of served ads 2023

Statistic 17

Botnets like Mirai variants drove 12% of DDoS-linked ad fraud 2023

Statistic 18

Humanoid bots passed CAPTCHAs in 55% of ad verification bypasses 2023

Statistic 19

Ad fraud caused $115B in global losses in 2023 alone

Statistic 20

US brands lost $16B to invalid traffic in digital ads 2023

Statistic 21

Programmatic advertising wasted $72B on fraud globally 2023

Statistic 22

Mobile ad fraud drained $92B from app marketers worldwide 2023

Statistic 23

Video ad fraud cost publishers $24B in revenue leakage 2023

Statistic 24

Social platforms saw $19B fraud losses from fake engagement 2023

Statistic 25

Search click fraud amounted to $11.5B annually in major markets 2023

Statistic 26

CTV ad fraud led to $6.8B overpayments in US 2023

Statistic 27

E-commerce ad fraud inflated CAC by 28% costing $14B 2023

Statistic 28

Gaming industry lost $8.2B to install fraud in mobile ads 2023

Statistic 29

Finance sector ad fraud losses hit $9.7B due to lead gen scams 2023

Statistic 30

Healthcare advertisers wasted $4.1B on bot-driven clicks 2023

Statistic 31

Travel industry ad fraud cost $5.3B in fake bookings 2023

Statistic 32

Automotive brands lost $3.9B to domain spoofing fraud 2023

Statistic 33

CPG ad fraud in retail media was $7.2B globally 2023

Statistic 34

Tech SaaS companies overpaid $6.4B for fraudulent leads 2023

Statistic 35

Entertainment streaming ads lost $4.8B to viewability fraud 2023

Statistic 36

Education edtech ad fraud hit $2.9B in enrollment scams 2023

Statistic 37

Global ad fraud projected to reach $172B by 2025

Statistic 38

Bot traffic expected to comprise 49% of internet traffic by 2025 fueling ad fraud

Statistic 39

Mobile ad fraud losses forecasted at $130B annually by 2028

Statistic 40

Programmatic fraud rate predicted to stabilize at 15% by 2027 post-regulation

Statistic 41

AI-driven ad fraud sophistication to increase invalid traffic by 40% by 2026

Statistic 42

CTV ad fraud projected to cost $12B yearly in US by 2025

Statistic 43

Social commerce ad fraud to hit $25B losses by 2027

Statistic 44

Gaming ad fraud expected to double to $16B by 2026

Statistic 45

Retail media networks fraud projected at 18% rate by 2025

Statistic 46

Search ad fraud via AI queries to rise 55% by 2025

Statistic 47

DOOH ad fraud losses forecasted to $4B globally by 2026

Statistic 48

Audio streaming ad fraud to grow 30% yearly to 2028

Statistic 49

Web3 ad fraud in metaverse projected at $3B by 2025

Statistic 50

Privacy sandbox changes to boost fraud by 12% short-term 2024-2025

Statistic 51

Global regulations to reduce ad fraud by 8% by 2027

Statistic 52

Machine learning detection to cut fraud costs 25% by 2026

Statistic 53

Supply path optimization to save $20B in fraud by 2025

Statistic 54

Blockchain verification to eliminate 40% impression fraud by 2028

Statistic 55

Zero-party data to reduce targeting fraud 35% by 2026

Statistic 56

Edge computing to lower latency fraud by 22% in real-time bidding 2025

Statistic 57

Ad fraud projected to consume 20% of $1T global ad spend by 2028

Statistic 58

APAC ad fraud growth at 18% CAGR to $50B by 2027

Statistic 59

In 2023, global ad fraud losses reached $115 billion, representing 14% of total ad spend

Statistic 60

Ad fraud accounted for 21% of all ad impressions in display advertising worldwide in 2022

Statistic 61

42% of video ad views were fraudulent across all platforms in Q4 2023

Statistic 62

Mobile ad traffic saw 28% invalid traffic rate globally in 2023

Statistic 63

Programmatic ad buying experienced 19.2% fraud rate in 2023 across major DSPs

Statistic 64

35% of social media ad impressions were fake in 2023 surveys

Statistic 65

CTV ad fraud rose to 23% of impressions in US households in 2023

Statistic 66

Overall digital ad ecosystem fraud rate hit 17.5% in H1 2023

Statistic 67

29% of all web traffic was from bad bots contributing to ad fraud in 2023

Statistic 68

Ad fraud prevalence in APAC region was 22.4% of ad spend in 2023

Statistic 69

EMEA ad fraud rate stood at 18.7% for display ads in 2023

Statistic 70

LATAM markets reported 25.1% ad impression fraud in 2023

Statistic 71

North America ad fraud impacted 16.3% of $300B ad market in 2023

Statistic 72

Fraudulent ad auctions numbered 1.2 billion daily worldwide in 2023

Statistic 73

27% of DOOH ad plays were invalid in urban areas globally 2023

Statistic 74

Audio ad fraud affected 15% of streaming impressions in 2023

Statistic 75

Gaming ad networks saw 31% fraud rate in in-app ads 2023

Statistic 76

Retail media ad fraud hit 20.5% in e-commerce platforms 2023

Statistic 77

24.8% of native ad inventory was fraudulent globally 2023

Statistic 78

Search ad fraud comprised 12.1% of clicks in major engines 2023

Statistic 79

Mobile in-app ad fraud rates reached 32% in Android ecosystems 2023

Statistic 80

iOS app install fraud via SDK spoofing was 18% of installs 2023

Statistic 81

Android ad stacking in apps affected 41% of video rewards 2023

Statistic 82

Click spamming on mobile networks hit 29% of traffic volume 2023

Statistic 83

Mobile web ad fraud via invisible overlays was 25% in browsers 2023

Statistic 84

In-app purchase fraud bots generated 22% fake revenue shares 2023

Statistic 85

Location spoofing in mobile ads fooled geo-targeting 37% time 2023

Statistic 86

Device farm fraud inflated metrics by 45% in testing labs 2023

Statistic 87

SMS click fraud from mobile carriers was 19% of link traffic 2023

Statistic 88

VPN-enabled mobile fraud evaded IP blocks in 31% cases 2023

Statistic 89

Hybrid app fraud via WebView manipulation hit 26% 2023

Statistic 90

Push notification abuse for ad clicks was 23% fraudulent 2023

Statistic 91

Mobile emulator farms produced 1.8B fake sessions daily 2023

Statistic 92

Ad mediation platforms saw 27% fraud in waterfall inventory 2023

Statistic 93

Cross-promo mobile ad fraud within apps was 34% invalid 2023

Statistic 94

Mobile CTV companion ads had 21% bot overlap fraud 2023

Statistic 95

AR ad experiences on mobile suffered 28% interaction fraud 2023

1/95

Sources

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Imagine if one out of every five ads you saw last year was a complete sham, a reality underscored by the staggering fact that in 2023 alone, fraudulent schemes drained a colossal $115 billion from the global advertising ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

In 2023, global ad fraud losses reached $115 billion, representing 14% of total ad spend
Ad fraud accounted for 21% of all ad impressions in display advertising worldwide in 2022
42% of video ad views were fraudulent across all platforms in Q4 2023
33% of bot traffic mimicked human behavior for ad fraud in 2023
Methbot-style video ad fraud generated $5M daily from 300M fake views in 2023 variants
Data center bots accounted for 52% of ad fraud bot traffic worldwide 2023
Ad fraud caused $115B in global losses in 2023 alone
US brands lost $16B to invalid traffic in digital ads 2023
Programmatic advertising wasted $72B on fraud globally 2023
Mobile in-app ad fraud rates reached 32% in Android ecosystems 2023
iOS app install fraud via SDK spoofing was 18% of installs 2023
Android ad stacking in apps affected 41% of video rewards 2023
Global ad fraud projected to reach $172B by 2025
Bot traffic expected to comprise 49% of internet traffic by 2025 fueling ad fraud
Mobile ad fraud losses forecasted at $130B annually by 2028

Ad fraud cost the world $115 billion in 2023, draining billions from nearly every ad channel.

Bot Traffic

33% of bot traffic mimicked human behavior for ad fraud in 2023
Methbot-style video ad fraud generated $5M daily from 300M fake views in 2023 variants
Data center bots accounted for 52% of ad fraud bot traffic worldwide 2023
Residential proxy bots evaded detection in 41% of ad fraud cases 2023
Mobile emulator bots inflated app install fraud by 67% in 2023
Headless browser bots simulated 28% of fraudulent video completions 2023
IoT device bots contributed to 14% of ad stacking fraud in 2023
Scraping bots hijacked 19% of dynamic ad pricing data 2023
Automated click farms using bots generated 2.5B fake clicks monthly 2023
Domain generation algorithm bots created 10M fake sites for ad fraud daily 2023
47% of bad bots targeted premium publishers for ad fraud in 2023
Browser automation tools like Puppeteer powered 35% ad fraud bots 2023
Server-side ad insertion bots faked 22% of video ad starts 2023
Click injection bots intercepted 18% of real user journeys 2023
Pixel stuffing bots hid 1px ads in 29% fraudulent impressions 2023
Ad warping bots altered creatives in 16% of served ads 2023
Botnets like Mirai variants drove 12% of DDoS-linked ad fraud 2023
Humanoid bots passed CAPTCHAs in 55% of ad verification bypasses 2023

Bot Traffic Interpretation

The digital ad industry is so busy wrestling with armies of advanced, shape-shifting bots that it’s basically become a high-stakes game of sci-fi whack-a-mole where billions of dollars vanish into a pixelated void.

Financial Losses

Ad fraud caused $115B in global losses in 2023 alone
US brands lost $16B to invalid traffic in digital ads 2023
Programmatic advertising wasted $72B on fraud globally 2023
Mobile ad fraud drained $92B from app marketers worldwide 2023
Video ad fraud cost publishers $24B in revenue leakage 2023
Social platforms saw $19B fraud losses from fake engagement 2023
Search click fraud amounted to $11.5B annually in major markets 2023
CTV ad fraud led to $6.8B overpayments in US 2023
E-commerce ad fraud inflated CAC by 28% costing $14B 2023
Gaming industry lost $8.2B to install fraud in mobile ads 2023
Finance sector ad fraud losses hit $9.7B due to lead gen scams 2023
Healthcare advertisers wasted $4.1B on bot-driven clicks 2023
Travel industry ad fraud cost $5.3B in fake bookings 2023
Automotive brands lost $3.9B to domain spoofing fraud 2023
CPG ad fraud in retail media was $7.2B globally 2023
Tech SaaS companies overpaid $6.4B for fraudulent leads 2023
Entertainment streaming ads lost $4.8B to viewability fraud 2023
Education edtech ad fraud hit $2.9B in enrollment scams 2023

Financial Losses Interpretation

If the global advertising industry were a heist movie, the $115 billion stolen by ad fraud in 2023 alone would make it the most successful and tragically unprosecutable crime spree of all time.

Future Projections

Global ad fraud projected to reach $172B by 2025
Bot traffic expected to comprise 49% of internet traffic by 2025 fueling ad fraud
Mobile ad fraud losses forecasted at $130B annually by 2028
Programmatic fraud rate predicted to stabilize at 15% by 2027 post-regulation
AI-driven ad fraud sophistication to increase invalid traffic by 40% by 2026
CTV ad fraud projected to cost $12B yearly in US by 2025
Social commerce ad fraud to hit $25B losses by 2027
Gaming ad fraud expected to double to $16B by 2026
Retail media networks fraud projected at 18% rate by 2025
Search ad fraud via AI queries to rise 55% by 2025
DOOH ad fraud losses forecasted to $4B globally by 2026
Audio streaming ad fraud to grow 30% yearly to 2028
Web3 ad fraud in metaverse projected at $3B by 2025
Privacy sandbox changes to boost fraud by 12% short-term 2024-2025
Global regulations to reduce ad fraud by 8% by 2027
Machine learning detection to cut fraud costs 25% by 2026
Supply path optimization to save $20B in fraud by 2025
Blockchain verification to eliminate 40% impression fraud by 2028
Zero-party data to reduce targeting fraud 35% by 2026
Edge computing to lower latency fraud by 22% in real-time bidding 2025
Ad fraud projected to consume 20% of $1T global ad spend by 2028
APAC ad fraud growth at 18% CAGR to $50B by 2027

Future Projections Interpretation

If you think the bots clicking your ads are just a nuisance, remember that by 2025 they'll be a $172 billion shadow industry cunning enough to siphon off one in every five ad dollars, making fraud not just a line item but a preferred customer.

Global Prevalence

In 2023, global ad fraud losses reached $115 billion, representing 14% of total ad spend
Ad fraud accounted for 21% of all ad impressions in display advertising worldwide in 2022
42% of video ad views were fraudulent across all platforms in Q4 2023
Mobile ad traffic saw 28% invalid traffic rate globally in 2023
Programmatic ad buying experienced 19.2% fraud rate in 2023 across major DSPs
35% of social media ad impressions were fake in 2023 surveys
CTV ad fraud rose to 23% of impressions in US households in 2023
Overall digital ad ecosystem fraud rate hit 17.5% in H1 2023
29% of all web traffic was from bad bots contributing to ad fraud in 2023
Ad fraud prevalence in APAC region was 22.4% of ad spend in 2023
EMEA ad fraud rate stood at 18.7% for display ads in 2023
LATAM markets reported 25.1% ad impression fraud in 2023
North America ad fraud impacted 16.3% of $300B ad market in 2023
Fraudulent ad auctions numbered 1.2 billion daily worldwide in 2023
27% of DOOH ad plays were invalid in urban areas globally 2023
Audio ad fraud affected 15% of streaming impressions in 2023
Gaming ad networks saw 31% fraud rate in in-app ads 2023
Retail media ad fraud hit 20.5% in e-commerce platforms 2023
24.8% of native ad inventory was fraudulent globally 2023
Search ad fraud comprised 12.1% of clicks in major engines 2023

Global Prevalence Interpretation

The digital advertising industry is essentially running a multi-billion dollar charity for bots, with one out of every five dollars spent generously funding a global network of invisible grifters.

Mobile Ad Fraud

Mobile in-app ad fraud rates reached 32% in Android ecosystems 2023
iOS app install fraud via SDK spoofing was 18% of installs 2023
Android ad stacking in apps affected 41% of video rewards 2023
Click spamming on mobile networks hit 29% of traffic volume 2023
Mobile web ad fraud via invisible overlays was 25% in browsers 2023
In-app purchase fraud bots generated 22% fake revenue shares 2023
Location spoofing in mobile ads fooled geo-targeting 37% time 2023
Device farm fraud inflated metrics by 45% in testing labs 2023
SMS click fraud from mobile carriers was 19% of link traffic 2023
VPN-enabled mobile fraud evaded IP blocks in 31% cases 2023
Hybrid app fraud via WebView manipulation hit 26% 2023
Push notification abuse for ad clicks was 23% fraudulent 2023
Mobile emulator farms produced 1.8B fake sessions daily 2023
Ad mediation platforms saw 27% fraud in waterfall inventory 2023
Cross-promo mobile ad fraud within apps was 34% invalid 2023
Mobile CTV companion ads had 21% bot overlap fraud 2023
AR ad experiences on mobile suffered 28% interaction fraud 2023

Mobile Ad Fraud Interpretation

The digital advertising ecosystem is like a magician's stage where, in 2023, nearly every trick—from 32% of Android in-app ads being illusory to 37% of location-targeted ads pointing to the wrong map—was designed to pick the marketer's pocket instead of captivating the consumer.

Sources & References

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