Dubai: As the migration to mobile devices is growing rapidly, mobile advertising is not only attracting more dollars and more bots but also grows into one of the biggest organised crime businesses in the world.
To put it simply, iOS versus Android matters when it comes to ad fraud susceptibility.
Avishai Shoushan, CEO of ClicksMob, said that fraud is one of the biggest challenges in the mobile advertising world, and if nothing is done, it will only continue to grow, undermining billions of dollars in valuable ad investments.
He said that mobile ad fraud is destructive to the entire ecosystem; including advertisers, publishers, performance platforms, ad networks, attribution, and more, not to mention the companies that rely on digital advertising to grow and sustain their businesses.
And one thing is clear — if no action is taken, these numbers will continue to rise, undermining billions of dollars in valuable ad investments, he said.
According to the fraud attempts detected by ClicksMob’s Fraud Fighter, iOS was 50 per cent more prone to fraudulent traffic than Android in 2016.
Android accounted for 39 per cent of the fraudulent traffic detected, with iOS susceptible to the other 61 per cent.
Payouts on iOS are higher than Android, and iOS’s higher susceptibility to ad fraud likely reflects the willingness of an advertiser to pay for a new iOS user.
The top five most targeted countries by fraudsters for iOS are Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore and the United States. For Android, it was Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, United States and the United Kingdom.
Shoushan said that ad fraud is an epidemic costing advertisers an estimated $8.2 billion in wasted ad investments in 2016 alone, threatening the health of the advertising industry and the millions of companies globally that rely on digital advertising.
“It’s clear that where the users go, the criminals go, as the shift to mobile has also brought with it the attention of fraudsters seeking to cheat the industry and capitalise on fraudulent traffic,” he said.
Of the countries most targeted by ad fraud, Android-based fraud in Japan accounted for 12 per cent of the total detected fraudulent activity. Meanwhile, on iOS, fraudulent traffic attempts in Japan accounted for 11 per cent out of the total detected fraudulent activity.
Shoushan said that mobile app users in Japan are high value, and therefore are likely more targeted by fraudsters because the payout is high.
ClicksMob found that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the most targeted days for attempted fraudulent advertising, with Fridays drawing 18 per cent of total attempts. The data suggests that the top five verticals most targeted by ad fraud are: games, lifestyle, shopping, travel and local, and sports.
Of the top five most targeted verticals, he said that gaming claimed 39 per cent of the total fraud attempts; double that of the runner-up, lifestyle.
“With higher payouts because the user lifetime value is longer, gaming apps are a much more attractive target for fraudsters,” he said.
Ad fraud is not a problem facing just one company, he said and added it’s a problem facing everyone in the ecosystem. Fraud comes in many forms and the criminals behind ad fraud are constantly innovating and improving their fraudulent methods.
“By working together and participating in information sharing, anti-fraud coalitions, ad-fraud meetups and the like, we all stand a much higher chance of staying ahead of the fraudsters and developing effective anti-fraud solutions,” he said.
