Lunio：2024年浪费广告支出报告 Wasted Ad Spend Report

Wasted

AdSpend

Report2024

TheGlobalImpactofInvalidTraffic

TableofContents

Introduction

Methodology

ExecutiveSummary

InvalidTrafficbyChannel

AnalysisbyChannel

LinkedIn

GoogleVideoPartners

X(FormerlyTwitter)

Meta

Pinterest

TikTok

MicrosoftAds/Bing

GoogleDisplayNetwork

PerformanceMax

GoogleSearch(inc.Shopping)

YouTube

InvalidTrafficbyCompanySize

InvalidTrafficbyIndustry

ThePaidMediaTrafficQualitySurvey

3.

4.

6.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

43.

44.

45.

47.

51.

52.

52.

TheBusinessImpactofInvalidTraffic

WorkingwithSmallerBudgetsin2023

AreAdNetworksCombattingInvalidTraffic?

ClaimingRefundsforInvalidTraffic

UsingThird-PartyInvalidTrafficPreventionSolutions

ManuallyBlockingInvalidTraffic

ImprovingTargetingwithAudienceExclusions

FakeLeadSubmissionsfromPaidMediaCampaigns

Top3PerformanceMarketingConcernsin2023

IAS-TheRoleofViewabilityinReducingWastedSpend

HowDoesViewabilityComplementClickData?

WhereDoestheIASDataComeFrom?

OverallTrendsinViewabilityRates

OverallTrendsforTime-in-View

Scope3-TheEnvironmentImpactofDigitalAdvertising&InvalidTraffic

WhereDoestheScope3DataComeFrom?

Emissions

IndustryAnalysis

27.

29.

OverallStateofDigitalAdvertisingCarbon

EmissionatthePer-ImpressionBasis

53.

InvalidTrafficbyRegion

54.

54.

55.

ClimateEmissionsinProgrammatic&Display

DefundingClimateRiskInventory

Viewability&CarbonEmissions

SupplyChains

56.

57.

IdentifyingWasteWithinProgrammatic

CarbonEmissionsPer-Click

CalculatingCarbonWastedonIVT

59.60.

ConclusionAbout

2|WastedAdSpendReport2023

Introduction

WhatisInvalidTraffic?

Invalidtraffic(IVT)referstoanywebsitevisitsthat

don’tcomefromarealpersonwithgenuineinterest.

Itcanincludebots(bothgoodandbad),fakeusers,

misattributedaccidentalclicks,maliciousclicksfrom

competingadvertisers,andotherwiseinvalidvisitorsthathavezerochanceofconvertingtocustomers.

Thecurrenteraofautomationandartificialintelligencemeansbotactivityisbecomingmoreprevalentandsophisticated.The

2023ImpervaBadBotReport

foundthatin2022,nearlyhalf

(47.4%)ofallinternettrafficcamefrombots,a5.1%increaseoverthepreviousyear.

Whilethereisanabundanceofinvalidactivityontheinternet,notallofithasthesamelevelofimpactonbusinesses.Inthisreport,wespecificallyhoneinontheproportionofIVTthat

hasadirectdetrimentaleffectonmarketingperformanceandbusinessrevenue.Namely,invalidtrafficstemmingfrompaidmediacampaigns.

3|WastedAdSpendReport2024

HowDoesInvalidTrafficImpactBusinesses?

Invalidtrafficisn’tasecurityproblem.It’samarketingblackhole.

Itinstantlywastesbudget-becausethose“visitors”willneverconvert.Andthefinancialcostscontinuetostackupwhenyouconsiderlostrevenueopportunities.Thereturnonadspendforinvalidclicksisalways0:1,whichfurtherstiflesbusinessgrowth.

IVTalsodistortsanalytics,leadingtounwisebudgetallocation.Spamleads,whichoftenfollowonfromfakeclicks,contaminateCRMs,wastingthetimeandenergyofsalesteams.Projected

revenueforecastsbecomeunpredictable.Andtheexplosionofadvertisingautomationisonlymakingtheproblemworse.

Tohelpunpacktheissueandtheimpactithasonbusinesses,we’veputtogetherourfirstannualreporttitled:WastedAd

SpendReport2024:TheGlobalImpactofInvalidTraffic

Byanalysingbillionsofpaidadclicksfromthousandsof

Luniocustomers,we’veexposedthetrueextentoftheinvalidtrafficproblemacrossdifferentindustries,regions,advertisingchannels,andmore.

Inadditiontoourowndata,we’vealsopartneredwithIntegralAdScienceandScope3togiveamorecompleteoverviewoftheproblemanditsdownstreamconsequences.

IntegralAdSciencespecialiseinprotectingprogrammatic

mediabuying,andtheirdataenabledustodiveevendeeperintoglobalpaidtraffictrendsaffectingadvertisers.And

dataprovidedbyScope3,theworld’slargestdatabaseof

georeferencedemissionsfactors,allowedustogainauniqueunderstandingoftheenvironmentalimpactofinvalidtrafficandthedigitaladvertisingindustrymorebroadly.

Ouraimistoprovideadata-drivenpictureofthethreatposedbyinvalidtraffic,andempowermarketerswithinsightsonhowtomaximiseadspendefficiency,eliminatesourcesoffakeadengagement,andreducetheircarbonfootprints.

Methodology

Lunio’sreal-timedecisionengineanalysesthevalidityofmillionsofpaidadclicksperdayacrossallmajor

marketingchannelsincludingGoogle,Meta,Bing,LinkedIn,TikTok,andmore.

Trafficdeterminedtobeinvalidisinstantlyexcluded

onthechannelit’sdetectedon.Dataidentifyingthe

sourceoftheinvalidclickisthenusedtopopulatecross-channelexclusionaudiencestopreventitfromnegativelyimpactingcustomerselsewhere.

OurinauguralWastedAdSpendreportwasconductedovera12-monthperiodfromMay2022toMay2023,

analysingatotalof2.6billionpaidadclicksandan

estimated104billionimpressionsfrommorethan60,000adaccounts.

Wesegmentedthedatabychannel,industry,companysize,andregiontoprovideactionableinsightsformarketersseekingto

minimisewastedspendandmaximisecampaignefficiency.

Invalidtrafficratesarepresentedaspercentagesandrepresentthenumberofinvalidclicksdividedbythetotalnumberofclicksinthesampletakenforeachcategory.

4|WastedAdSpendReport2024

Ourbreakdownofinvalidtrafficratesacrossindividualad

channelswaslimitedtothosewithasamplesizeofclicks

statisticallysignificantenoughtodrawmeaningfulconclusionsfrom.ThisincludesGoogleSearch(inc.Shopping),PerformanceMax,GoogleDisplay,YouTube,GoogleVideoPartners,Bing,Meta,X(formerlyTwitter),LinkedIn,TikTok,andPinterest.

Inourchannelanalysiswecombinedinvalidtrafficrateswith

externaldataonadrevenueearningstoprovidebenchmarksforprojectedwastedadspendandlostrevenueopportunities.

Forourbreakdownofinvalidtrafficratesbyindustry,companysize,andregionwesegmentedLunio’scustomerdatabase

accordinglyandestablishedanoverallinvalidtrafficrateforeachindividualcategoryincludedinthereport.

WesupplementedLunioclickdatawithresultsfromasurvey

ofhundredsofperformancemarketersconductedinJune

2023.Respondentswereinvitedtotakepartviaacall-outsent

toLunio’smailinglist.Theresultsoftheeightquestionsinthe

surveyareanalysedinfullandprovidefurtherinsightintothebusinessimpactofinvalidtrafficforbrandsandmarketersalike.

Methodology

Togiveacompletepictureofthecurrentstateofwastedadspend,LuniopartneredwithIntegralAdScience(IAS),whospecialiseinprogrammaticadverificationatan

impressionleveli.e.theyensuredisplayadsareseenbyrealpeople,inbrand-safeandcontextuallyrelevantdigital

environments.

ThecombinationofLunioandIASdataprovidesunrivalledinsightintoinvalidactivityandmarketinginefficienciesatboththeclickandimpressionlevelacrossprogrammatic,openweb,paidsearch,andpaidsocial.

Tohelpunderstandtheenvironmentalimpactassociatedwithinvalidtraffic,LuniopartneredwithScope3,who

specialiseinmeasuringdigitaladvertisingindustry

emissionsandoffersolutionstohelpbrandsandmarketersreducetheircarbonfootprint.

TheScope3datapresentedinthisreportoriginatesfromtheirQ1andQ22023StateofSustainableAdvertising

reports.FulldetailsonthemethodologyScope3usedareavailableintheoriginalreports.

TheIASdatapresentedinthisreportoriginatesfromthe18theditionoftheirMediaQualityReport,firstpublishedinMay2023.FulldetailsonthemethodologyIASusedareavailableintheoriginalreport.

Theultimategoalofthisreportistohelpadvertisersunderstandthecurrentstateof

invalidtraffic,whatcanbedonetomitigateagainstit,andshowhowafocusonadspendefficiencycanhelpdrivegreatercampaignperformanceacrosseverychannel.

5|WastedAdSpendReport2024

ForewordFromtheCEO

OurmissionatLunioistomaximisetheefficiencyofthedigitaladvertisingspacethroughinnovativesoftwaresolutions.Byenablingtheeraofexclusionformarketers,

Luniohelpstoaccelerateadvertisingefficiencyby

excludingbudgetwasteoninvalid,fakeandfraudulenttrafficacrosswalledgardenandperformancemarketing

networks.

OurinauguralWastedAdSpendreportprovidesthe

mostcompleteandaccurateviewofinefficienciesthatcurrentlyexistinthedigitaladvertisinglandscape.Thisreportwillempowermarketerstoincreaseadvertisingperformancewhilereducingwastedspend,irrelevantreachandthecarbonimpactoftheircampaigns.

I’dliketotakethisopportunitytothankallofour

customersandpartnersforyoursupport,feedback,andcollaborationthroughoutourjourneysofar.Together,

wecanbuildahealthierdigitaladvertisingecosysteminwhicheveryclick,impressionandplacementdrivesgenuinevalueforbrandsandconsumersalike.

NeilAndrew,Co-Founder&CEOatLunio

ExecutiveSummary

Weevaluatedasampleofmorethan2.6billionpaidadclicksfromLuniocustomersoverthecourseof12months(May2022-May2023).

Thisdatasetrevealed:

8.5%ofallpaidtrafficwasinvalid.

GooglevsNon-GoogleChannels

Whenthe2.6billionclicksweresegmentedbyGooglevsnon-Googlechannelsitrevealedasignificantdifference-IVTratesweremuchloweronGooglechannels.

5.5%oftrafficcomingfromGooglechannels

wasinvalid.

ThisincludesSearch(incShopping),PMax,Display,&YouTubecampaigns

17.5%oftrafficcomingfromnon-Google

TotalPaidTraffic

8.5%

InvalidTraffic

channelswasinvalid.

Thismeans:

ThisincludesMeta,Bing,LinkedIn,TikTok,X(formerlyTwitter),andPinterest

1inevery11.7paidtrafficwebsitevisitswereinvalid.

6|WastedAdSpendReport2024

ExecutiveSummary

ForecastingWastedAdSpend

ToprovideabenchmarkestimateofwhattheseaverageinvalidtrafficratesacrossGoogleandNon-Googleplatformstranslatetointermsofwastedadspend,welookedto2022adrevenueearningsreports,aswellasforecastedrevenueprojectionsfor2024.

Google

In2022,Google’sadrevenueamountedto

$224.47billion

.

WhenweapplyanIVTrateof5.5%averagedacrossallGooglechannels,thisequatesto:

$12.35billionwastedonGooglein2022.

In2024,Google’sadrevenueisforecastedtoamountto

$301.59billion

,anincreaseof

34.35%

WhenweagainapplyanIVTrateof5.5%,thisequatesto:

$16.59billionforecastedtobewastedonGooglein2024.

VS

Non-GoogleChannels

In2022,globalsocialmediaadspendstoodatapproximately

$230billion

.Inaddition,Binggenerated

$11.59billion

in2022.

Therefore$241.59billionrepresentsanestimateoftotaladspendonNon-Google

channels.

WhenweapplyanIVTrateof17.5%averagedacrossallNon-Googlechannels,thisequatesto:

$42.28billionwastedonNon-Googlechannelsin2022.

In2024,globalsocialmediaspendisprojectedtosurpassthe

$300billion

dollarmarkforthefirsttime.Inthesameyear,Bingisexpectedtogenerate

$13billion

inadrevenue.

WhenweagainapplyanIVTrateof17.5%,thisequatesto:

$54.78billionforecastedtobewastedonNon-Googlechannelsin2024.

$71.37BillioninAdSpendisForecastedtoBeLostto

IVTin2024.

ExecutiveSummary

TotalWastedAdSpend

Basedonthepreviousestimates:

$54.63billioninadspendwaslosttoIVTin2022.

$75b

$70b

$60b

$50b

$71.37billioninadspendforecastedtobelosttoIVTin2024.

$72.37b

$54.63b

20222024

Thisrepresentsa33.1%increaseinwastedadspendbetween2022and2024.

9|WastedAdSpendReport2024

GrowingIVTisStiflingDigitalRevenueGrowth

Astudyconductedbyleadingdatacompany

Nielsen

revealedthattheaveragereturnonadspendacrossallindustriesis2.87:1.Whenappliedthewastedadspendforecastfor2024thisequates

to:

$204.83bninlostrevenueopportunityforbrandsandadvertisersin2024.

$204.83BillionWillBeLostInRevenueOpportunity

DuetoIVTforBrandsandAdvertisersin2024.

ExecutiveSummary

Analysis-GoogleChannels

TherearemanyfactorscontributingtoGoogle’sunrivalled

successindigitaladvertising.ButourdatasuggestsadvertisersaregettingbetterreturnsonadspendviaGoogleatleastinpartduetothecompany’sbetterin-builtprotectionsandpolicies

againstIVT.

AccordingtoGoogle’sdocumentation(

1

)(

2

):

“OurdedicatedAdTrafficQualityTeamuseslivereviewers,

automaticfilters,machinelearning,anddeepresearchtodetectandfilterasmuchinvalidandfraudulentactivityaspossible.”(1)

“Whenourfiltersidentifysuspicioustrafficbutcan’tbesureit’sinvalid,ourautomatedsystemsflagtheanomaliesandgatherdatafordaystoweeks.Thenourteamoflivereviewerscan

analyzethedataanddecidewhattodo.

“Whenwefindsomethingwrong,wetrytomakeitrightassoonaspossible…Whenappropriateandpossible,thatmoneyis

creditedbacktotheadvertisers—notonlyforthemonthwherewefoundtheinvalidactivity,butoftenforthepreviousmonth,aswell.”(2)

Google’sproactivestanceputsthemwellaheadofmostotheradnetworkswhenitcomestoIVTprotection.Butdespitetheireffortstoremove“asmuchinvalidandfraudulentactivityaspossible”,theyhaven’tbeenabletocompletelyeliminatetheproblem,orreduceittonegligiblelevels(<1%).

Moresophisticatedinvalidactivitycontinuestobypasstheir

preventionmethods.Anaverageinvalidtrafficrateof5.5%acrossGooglechannelshassignificantfinancialimplicationsforall

advertisers.Butlargerenterprisebrandsspending$1m+permonthonGoogleAdsarethemostaffected.

11|WastedAdSpendReport2024

ExecutiveSummary

Analysis-Non-GoogleChannels

Advertisersinvestingheavilyinnon-Googlechannelswithout

protectionagainstinvalidtrafficexperiencesignificantadspendlossesandreducedprofitability.

IVTratesvarysignificantlyacrossnon-Googlechannels(exploredinmoregranulardetailinthefollowingsections).Butacrosstheboard,it’scleartheirin-builtprotectionsandpoliciesareless

effective.Non-Googlechannelsdon’thavethesamelevelof

resourcesorexpertisededicatedtoIVTprevention,makingthem

morevulnerable.

Butthereareotherfactorsunderpinningthedifference.Google-ownedchannels,particularlyGoogleSearch(which

accounts

for58.1%

ofGoogle’srevenue),catertouserswithhighintentthatareactivelysearchingforspecificinformation.Thisintent-drivenbehaviourresultsinmoregenuineclicksandinteractions.In

contrast,non-Googlechannelslikesocialmediaplatformshaveloweruserintentandhigherpotentialforaccidentalclicksand

fraudulentinteractions.

Inaddition,non-GooglechannelstendtooffermorecomplexadformatsthanGooglechannels.Generallyspeaking,thegreaterthecomplexityoftheadformat,themoreopportunitiesthereare

forinvalidengagement.Forexample,StoryadsonMetacanhavemultipleinteractiveelementssuchaspolls,makingthemmore

vulnerabletobotinteractions.

Higheraverageinvalidtrafficrateshaveseveralimplicationsforbrandsinvestingheavilyinnon-Googlechannels:

•Higherproportionsofwastedadspend:ThiscannegativelyimpacttheirROIandoverallcampaigneffectiveness.

•Skewedanalytics:Advertisersshouldbemindfuloftheinfluenceofinvalidtrafficwhenassessingcampaignperformancemetricsprovidedbynon-Googlechannels.Theyshouldpaycloser

attentiontoconversionvolumeandactualrevenuegeneratedtoprovideamoreaccuratepictureoftheeffectivenessofthese

channels.

•Audiencetargeting:Higherratesofinvalidtrafficmakeitmoreimportanttofocusonpreciseaudiencetargeting,primarily

throughexclusions.ForexampleonLinkedIn,invalidtrafficcanbereducedbyexcludingcertainlocations,andspecificjobtitles.

•IVTprotection&third-partyverification:HigherinvalidtrafficratesmeanadvertisersstandtogainevenmorevaluefromIVTpreventionsolutionslikeLunioandthird-partyverificationtoolssuchasIAS.Thesetoolscanprovideadditionaltrafficqualityinsightsandhelpidentifywhichcampaignsaremostaffected.

Whilenon-Googlechannelsmighthavehigherinvalid

trafficrates,theystilloffervaluableopportunitiesforbrandvisibilityandengagement.Therefore,theycan’tsimply

beavoidedaltogether,orscaledbacktominimallevelsofinvestment.

Ideally,brandsshouldadoptadiversifiedmarketingmixthatincludesbothdemandcapture(e.g.GoogleSearch)anddemandgeneration(e.g.socialbrandawarenesscampaigns),butwithastrategicapproachtomitigatewastedadspendduetoinvalidtraffic.

12|WastedAdSpendReport2024

InvalidTrafficbyChannel

DespitethedifferencesbetweenGoogleandnon-Google

channels,ourdatashowsinvalidtrafficisaprevalentissueaffectingalldigitalmarketingchannels.

Thebuilt-inprotectiontoolsputinplacebysearchengines,ad

networks,andsocialmediaplatformsstillallowasignificantvolumeofinvalidtrafficto“slipthroughthenet”.

Buttherearenotabledifferencesininvalidtrafficratesacrossindividualchannels.

Channel

We’vebrokendownourfindingsforeachchannelinthechartopposite,rangingfromhighestIVTratestolowest,withdetailedanalysisofthedatainthefollowingpages.

Asstatedinthemethodologysection,we’veonlyincludedchannelsinourreportwithasamplesizethatisstatisticallysignificantenoughtodrawmeaningfulconclusionsfrom.

YouTube

GoogleSearch

(inc.Shopping)

PMax

GoogleDisplay

MicrosoftAds/Bing

TikTok

Pinterest

Meta

X

(formerlyTwitter)

GoogleVideoPartners

LinkedIn

4.72%

3.93%

5.

96%

7.32

%

%

14.00%

17.5

2%

8.46%

9.19

23.61%

24.55%

24.64%

0%5%10%15%20%25%

InvalidTrafficRate

13|WastedAdSpendReport2024

AnalysisbyChannel

LinkedIn:24.64%

LinkedIncameoutastheworst-performingadchannelintermsofIVT.Andourreportcertainlyisn’tthefirsttocallintoquestiontheauthenticityoftheplatform’suserbase.

A2022investigationconductedbyNPRfoundan

abundanceof

fakeprofiles

ontheplatformwithAI-generatedprofilephotosusedformarketingpurposes.Themajorityofthesefakeprofileswerecreatedtodrumupsalesforcompaniesbigandsmall.

Byusingfakeprofiles,companiescancastawidenetonline

withoutbeefinguptheirownsalesstafforhittingLinkedIn’slimitsonmessages.Demandforonlinesalesleadsexplodedduring

thepandemicasitbecamehardforsalesteamstopitchtheirproductsinperson.Andthislevelofdemandhaspersistedinthepost-pandemicera.

Inadditiontofakesalesprofiles,scrapersandengagementbotsalsocontributetothehighlevelsofinvalidactivityonLinkedIn.Scraperstakeallavailableinformationfromprofilesincluding

name,job,company,education,contactdata(includingemailaddresses),andmore.Engagementbotsaretypicallyusedtoperformactionslikeconnectingwithusers,likingposts,leavingcomments,andotherspammyactivitiesinanefforttopromoteproductsandservices.

LinkedInhaspreviouslyacknowledgedtheyhaveaproblemwithbots.

Their2022TransparencyReport

statestheyremove96%offakeaccountsusingautomateddefences.Inthesecondhalfof2021,theyremoved11.9millionfakeaccountsatregistration

andanother4.4millionbeforetheywereeverreportedbyotherusers.Butmoresophisticatedbotsareclearlystillabletoevadedetectionbybettermimickingrealhumanbehaviour,which

includesengagingwithads.

Theaveragecost-per-clickonLinkedIncanrangebetween$10-$50.ThisismuchhigherthantheaverageMetabenchmark,

whichsitsataround$5forB2Bbrands.Asaresult,financiallossesduetofakeadengagementaddupfarquickeronLinkedIncomparedtootherchannels.

Inshort,marketersarehighlyunlikelytogettheperformancethey’dexpectoutofLinkedIncampaignswithoutanIVT

AnIVTrateof24.64%appliedtoLinkedIn’s

2024adrevenueforecastof

$5.8billion

equates

to$1.43billioninwastedspend.

preventionsysteminplace.

14|WastedAdSpendReport2024

AnalysisbyChannel

GoogleVideoPartners:24.55%

InJune2023,thefindingsofastudyreportedbythe

WallStreet

Journal

revealedabout80%ofGoogle’svideo-adplacementsonthird-partysites,throughitsGoogleVideoPartnersprogram,violatedpromisedstandards.

Googleclaimsthesethird-partysitesprovidethesamead

experienceasYouTube,withaudio-enabled,fullyvisibleadsthatcanbeskipped.Butthestudyfoundadsonthesepartnersitesaremuted80%ofthetime,autoplayofftothesideofthescreen,andcannotbeskipped.

Ourdataindicatesthesethird-partysitesalsohaveasignificantIVTproblem,withalmostoneinfouradclicksbeingfake.This

suggestssomepublishersareintentionallyinflatingimpression

andclicknumberswithbottraffictoincreasetheirownadrevenue.

Googledisputestheclaims,statingthereportused“unreliablesamplingandproxymethodologies”.Theystatedthe

“overwhelmingmajority”ofvideoadcampaignsrunon

YouTube,andthatGVPisasmall,separatenetworkusedtohelpadvertisersreachadditionalaudiencesandincreasecampaignreachbyover20%.

It’sworthnotingthatotherthird-parties,includingIAS,havealsodisputedtheresultsofthisstudy,inparticularthe80%figure

cited.Ourdatacertainlylendscredencetothesecriticisms.Whilethere’snodoubtanissuewithinvalidimpressionsandclicks

acrossGVP,therateisn’tanywherenear80%.Thatsaid,oneinfourclicksbeingdetectedasinvalidstillposesamajorissuefor

advertisers.

Disputesoverthevalidityofthestudyaside,advertisershavethechoicetooptoutofGVPanytime.However,ourfindingsindicatethatwithstrongviewabilityandfraudpreventiontechnology

overlaidonGVPcampaigns,therearestillsignificantadvantagestobegainedintermsofadditionalreachandexposure.

15|WastedAdSpendReport2024

AnalysisbyChannel

X(FormerlyTwitter):23.61%

X’sbotproblemisinfamousthankstothe

legaldisputesprior

toElonMusk’stakeover

inOctober2022.Despiteeffortstocutcosts,cleanuptheplatform,andverifyusers,ourdatashows23.61%ofpaidadtrafficcomingfromXisinvalid.

Theeaseofaccountcreationmakesiteasierfortheautomated

proliferationoffakeusers.There’salsoahighprevalenceof

scrapersonX,designedtoingestallformsofpubliclyavailabledataontheplatform,oftenforthepurposeoftrainingnewAI

models.

Lastly,badactorsroutinelyusebotsinanattempttomanipulatepoliticalandsocialdiscourseonX-aproblemwhichwillget

muchworsewiththeadventoflargelanguagemodelslike

ChatGPT.

Failingtofixthebotproblempairedwithchangestocontentmoderationruleswhichsignificantlyincreasebrandriskhascausedadvertiserstoabandontheplatformindroves.As

reportedbytheBBC,Xhas

lostalmosthalfofitsadvertising

revenue

sinceitwasboughtbyMusk.

Newly-appointedCEOLindaYaccarinohasstatedfurthereffortstoensuretheauthenticityofX’suserbasearecentraltoher

plansforthecreationof“Twitter2.0”-aversionofthecompany

thataimstobe“theworld’smostaccuratereal-timeinformation

sourceandaglobaltownsquareforcommunication.”

Itremainstobeseenwhetherthesefutureeffortswillbe

AnIVTrateof23.61%appliedtoX’s2024adrevenueforecastof

$3billion

equates

to$708millioninwastedspend.

successful,bothintacklingthebotproblemandconvincingmajorplayersinthedigitaladvertisingworldtoreturntotheplatform.

16|WastedAdSpendReport2024

AnalysisbyChannel

Meta:17.52%

UnlikeX,manyadvertisersinvestheavilyinMeta.Its2022ad

revenueof$113.6billionissecondonlytoGoogle(albeitbya

considerablemargin).SothefactthatMetahasanaverageIVTrateof17.52%presentsamuchbiggercauseforconcernformost

brands.

TheprevalenceofbotsandfakeuseractivityonMetaare

plainlyvisibleinthecommentssectionofvirtuallyanypostwithhighengagementrates.Friendrequestsandfollowsfromfake

accountsarealsocommon.

Earlierthisyear,manyInstagramuserswithpublicprofilesreportedtheirstorieswerebeingconsistently

viewedand

reactedtobybotaccounts

promotingadultcontent,

withsuspicioususernamessuchas:lindsay38302h.lior

emmahart283204r.

Theexistenceoftheseaccountsisn’tnew.Asmentioned,botsonInstagramhavespammedthecommentsofpostsforyears.Butthesheerscaleofthisnewformofbotactivitytargetingstorieswasparticularlypronounced.Metahavesinceclampeddownontheproblem,anditnowoccurswithnoticeablylessfrequency.

17|WastedAdSpendReport2024

Respondingtothecontroversy,aspokespersonforMetareportedthatthecompanyblocksmillionsofspamaccountsevery

day.“Wecontinuetoinvestinanti-spamtechnology,andinoursafetyandsecurityteamofover40,000people,whoarefocusedonkeepingspamandothertypesofharmfulcontentoffourplatforms,”

However,ourdataindicatestheseeffortsarefailingtodrive

AnIVTrateof17.52%appliedtoMeta’s2024

adrevenueforecastof

$134.72billion

equatesto$23.6billioninwastedspend.

downlevelsofbot-driveninvalidtrafficstemmingfrompaidadsonMeta.Advertiserswhoinvestheavilyintheplatf