DoubleVerify Global Study: APAC Advertisers See Lowest Fraud Rates Globally; Mobile Emerges as #1 Device for Verified Video Ad Impressions in the Region
DV’s annual study also showed that more work can be done to ensure ad viewability, with display viewable rates in APAC trailing all other regions
SYDNEY, July 14, 2021 — DoubleVerify (“DV”), (NYSE: DV), a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics, today released its 2021 Global Insights Report, an annual study on the current state of media quality and performance on the Internet.
For the study, DV analyzed more than one trillion impressions in 80 markets across more than 2,100 brands. The report provides a market-by-market analysis for North America, LATAM, EMEA, and APAC of video and display impressions measured year-over-year (YoY) from May 2020 to April 2021 across desktop and mobile web, mobile app, and CTV.
“Now more than ever, global advertisers demand greater clarity and confidence in their digital investments,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “Brands want evidence of campaign quality and performance to maximize the effectiveness of online advertising. This report reflects the key challenges affecting the ad ecosystem globally – benchmarking the industry at large while offering in-depth data and analytics to help brands optimize digital strategies.”
The report found that APAC experienced the lowest overall sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT)/fraud violation rates at 0.8%, compared with North America (1.5%), EMEA (1.6%), and LATAM (1.1%). In Australia, fraud rates fell 15% YoY to 1.1% as advertisers realized the importance of adopting programmatic (pre-bid) ad fraud prevention tools.
“Brands working with DoubleVerify in Australia are protected from the risks of ad fraud, poor brand placement, and the media wastage that comes from ads served in unsuitable environments,” said Imran Masood, Country Manager, ANZ of DoubleVerify. “We are driving ahead with the push for media quality and believe that advertisers should only be buying ads that are seen, in a safe environment, by a real person, in the intended geography.”
APAC Snapshot:
- Low Fraud Rates in APAC: APAC experienced the lowest overall SIVT/fraud violation rates at 0.8%, compared to North America (1.5%), EMEA (1.6%), and LATAM (1.1%).
- Australia: Fraud rate fell by 15% to 1.1%.
- Mobile Leads the Way in APAC: 88% of DV verified video impressions in APAC are delivered through mobile devices, almost doubling that of the rest of the world at 45%. Quality in this channel has also improved. App fraud dropped from 12% to 3% of total fraud/SIVT, and mobile app video viewability increased by 26%, giving APAC an 80% mobile app video viewability rate.
- Strides in Addressing Brand Suitability Violations: APAC saw a significant 25% YoY decrease in brand suitability violations, dropping from 11.4% to 8.5%. This meant that it overtook both the EMEA (9.8%) and LATAM (9.2%), trailing only the mature North America market (6.9%).
- More Can be Done to Improve Viewability: Despite APAC advertisers achieving a 4% YoY increase in display viewable rate at 62%, it still trails other regions. APAC performed better when it came to video viewability. After a 12% YoY increase, APAC’s video viewable rate was 74%, which is ahead of North America while still trailing EMEA and LATAM.
Global Snapshot:
- CTV & Mobile Video Surge – Over the last year, the volume of video ad impressions globally has increased 56%. Mobile web, with 104% growth YoY, and CTV, with 87% growth YoY, have driven the trend.
- Keyword Blocking Is Down – Advertisers have become more sophisticated in avoiding unsuitable content, as the global brand suitability violation rate thus far in 2021 is 12% lower as compared with the full year of 2020. Also, keywords make up a smaller share of overall violations YoY, falling from 13% to 7%. These changes show a maturing industry, moving beyond keywords alone to embrace inclusion/exclusion lists and contextual content categories at DV’s guidance.
- Programmatic Closes the Gap– Globally, the gap in media quality between programmatic and publisher-direct is closing. For the first time ever, DV found that the brand suitability violation rate and fraud/SIVT violation rates for programmatic (7.3% and 1.4%) and publisher direct buys (7.4% and 1.4%) now come within 1% of each other. Just one year ago, the programmatic brand suitability violation rate was 18% above publisher direct, and the programmatic fraud/SIVT violation rate was 6% higher than publisher direct media partners.
- Half a Million Fraudulent Devices Daily – Despite the drop in APAC, fraud remains a problem globally as DV detects 500,000 new fraudulent devices every day. Mobile app video was particularly plagued, with fraud rising nearly 50% YoY.
- Video Often Seen But Not Heard – Audibility remains a challenge especially on desktop and mobile web, with fewer than 15% of all video ads both audible and in-view on completion (AVOC).
- Pandemic’s Impact on Performance – In its Global Insights Report, DV has also created an “Attention Index,” evaluating ad “Attention” based on “engagement” and “exposure.” Engagement measures how users interact with ads and exposure quantifies how the ad is displayed on the page. Notably, while campaigns in travel and media and sports had smaller buys, decreasing exposure, both still drove better-than-average consumer engagement. Similarly, entertainment advertisers saw higher engagement YoY, despite decreased engagement.
See the full report findings here.
About DoubleVerify
DoubleVerify is a leading software platform for digital media measurement and analytics. Our mission is to make the digital advertising ecosystem stronger, safer and more secure, thereby preserving the fair value exchange between buyers and sellers of digital media. Hundreds of Fortune 500 advertisers employ our unbiased data and analytics to drive campaign quality and effectiveness, and to maximize return on their digital advertising investments – globally.