Apple iOS 16 Adoption Trends: 23% of Users Upgraded Within 3 Weeks of Launch; Pixalate Finds 16.6% Reduction in Ad Fraud on Updated Devices

Study finds that users already on newer iOS versions are most likely to upgrade and that devices running newer versions of iOS are at reduced risk of ad fraud attacks.

PALO ALTO, Calif. and LONDON, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixalate, the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising, examined consumer adoption rates surrounding Apple's iOS 16, which debuted on September 16, 2022.*

Pixalate examined open programmatic ad sales on iOS devices from September 1 - 28, 2022 to estimate OS version adoption.

Key Takeaways:

• iOS 16 adoption is 23% three weeks post-launch, according to Pixalate's estimates.
• Users on newer versions of iOS (iOS 15.5+) were most likely to upgrade to iOS 16. About 1-in-4 iOS 15.5+ users upgraded to the new OS, according to Pixalate's data, while only 1-in-9 iOS 14 users upgraded.
• Ad fraud rates on devices updated to iOS 16 were 16.6% lower compared to older versions of iOS (14.8% vs. 17.8%).

Pixalate also observed some traffic from iOS 15.7 (released at the same time as iOS 16) devices, but the number appears to be relatively low, indicating that most users opted to go with the major upgrade.

In the time period studied, Pixalate estimates that iOS 16 devices had an average ad fraud (IVT) rate of 14.8%, which was lower than all other versions (17.8% average).

Additionally, according to Pixalate's data, older OS versions also generally have a higher relative share of invalid traffic. For example, iOS 14 devices appear to generate 6.5% of the total IVT seen on iOS, even though they make up 5.5% of all iOS traffic.

Visit the full study to learn how analyzing traffic patterns help Pixalate identify ad fraud (IVT).

Pixalate is the market-leading fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform for Connected TV (CTV) and Mobile Advertising. We work 24/7 to guard your reputation and grow your media value. Pixalate offers the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and OTT/CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate's marketing compliance solutions encompass the industry's first COPPA Compliance Technology, designed to identify likely child-directed apps and potential online privacy compliance risks. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and OTT/CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com.

Disclaimer

The content of this press release reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. This press release is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings and apparent trends. iOS 16 and Apple are trademarks of Apple Inc. 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;" and "'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."

SOURCE Pixalate