Study Finds Ad Industry Anti-Fraud Programmes Saved European Advertisers €3.45 Billion in 2023

European Advertisers Could Save Additional €1.075 Billion by Extending Rigorous Industry Standards to Remaining 24% of Supply Chain That Lacks Them

CANNES, France, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The European ad industry's anti-fraud programmes prevented €3.45 billion in potential Invalid Traffic (IVT) losses in 2023, reducing those losses by 69% compared to the amount that would have been lost without those programmes in place, according to a new study* from TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group).*

 The 2025 European Ad Fraud Savings Report also found that advertisers could unlock an additional €1.075 billion in annual savings if they extended the industry's current anti-fraud standards across the remaining 24% of spend that is currently unprotected by those standards.

"European advertisers are currently leaving more than €1 billion on the table by not requiring all of their downstream ad partners to adopt TAG-level standards to prevent fraud," said Jules Kendrick, Chief Growth Officer of TAG. "Those losses are an unnecessary self-inflicted wound for our industry because not all companies have taken the steps needed to protect their partners across the digital advertising supply chain."

Key findings from the report included:

• European Ad Industry Would Have Lost €5 billion to IVT in 2023 Without Current Anti-Fraud Standards and Programmes
  Without the ad industry anti-fraud programmes currently in place, the IVT rate for all display and video advertising in Europe would have been approximately 10.36% in 2023, translating to potential losses of approximately €5 billion.
  
  
• Broad Adoption of Anti-Fraud Standards Reduced IVT Losses by 69% in 2023
  The European ad industry's broad implementation of anti-fraud standards significantly reduced IVT losses in 2023. As a result, the industry's losses due to IVT across all channels were 69% lower than potential unfiltered losses at just €1.558 billion.
  
  
• In Protected Channels, IVT Losses Were Held to Just €368 Million -- 1% of Ad Spend in Those Channels
  76% of European ad spend went through channels with TAG protections in 2023, and the rate of IVT loss was held to just €368 million, a nominal 1% of the total ad spend through those channels.
  
  
• €1.075 Billion Could Be Saved Through Adoption of Anti-Fraud Standards Across 24% of Unprotected Ad Spend European advertisers are still leaving money on the table, as 24% of Europe's ad spend is still flowing through unfiltered channels. If companies in those channels adopted rigorous anti-fraud standards, European advertisers could save nearly €1.075 billion per year, which is currently lost to IVT.

Summary of Findings of the 2025 European Ad Fraud Savings Report

"The European ad industry has made tremendous strides in reducing the scourge of ad fraud from endemic to manageable levels and saving billions of euros for advertisers," said Scott Cunningham, founder of Cunningham.Tech Consulting and co-author of the study. "Despite that progress, significant work remains to be done. With continued industry collaboration driving expanded adoption of TAG's anti-fraud standards, the European industry can ensure that sub-1% fraud rates are the standard across all channels used by advertisers."

Methodology

The 2025 European Fraud Savings Report was developed by Scott Cunningham of Cunningham.Tech Consulting. The study evaluated the savings resulting from the digital advertising industry's implementation of anti-fraud programs by determining the total amount that would have been lost to IVT in 2023 in video and display advertising channels without those programs in place, then subtracting the amount of remaining IVT-related spending in channels where at least one participant had adopted TAG's rigorous anti-fraud standards. 

The amount that would have been lost to fraud this year without standards in place was calculated by multiplying a blended average of IVT rates from four MRC-accredited IVT vendors (DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, Moat by Oracle, and Pixalate).

The breakdown of protected vs. unprotected channels was estimated through an analysis of data from IAB Europe's AdEx Benchmark 2023 Study, Statista, and ExchangeWire. That data indicated that roughly 76% of digital ad spending in 2023 flowed through protected channels in which at least one supply chain participant has adopted the TAG Certified Against Fraud standards (i.e. TCC and NCC inventory), leaving the remaining 24% of spend unprotected.

The amount actually lost to IVT in protected channels was calculated by multiplying the weighted average IVT rate for video and display advertising in those channels against the total video/display ad revenue through those channels last year.

The amount actually lost to IVT in unprotected channels was calculated by multiplying the blended average of IVT rates from the MRC-accredited vendors against the total video/display ad revenue through those channels last year.

By subtracting the total currently lost to IVT in protected and unprotected channels from the total that would have been lost to IVT last year without those protections in place, the study determined a valid estimate for the total fraud savings in Europe in 2023 due to those programs.

About TAG

TAG is the global certification programme to strengthen safety and transparency in digital advertising. For nearly a decade, TAG's seal programs have demonstrated their effectiveness in minimising fraudulent traffic, sharing threat intelligence, protecting brand safety, and enabling transparency. TAG's international member companies include the world's largest and most influential brands, agencies, publishers, and ad tech providers. TAG is the first and only Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO) for the digital advertising industry. For more information on TAG, please visit tagtoday.net.

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SOURCE TAG