New Pixalate research into more than 40 billion global open programmatic ad transactions reveals the “Music & Audio” category had the highest IVT rate, with 54% of mobile app clicks on ads within this category being flagged as invalid in Q1 2025. On mobile web, 59% of invalid clicks were attributed to cookie stuffing IVT
London, May 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pixalate, the leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the Q1 2025 North America Click Fraud Benchmarks Report. The report highlights various types of click-related invalid traffic (IVT) in North America and pinpoints high-risk categories, platforms, and countries impacted by IVT across desktop web, mobile web, and mobile in-app advertising.
In addition to the North America report, Pixalate released regional reports for Latin America (LATAM), Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC).
Pixalate’s data science and analyst team analyzed more than 40 billion global open programmatic advertising transactions across desktop web, mobile web, and mobile app traffic to compile these reports in Q1 2025.
Key Findings
North America Desktop Web Click Fraud (Q1 2025)
- Invalid Click Rate: 19% of desktop web traffic clicks were invalid
- Dominant Types of Click Fraud: 60% of invalid clicks were due to datacenter-based Invalid Traffic (IVT)
- Most Targeted Ad Size: 320×50 ad size was most impacted by click fraud (57%)
North America Mobile Web Click Fraud (Q1 2025)
- Invalid Click Rate: 9% of mobile web traffic clicks were invalid
- Dominant Types of Click Fraud: 59% of invalid clicks were flagged for Cookie Stuffing IVT
- Most Targeted Ad Size: 728×90 ad size was most impacted by click fraud (58%)
North America Mobile App Click Fraud (Q1 2025)
- Invalid Click Rate: 22% of mobile app traffic clicks were invalid
- Dominant Types of Click Fraud: 69% of invalid clicks were flagged for Duplicate Click IVT
- Most Targeted Ad Size: 300×50 ad size was most impacted by click fraud (50%).
- Most Targeted Category: 54% of ad clicks on mobile apps in the “Music & Audio” category were invalid
Pixalate developed a solution for IVT challenges through its Click Fraud Detection technology. The platform effectively maps clicks to impressions and identifies IVT. It enables the detection of various IVT types associated with suspicious users, ad creatives, or publishers.
Download Pixalate’s Q1 2025 North America Click Fraud Benchmarks Reports:
- APAC
- LATAM
- North America
- EMEA
About Pixalate
Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com
Disclaimer
The content of this press release, and the Q1 2025 North America Click Fraud Benchmark Report for Desktop, Mobile Apps and Web Traffic (the “Report”), reflects Pixalate’s opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes can be useful to the digital media industry. Any data shared is grounded in Pixalate’s proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate’s opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees. Pixalate is sharing this data not to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but, instead, to report findings and trends in the time period studied. Per the MRC, “’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. Also, per the 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.”
CONTACT: Nina Talcott ntalcott@pixalate.com
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