The State of Ad Fraud 2026

Executive Summary

Digital advertising continues to be plagued by invalid traffic (IVT). Our analysis of a dataset comprising 105.7 billion impressions collected throughout 2025 reveals a global IVT rate of 20.64%. This means that roughly one in five ad impressions displays characteristics of fraudulent or non-human activity—a persistent challenge with significant financial implications for the industry.

This report presents findings from Fraudlogix's global sensor network, offering the advertising industry a transparent benchmark for IVT rates across devices, browsers, operating systems, geographies, and network infrastructure. Our goal is to arm ad ops professionals, media buyers, publishers, SSPs, DSPs, and advertisers with the data needed to make informed decisions about traffic quality.

Key Ad Fraud Findings

Our analysis revealed several significant patterns that deserve industry attention:

Ad Fraud Statistics 2026

The following statistics represent key findings from Fraudlogix's analysis of a dataset comprising 105.7 billion ad impressions collected between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025.

Global Ad Fraud Rate

Financial Impact of Ad Fraud

To understand the real-world cost of invalid traffic, we can apply our IVT findings to U.S. programmatic advertising spend. This calculation provides a concrete estimate of the financial impact of ad fraud on the industry.

How We Calculate the Financial Impact

Our estimate is based on three key inputs:

The calculation: If U.S. programmatic ad spend in 2025 reached approximately $180 billion and 20.64% of impressions were invalid, then roughly $37 billion of advertiser dollars were associated with IVT.

$180 billion × 20.64% = $37.15 billion

Sources and Methodology

Industry sources consistently project U.S. programmatic ad spending to approach $180 billion in 2025, with programmatic channels now accounting for over 90% of all digital display advertising. At an average CPM of approximately $5 (industry benchmarks range from $5–6 for standard programmatic inventory), even small percentage improvements in traffic quality can translate to significant savings for advertisers.

Methodology

This report is based on data collected through Fraudlogix's global sensor network from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. The 105.7 billion impressions analyzed in this report represent a dataset compiled specifically for this analysis and do not represent the entirety of traffic monitored by Fraudlogix during this period. Our detection technology evaluates ad impressions in real time across multiple dimensions to assess traffic quality and identify invalid traffic patterns.

Traffic Classification

Fraudlogix classifies traffic into two categories based on a comprehensive analysis of behavioral signals, network characteristics, device fingerprints, and known fraud patterns:

For the purposes of this report, "IVT rate" represents the percentage of traffic flagged as invalid based on our detection signals. Valid traffic is considered legitimate human traffic.

Detection signals include but are not limited to: proxy and VPN detection, Tor exit node identification, known botnet signatures, abnormal behavioral patterns, device spoofing indicators, and traffic from IP addresses with established fraud histories.

Global IVT Landscape

Across the 105.7 billion impressions in our dataset, we observed a global invalid traffic rate of 20.64%. This represents a significant ongoing challenge for the digital advertising ecosystem.

Traffic Breakdown

The distribution of traffic between valid and invalid categories:

Our analysis found that approximately 21.81 billion impressions—more than one in five—showed characteristics indicating invalid traffic. This includes traffic exhibiting proxy/VPN usage, known botnet signatures, device spoofing, abnormal behavioral patterns, and other fraud indicators.

Ad Fraud by Device

Device type remains a significant predictor of traffic quality, with desktop environments showing substantially higher IVT rates than mobile or tablet devices.

IVT Rate by Device Type

IVT Rate by Device Vendor

Among device manufacturers with significant traffic volume, we observed meaningful variation in traffic quality:

Apple devices consistently demonstrate the cleanest traffic among major vendors at 16.15% IVT. This likely reflects the iOS ecosystem's tighter security controls, app store policies, and the difficulty of deploying automated systems on Apple hardware. LG devices show an elevated 33.70% IVT rate, potentially influenced by the brand's discontinued smartphone line and aging device population.

Ad Fraud by Browser

Browser choice significantly impacts traffic quality, with modern, actively-maintained browsers showing lower IVT rates than legacy alternatives.

The persistence of Internet Explorer traffic in 2025 is itself a red flag. With Microsoft having ended support for IE, legitimate users have largely migrated to other browsers. The remaining IE traffic is heavily dominated by automated systems and bot farms exploiting legacy configurations.

Ad Fraud by Country & Region

Geography remains one of the strongest predictors of traffic quality, with dramatic variation between regions and individual countries.

Regional Overview

Top Countries by Volume

Highest Risk Countries

Among countries with at least 100 million impressions analyzed:

Lowest Risk Countries

These countries demonstrate exceptionally clean traffic among markets with at least 100 million impressions:

Complete Country IVT Reference

The following table includes all countries and territories with at least 10 million impressions analyzed. Use this reference to find ad fraud rates for specific markets.

Infrastructure Analysis

Network infrastructure provides crucial signals for traffic quality assessment. The origin of traffic—whether from residential ISPs, mobile carriers, or VPN providers—significantly impacts the likelihood of invalid traffic.

Cleanest Residential ISPs

Major residential ISPs demonstrate significantly cleaner traffic profiles:

Ad Fraud by Operating System

Operating system data reveals a clear correlation between software age and fraud rates. Outdated operating systems are disproportionately represented in invalid traffic, while current versions show substantially lower IVT rates.

IVT Rate by OS Family

The Legacy Software Problem

Outdated operating systems are heavily exploited by bot networks. The correlation between software age and fraud rate is stark:

Android Version Analysis

Android 7 and earlier versions show IVT rates between 35-55%, while current versions (Android 14, 15, 16) cluster around 21-23%. The elevated rates on older Android versions reflect both exploitation of outdated security and the prevalence of device farms using cheap legacy hardware.

Ad Fraud Prevention Recommendations

Based on our analysis of 105.7 billion impressions, we offer the following recommendations for stakeholders across the digital advertising ecosystem:

For Publishers and SSPs

Implement pre-bid filtering. Our data shows that proactive blocking of known-bad traffic sources—particularly VPN exit nodes and IPs with fraud histories—can significantly reduce IVT exposure before impressions are sold. Fraudlogix's Pre-Bid IP Blocklist, updated hourly with over 30 million IPs exhibiting fraudulent behavior, provides this capability at scale.

Monitor legacy browser and OS traffic. Traffic from Internet Explorer (79.50% IVT), Windows 8 (76.26% IVT), and Android 7 or earlier (49%+ IVT) should be scrutinized carefully. Consider excluding or closely monitoring these segments.

Apply geographic risk adjustments. Traffic from high-risk countries deserves additional scrutiny. Implement tiered verification based on geographic risk profiles.

For DSPs and Advertisers

Favor tablet and mobile inventory. Tablet (16.34% IVT) and mobile (19.30% IVT) traffic consistently outperform desktop (27.03% IVT) in quality metrics. Weight media plans accordingly.

Prioritize Apple ecosystem inventory. Safari (13.24% IVT), iOS (16.15% IVT), and macOS (12.97% IVT) represent the cleanest segments in our data. Premium pricing for Apple inventory reflects genuine quality differences.

For the Industry

Invest in transparency. The persistence of ad fraud reflects misaligned incentives more than technical limitations. Platforms that profit from impression volume regardless of quality have little motivation to eliminate fraud. Industry-wide adoption of transparent traffic quality metrics would shift these incentives.

Sunset legacy technology. The data clearly shows that outdated software is heavily exploited. Industry pressure to deprecate support for legacy browsers and operating systems would eliminate significant fraud vectors.

Standardize risk classification. Consistent risk taxonomy across verification vendors would enable better benchmarking and accountability. Current fragmentation makes apples-to-apples comparison difficult.

About Fraudlogix

Fraudlogix has been fighting digital fraud since 2010. For 16 years, we've helped platforms distinguish human from bot traffic in real time across advertising, affiliate marketing, e-commerce, cybersecurity, banking, fintech, and gaming.

Our detection capabilities include IP risk scoring and reputation analysis, bot and traffic verification, click fraud prevention, and account risk screening. We deliver these capabilities through flexible integration options: pixel and server-side implementations, real-time IP Risk API, and live IP blocklists for platform-scale enforcement.

Unlike verification vendors that primarily serve advertisers, Fraudlogix is built for the sell side—SSPs, ad exchanges, DSPs, and enterprise publishers who need to monitor traffic at massive scale. Our pricing model reflects this focus, making comprehensive fraud detection accessible to platforms processing billions of impressions.

Get Started

Ready to see how your traffic compares to these industry benchmarks? We offer multiple entry points:

Free IP Lookup: Check any IP address against our risk database instantly at fraudlogix.com/ip-risk-score

Free Post-Bid Analytics: Get comprehensive traffic quality reporting at no cost. See your IVT rates broken down by all the dimensions covered in this report.

Pre-Bid IP Blocklist: Block bad traffic before it enters your auction with our hourly-updated blocklist of 30M+ fraud-associated IPs.

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