Study: Anti-fraud programmes saved European advertisers €3.45bn in 2023
June 17, 2025
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 per cent compared to the amount that would have been lost without those programmes in place, according to a study.
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 per cent 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 per cent in 2023, translating to potential losses of approximately €5 billion.
Broad Adoption of Anti-Fraud Standards Reduced IVT Losses by 69 per cent 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 per cent of Ad Spend in Those Channels
76 per cent 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 per cent of the total ad spend through those channels.
€1.075 Billion Could Be Saved Through Adoption of Anti-Fraud Standards Across 24 per cent of Unprotected Ad Spend
European advertisers are still leaving money on the table, as 24 per cent 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.
“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 per cent fraud rates are the standard across all channels used by advertisers.”
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