THE ACHILLES HEEL OF MOBILE-FIRST NATION

As a large and fast-growing mobile economy India ranks #1 on the target list of fraudsters. It is also the second-largest victim of mobile ad frauds globally

- SOMA TAH

Mobile ad spend has been a consistent portion of digital ad budgets accounting for about half of the global ad spend today. The reasons behind are pretty clear. Given the omnipresence of mobile devices in our lives today, mobile advertising is definitely one of the most effective channels for reaching out to a particularly large base of potential customers. The fact that it encompasses multiple advertising channels as well also makes it a preferred outreach media. With large number of companies focusing on mobile-first strategy majority of India’s ad spend are now shifting towards the mobile channels.

The popularity and money involved in mobile advertising have made it a magnet for the fraudsters. The threat of mobile ad fraud is looming large, draining marketing and advertising budgets at an alarming rate. According to the mobile ad fraud report by Appsflyer, 22.6% of global mobile media spend in 2019 was wasted on mobile ad fraud. The scenario appears even more abysmal, when one considers the collateral damages the frauds can cause on such as decisionmaking based on polluted data – a sheer waste of time, money, and resources.

India is not alone in facing the challenge. Other fastgrowing countries with large population bases are also among the top target regions of these fraudsters. The large base of attack makes up for the lower payouts and is the reason that makes India the second-largest victim of mobile ad frauds globally, after Indonesia.

Exposure Varies Across Platforms, Verticals

Mobile ad fraud has emerged as a major concern, especially in the in-app advertising space, siphoning away budgets, reducing campaign effectiveness and making the entire ecosystem less trustworthy.