PHOENIX — Over the last year, the reality that many web ads are viewed not by consumers but by automated scripts, or are otherwise out of view, has gained visibility.
Some estimates on the topic gloomily suggest the sky is falling over digital advertising. But that’s far from the truth – at least, if you advertise through a reputable publisher, says comScore CEO Serge Matta.
“There are a lot of good actors out there,” Matta tells Beet.TV. “Not everybody is bad. Premium publishers are trying to decrease the amount of fraud. It’s not as bad for those guys.
“We did a study. Seventy-nine percent of all campaigns have less than 5% non-human traffic traffic associated with it. Seven percent have more than 20% non-human traffic.”
ComScore’s study suggests, when you look under the surface, problems around ad “viewability” and ad “fraud” occur in a long tail of publisher or network not considered “premium”, whilst, in the majority of cases, instances are very low.
Separately, comScore is selling 15% to 20% of its business to ad holding group WPP, which, at the same time, is giving comScore parts of Kantar’s European audience measurement unit.
