European anti-fraud programmes prevented €3.45B losses in 2023

European advertising industry anti-fraud programmes prevented €3.45 billion in potential Invalid Traffic losses during 2023, cutting fraud-related costs by 69% compared to what would have occurred without these protective measures, according to a comprehensive study released on June 17, 2025.

The 2025 European Ad Fraud Savings Report reveals that while significant progress has been achieved, European advertisers could save an additional €1.075 billion annually by extending TAG-level anti-fraud standards to the remaining 24% of digital advertising supply chain channels that currently lack these protections.

TAG's study, conducted by Scott Cunningham of Cunningham.Tech Consulting, examined fraud rates across European video and display advertising channels worth €48.3 billion in 2023. Without the current anti-fraud standards and programmes in place, Invalid Traffic rates would have reached approximately 10.36% across all display and video advertising in Europe, translating to potential losses of approximately €5 billion.

Summary

Who: The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), European advertisers, and digital advertising supply chain participants including agencies, platforms, and publishers across Europe.

What: European anti-fraud programmes prevented €3.45 billion in Invalid Traffic losses during 2023, representing a 69% reduction in fraud-related costs. An additional €1.075 billion could be saved annually if remaining unprotected channels adopted TAG standards.

When: The study examined 2023 data and was released on June 17, 2025. The anti-fraud efforts have been ongoing since TAG's launch of certification programmes in 2016.

Where: Across European digital advertising markets, covering video and display advertising channels worth €48.3 billion. Protected channels account for 76% of spending while 24% remains unprotected.

Why: To quantify the financial impact of industry anti-fraud efforts and demonstrate both the success achieved and the opportunity remaining. The findings show fraud reduction from potentially endemic levels to manageable sub-1% rates in protected channels, while highlighting the economic case for broader adoption of anti-fraud 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."

The study determined that 76% of European advertising spend—approximately €36.8 billion—flowed through protected channels in 2023, including social media platforms and open internet publishers that have received TAG Certification. Within these protected channels, Invalid Traffic rates were significantly reduced to 1% on average, resulting in just €368 million in actual losses.

However, gaps remain in the European digital advertising ecosystem. The remaining 24% of European advertising spending—or €11.5 billion—went through channels where companies have not yet achieved TAG certification. Using the unfiltered Invalid Traffic rate of 10.36%, these channels likely sustained fraud losses of €1.19 billion, representing more than ten times the relative level of losses experienced in protected channels.

The methodology involved analysing data from four MRC-accredited Invalid Traffic vendors: DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, Moat by Oracle, and Pixalate. These vendors provided measurements from 2023 and early 2024 that established the baseline unfiltered fraud rate of 10.36% in unprotected video and display channels across Europe.

Total European display advertising revenue reached €26.6 billion in 2023, while digital video revenue added €21.8 billion, for a combined market value of €48.3 billion, according to IAB Europe's 2023 AdEx Benchmark Study.

The calculation of protected channels began with Google's Ad Manager, which serves 54% of European publishers according to ExchangeWire research, extrapolating to roughly €13.6 billion of Europe's total open internet advertising spending. Given Google's adoption of TAG Certified Against Fraud standards, all inventory flowing through Google Ad Manager would be protected by TAG standards as either TAG Certified Channel or Non-Certified Channel inventory.

Combined with the €23.2 billion flowing through major social media platforms that are also TAG certified, the total protected inventory accounts for €36.8 billion—representing 76% of the total European display and video advertising market.

"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% fraud rates are the standard across all channels used by advertisers."

The European advertising industry's anti-fraud efforts represent part of a global initiative that includes the development and implementation of Invalid Traffic Detection and Filtration Guidelines by the Media Rating Council, the launch and expansion of TAG as a global standards and certification body, and the dissemination of innovative tools such as Ads.txt and Sellers.json by IAB Tech Lab and IAB Europe.

Europe has seen broad adoption of TAG's Certified Against Fraud standards, as well as country-specific programmes that incorporate anti-fraud elements into broader guidelines, such as the Digital Ad Trust Certification in France and BVDW's Digital Trust Initiative in Germany. While these country-specific initiatives have played an important role, TAG's fraud-specific and annually-updated worldwide program has proven its ability to quickly address new and emerging issues across the global supply chain.

The study focused specifically on video and display advertising channels to allow direct comparison with the annual TAG European Fraud Benchmark Report, based on high-quality revenue data publicly available in those channels. The analysis excluded other advertising formats such as search, audio, and emerging formats.

For advertisers seeking to minimize fraud exposure, the report suggests adopting TAG-level standards across these transactions would reduce losses to €115 million from the current €1.19 billion in unprotected channels, unlocking the additional €1.075 billion in annual savings.

Invalid Traffic encompasses both General Invalid Traffic—including traffic identified through routine means such as bots, spiders, and other crawlers—and Sophisticated Invalid Traffic, which includes traffic identified through advanced analytics and human intervention, such as hijacked devices, malware, and misappropriated content.

A TAG Certified Channel refers to transactions flowing through channels where three or more entities involved in the transaction—such as the media agency, buy-side platform, sell-side platform, and publisher—have achieved the TAG Certified Against Fraud Seal. Non-Certified Channels involve transactions where at least one entity may have achieved certification, but not enough entities for the channel to qualify as fully certified.

The report's findings have particular significance for the marketing community given recent developments in the anti-fraud landscape. Global fraud prevention measures saved U.S. advertisers $10.8 billion in 2023, while TAG awarded a record 321 certifications in 2024, demonstrating growing industry commitment to fraud prevention standards.

The economic impact extends beyond immediate cost savings. Fraudulent traffic distorts performance data, leading to misguided optimization decisions that can hurt return on investment. When advertisers optimize campaigns based on invalid traffic signals, they may inadvertently increase exposure to fraudulent inventory while reducing reach to legitimate audiences.

Industry experts emphasize that the battle against fraud requires ongoing vigilance. Criminals who profit from advertising fraud constantly update and adapt their tactics to exploit weaknesses in adoption of anti-fraud standards. The digital advertising industry must maintain equally vigilant monitoring for new fraud tactics through collaborative forums while encouraging continued adoption of rigorous global anti-fraud standards.

The study also highlights the importance of additional technical tools that need further industry adoption. IAB Tech Lab's Supply Chain Object and Ads.cert technical protocols represent standards-based solutions that could significantly contribute to fraud mitigation through security and transparency, but these tools lack scaled adoption from supply chain intermediaries.

For the remaining unprotected channels, adopting TAG-level standards represents a significant business opportunity. The high cost of inaction in these channels—sustaining losses more than ten times higher relative to protected channels—creates a compelling case for implementing comprehensive anti-fraud measures.

The 2025 European Ad Fraud Savings Report demonstrates that collaborative industry efforts to combat fraud have delivered measurable financial benefits to European advertisers. However, the persistence of unprotected channels costing the industry over €1 billion annually indicates substantial room for improvement through broader adoption of proven anti-fraud standards.

Timeline

• 2015: Click fraud costs industry billions globally as IAB and Ernst & Young find $4.6 billion lost to ad fraud in the U.S.
• 2016: TAG launches Certified Against Fraud program to combat invalid traffic in digital advertising supply chain
• 2018: Quotient Technology receives TAG certification as industry adoption grows
• 2018: Beachfront Video SSP earns TAG certification, demonstrating 83% fraud reduction
• 2021: GasBuddy receives TAG certification expanding certified ecosystem
• 2022: TikTok earns TAG certification for fraud and brand safety
• March 2024: TAG awards record 321 certifications with 32 companies achieving Platinum status
• October 2024: Industry efforts save U.S. advertisers $10.8 billion in 2023, demonstrating 92% fraud reduction
• October 2024: IAS and DoubleVerify expand brand safety controls on Meta platforms
• December 2024: Opera Ads achieves TAG Platinum status joining elite group of certified organizations
• February 2025: TAG releases financial impact analysis showing unprecedented fraud prevention success
• June 17, 2025: TAG releases 2025 European Ad Fraud Savings Report showing €3.45 billion in prevented losses