Trends and threats in online advertising. Media Quality Report 2025

illustration: DALL-E

Digital advertising has never been more threatened, but it also offers more ways to protect campaigns effectively. The latest Media Quality Report: 20th Edition, developed by analysts at Integral Ad Science, shows that 2024 brought both increased risk and proof that technology can fight it effectively. From over 280 billion digital interactions analyzed daily, three key findings emerge. Ad fraud is rising. The nature of brand risk is changing. Ad viewability is stabilizing, while a new currency is emerging attention.

Fraud gets smarter campaigns get more exposed

In 2024, the digital advertising world lost about 100 billion dollars due to fake impressions. As the report shows, those who act without protection face the biggest challenges. In campaigns not protected against fraud (so-called non-optimized), the level of fake traffic increased by 19% year over year, reaching a record 10.9%.

Campaign type	Ad fraud (%)	YoY change
Optimized	0.7%	-9.8%
Non-optimized	10.9%	+19%

On the other hand, campaigns that used protection tools kept fake traffic at a low and stable level, proving that investing in security pays off. Still, the number of unprotected campaigns is growing. Their global share increased from 2.2% in 2023 to 4.0% in 2024. In the Asia-Pacific region, as many as 6.8% of advertising efforts took place without any safety filters.

It is worth noting that unprotected campaigns were 15 times more likely to face fraud than optimized ones. This shows that the difference between both approaches is not just a matter of strategy. It is a clear financial and reputational advantage.

Less overall risk more hate and aggression in content

The second clear trend is a shift in the nature of brand risk. While the overall risk indicator fell globally to a record low of 1.5%, the share of content with hate speech, controversy, and offensive language increased alarmingly.

Growth of offensive content share in brand risk:

• +72% globally (2023-2024)
• 5.5% share in the USA (highest in 3 years)
• 15.8% share of hate speech in Ireland the highest in Europe

Although filtering tools are working better, the threats themselves are evolving. There is more controversial content that is hard to classify clearly. In the USA, where political tensions rose in 2024, hate speech and offensive comments increased, especially in the second half of the year. In Europe, after the intervention of the European Parliament, the hate speech rate dropped, showing that regulations can work.

Main changes in brand risk in 2024

• Overall brand risk down 10.6%
• Hate speech in EMEA rose to 10% in the first half of the year
• Hate speech in EMEA dropped in the second half after legislation
• Offensive language up 28% in the USA

From the advertiser`s point of view, it is not only about avoiding risky content but also about actively monitoring which threat types dominate. Consumers increasingly expect brands to act responsibly. More than half say they will stop using a brand if its ad appears next to hateful content.

Viewability has stabilized now attention matters

The third conclusion of the report addresses what truly makes an ad effective. For years, the key metric was viewability whether the ad appeared on the user`s screen and for how long. Now, marketers go further. What matters is not just if the ad showed up, but whether the viewer paid attention.

In 2024, ad viewability remained stable at 76.8%. However, this varied across digital environments.

Environment	Viewability (%)	YoY change
Desktop video	83.9%	+5.4 pp
Mobile web video	79.6%	+2.4 pp
Mobile app display	74.2%	-4.6 pp

The rise in video environments stems from user behavior. More time is spent on video content, especially in social media and CTV platforms. Video ads blend smoothly into content streams, making them more acceptable and harder to skip.

On the other hand, in mobile apps where ads often cover large parts of the screen, users skip them more often by scrolling quickly to the main content. That may explain the drop in viewability in this segment.

Although viewability remains important, as many as 47% of marketers say that in 2025 they will focus more on measuring attention. That means analyzing not only impressions but also context, interaction, and even user facial expression. New technologies, including AI, allow better measurement of what truly engages audiences.

The Media Quality Report: 20th Edition clearly shows that digital ad quality today plays out on multiple levels. Protection against fraud, fighting brand risk, and precisely measuring engagement. Those who can combine all three elements come out ahead.

Media Quality Report: 20th Edition is based on analysis of more than 280 billion daily digital interactions in online advertising environments. The data comes from global campaigns monitored by IAS in 2024, covering various formats, devices, and regions, including both optimized and non-optimized campaigns. The full report is available for free at integralads.com.