Data from Pixalate show that click fraud is prevalent online. During the first half of 2017, as many as three in four clicks on programmatically purchased 300 x 600 ‘half page’ desktop ads (a unit Google describes as one of the fastest growing sizes) are fraudulent. The average across all formats is one in three (32%).
Data show that click fraud reduces with screen size. Of all measured clicks on the smallest ad (320 x 50) on the smallest screen (mobile), only 7.2% were fraudulent. This was ten times lower than the rate for the largest ad on the...