According to a recent study, the deception continues: In 2024, advertisers are set to waste over $71bn on traffic generated by invalid activity, including bots and automated scripts. That’s a massive jump from just two years prior –  an increase of 33% since 2022 to be exact.

The analysis found that 8.5% of all paid traffic across major marketing channels including Google, Meta, LinkedIn, X, and TikTok was invalid, equating to one in every 12 website visits.

The situation is really quite serious, affecting more than just ad spend waste. It also affects time spent by sales in following up on fake leads. Ultimately, fake traffic, the study concludes, will cost businesses a staggering $205bn in lost revenue opportunity in 2024.

It’s never been more important for marketers to find new insights on how to maximise ad spend efficiency and eliminate sources of fake ad engagement. Ask your marketing agency what they are doing to mitigate the situation. With the employment of best practices, waste should be eliminated or kept to an absolute minimum.