Ad Fraud Explodes in 2025: Brands Face $172 Billion Threat, Must Act Now

• Ad fraud in 2025 evolved into a "parallel economy," becoming invisible and embedded across premium inventory and mainstream platforms, making traditional detection obsolete.
• India loses Rs 10,000 crore annually to digital ad fraud, with global losses projected to hit $172 billion, largely due to a lack of independent verification by advertisers.
• Fraudsters leveraged AI-powered bots, deepfake ads, and targeted CTV/video inventory, mimicking human behavior and creating fake campaigns that bypassed basic checks.
• Many fraudulent campaigns deceptively showed "healthy" performance metrics like CTR and conversions, making it harder for brands to identify the true scale of the problem.
• Brands must fix this in 2026 by demanding full-funnel accountability, embedding fraud prevention upstream, implementing AI-driven detection, and slowing unchecked automation.

Why It Matters: 2025 revealed ad fraud's invisible, pervasive nature; brands must prioritize transparency and advanced detection in 2026.