The Q2 2015 Media Quality Report from Integral Ad Science examined the UK fraud figures, which show that it is in the exchange and network environments that the largest activity is found, accounting for 13.6% of fraudulent impressions. 6.6% of UK impressions on direct buys with publishers were found to be fraudulent.

A recently published IAB/ MTM study identified online fraud as a major barrier to further investment in programmatic trading, seeing a year-on-year surge from 28% to 52% of respondents highlighting it as a key concern.

“Fraud is at the forefront of the media quality debate and when we see figures in the order of nearly £300m being siphoned off from ad budgets, we understand why advertisers like Unilever and Nestle are voicing concerns,” said Niall Hogan, managing director UK of Integral Ad Science.

“It is essential that we come together as an industry, through initiatives like the JICWEBS anti-fraud group, to educate and build advertiser confidence in the ways that we can address potential media quality issues.”