Lunio Report Finds 1 in 13 Paid Ad Clicks in the Financial Industry to be Fake

Leading invalid traffic (IVT) prevention platform Lunio just released a report revealing that 1 out of 13 paid ad clicks (7.52%) in the financial services industry are fake.

IVT, which refers to website visits that aren't from real users with genuine interests, can come from bots, accidental or malicious clicks, and other factors that hold no value and won't result in conversions and engagement. 

High IVT rates impact the data brands use to measure and analyze the effectiveness of their paid media performance.

Titled "The invalid traffic impact report: Financial services," the study also revealed that the insurance industry is the most affected by IVTs, with an average daily rate of nearly 10% and a maximum recorded rate of 60%.

This means that if insurance businesses spend $10M annually on ads, they lose an estimated $957,000 to invalid clicks. 

Meanwhile, the investment banking industry showed an average daily IVT rate of 6.41% — the lowest among the three sectors.

As global advertising spending increases, with a growth rate of 7.7% as projected by PQ Media, losses to IVTs may also balloon.

This shows that brands need to be more vigilant about how they spend their advertising dollars and where they put their money.

Lunio's Methodology

Lunio analyzed over 38.2 million clicks from its clients, spanning various sectors such as retail banking, investment banking, and insurance.

From here, it made a sector-by-sector analysis that revealed the IVT rates across each industry. 

After finding out IVT rates, the average cost-per-click (CPC) for each sector was used to find the financial impact IVT had on businesses.

Overall, the findings present a unique challenge for these industries, some requiring upgraded protection to identify IVTs within their operations.

In this day and age, tracking IVTs should be a top priority for your business, no matter how big or small. 

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