Australia leads in video viewability, but brand safety and ad fraud remain key concerns

Australia’s digital advertising market is showing strong performance in video, but marketers face ongoing challenges around brand safety and fraud, according to the latest Media Quality Report from Integral Ad Science (IAS).

The 20th edition of the global report reveals that Australia has outperformed much of the world in key viewability and engagement metrics, particularly in video. Desktop video viewability hit 89.8% in 2024, while completion rates soared to 94.9% - figures that reflect mature creative execution and sustained audience engagement. Mobile app display also delivered solid results, with viewability at 82.6%.

Lisa Utzschneider, IAS’s global CEO, said the findings reinforce the need for proactive media quality strategies as digital complexity intensifies.

"As digital media complexity accelerates, IAS remains steadfast in empowering our partners with the transparency, precision and protection they need to succeed," she said. “The 20th edition of the MQR underscores the critical need for proactive media quality strategies to ensure marketers can drive performance while protecting their brands from the evolving and multi-faceted risks in the programmatic advertising landscape.”

However, while viewability metrics remain high, fraud rates in Australia are still above global averages. Optimised desktop display campaigns reported a 1.5% fraud rate, higher than both the global average of 1.1% and the APAC average of 1.3%. This underscores the need for consistent investment in fraud mitigation strategies, particularly as non-optimised campaigns globally reached fraud levels up to 15 times higher.

Time-in-view is also a bright spot for Australian advertisers. Mobile web display averaged 15.75 seconds, outperforming the global average of 13.65 seconds, while mobile app display held steady at 13.11 seconds. Desktop environments lag slightly behind, but mobile-first platforms remain a strong opportunity for capturing deeper audience attention.

Brand risk, however, continues to present challenges. While Australia maintains a moderate overall brand risk of 1.4% for desktop display, violent and offensive content accounts for more than half (51.8%) of that risk. This concentration is particularly concerning during sensitive news or political events and points to the importance of robust brand suitability tools.

Globally, the report notes a rise in offensive content, including hate speech, even as overall brand risk declined. IAS found that campaigns without fraud optimisation saw a 19% year-on-year rise in fraud rates, reaching a four-year high. At the same time, desktop video viewability globally hit a record high of 83.9%, reflecting continued growth in digital video consumption.

The report also highlights a growing industry shift towards new performance metrics such as attention, as marketers look beyond traditional impressions to optimise for business outcomes. IAS’s latest data, based on over 280 billion daily interactions, paints a picture of a market that is increasingly sophisticated in execution but still vulnerable in key areas.