How much traffic on the internet is human? The number will likely surprise you. Market and consumer data firm Statista reports that in 2020 only 59.2 per cent of traffic was from humans. That’s a decline from 2019, in which humans accounted for 62.8 per cent.
It’s a serious cause for concern, and not just for the average person going about their digital day. Companies investing in the internet for marketing purposes should also be cautious. Juniper Research found that in 2018 alone North American advertisers lost US$44 million of their daily advertising spend to fraudulent traffic. That’s expected to reach US$100 million per day by 2023. And, globally, mobile advertising fraud alone is expected to reach US$87 billion this year.
To ensure that The Globe and Mail is a safe and trusted environment for advertisers and consumers, the organization has recently completed and passed a digital audit from the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), the leader in publisher auditing across multiple platforms. This process ensures that traffic coming to and navigating through the Globe and Mail’s website is valid and can be trusted by Canadians and the country’s advertising community looking to reach our audiences.
As part of the comprehensive audit, The Globe and Mail’s website operations, ad operations, social media, site monetization and sourced traffic were examined to provide assurance that The Globe and Mail has taken steps to deliver a human audience to its digital advertisers and minimize fraud risk. The AAM Digital Publisher Audit is a continuous assurance program, and The Globe and Mail will undergo monthly testing to ensure traffic is safe and authentic.
“The Globe and Mail is highly invested in the quality of our site and it is important that our advertising partners understand this commitment. AAM’s Digital Publisher Audit provides another opportunity to reaffirm the quality of our website traffic from an objective, third-party source,” says Tracy Day, The Globe and Mail’s Managing Director of Ad Products and Innovation. “In addition, we participate in other digital verification offerings, such as Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab (Ads.txt).”
Brand safety is an important topic for marketers given data leaks, the possibility of security breaches and fraudulent online activity. As Canada’s largest news brand and a trusted and independent news source, The Globe and Mail continues to provide the Canadian advertising community with a safe environment for media investments. This commitment to online safety naturally aligns with The Globe’s trusted and evidence-based journalism.
“It’s incredibly important that we maintain trust across our digital platform by protecting our clients against fraud, invalid traffic and malware. The Digital Publisher Audit reaffirms the quality traffic of our brand and gives our advertising partners additional peace of mind,” says Ms. Day.
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