As a reminder of the scale of digital advertising fraud and invalid traffic in the world, Yahoo Japan says it identified $AUD283 million worth of invalid digital advertising attempts on its platform in 2023.

The figures were contained in its latest 'Advertising Services Quality Transparency Report'. The report also revealed that 96 million ads were rejected and 7819 accounts disapproved during the year. This is the fifth report of its kind since 2019, as Yahoo Japan continues to review ad quality daily to ensure user satisfaction and maximise advertiser effectiveness.

The number of rejected ads in 2023 was significantly lower than the previous year, a decline attributed to a decrease in ads rejected based on the 'Top Display/No. 1 Display' display criteria, the most common reason for rejection each year.

According to the company, "Yahoo! eliminates invalid traffic (ad requests and ad impressions) and invalid clicks. Some invalid traffic is not malicious, but some is "ad fraud" that unfairly exploits advertising fees, such as malicious impressions and clicks by bots (programs that automatically perform tasks) disguised as users."

"We review the quality of ads on a daily basis to ensure that users can use the service with peace of mind and to contribute to maximizing the effectiveness of advertisers. At Yahoo! Ads, approximately 96 million ad materials were rejected in fiscal 2023," the report stated.

In 2023, the invalid clicks detected in advance by Yahoo! Ads would be equivalent to approximately 30.2 billion yen in total when converted into advertising fees. This amount is non-chargeable, ensuring it does not become an expense for advertisers, according to the company.