Two Business Models Drive Ad Fraud, and 20,790 Blocked Campaigns Reveal How Markets Shape the Threat

PropellerAds’ analysis of 20,790 campaigns blocked in Q2 2026 shows that ad fraud is shaped by local traffic economics: high-payout markets attract sophisticated attacks, while lower-cost markets enable fraud at scale. With global ad fraud losses projected to reach $170 billion by 2028, understanding these regional models is becoming essential for campaign planning. Instead, the type of fraud a market attracts tracks almost precisely with what that market pays for traffic. The analysis draws on the moderation of more than 15 billion ad impressions daily across 190+ markets. In high-payout markets, PropellerAds points to redirect-chain analysis, post-launch monitoring, and repeated verification as the priorities.