[2026 Ad Fraud Survey] Approximately 40% of Ad Operations Managers Hesitate or Halt Countermeasures Due to 'Apparent CPA Deterioration'

Cacco Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Hiroyuki Iwai; Securities Code: 4166; hereinafter "Cacco"), which supports the safety of online transactions with AI and proprietary algorithms, conducted the "2026 Survey on Internet Ad Fraud" targeting 400 professionals involved in web advertising operations.

The survey highlighted a dilemma faced by on-site operations managers: while awareness of ad fraud risks, such as invalid clicks*1, has spread to approximately 70%, many hesitate to implement countermeasures, or have stopped them, fearing a decline in internal evaluation because "implementing countermeasures reduces apparent clicks and makes the cost per acquisition (CPA)*2 appear to skyrocket."

Through the results of this survey, Cacco aims to sound the alarm on evaluation systems in the Japanese digital advertising market that rely on "superficial results" and will promote awareness activities to pursue true return on investment (ROI).

*1: Ad fraud refers to the fraudulent appropriation of advertising costs through invalid ad clicks by bots or competitors.

*2: CPA (Cost Per Acquisition/Action) refers to the cost incurred to acquire one result.

Survey Results Highlights

1. Ad fraud awareness is 75.8%. Furthermore, 69.3% recognize it as a compliance risk.

2. Damage status: Approximately 80% of cases involve 1% to 20% of advertising costs being defrauded. A structural risk lurking in all companies.

3. The biggest barrier is "concern over CPA deterioration." 39.0% hesitate to take action due to fear of internal evaluation.

4. 42.8% rely on advertising agencies or platforms for countermeasures. The total percentage of those relying on agencies or lacking a dedicated person is 33.8%.

Detailed Results

1. Awareness becomes common sense. Approximately 70% recognize it as a compliance risk.

The recognition of the term "ad fraud" reached 75.8% ("know both name and content" 49.5%, "know only the name" 26.3%). Approximately 70% (69.3%) recognize their own ad distribution channels as a compliance risk.

2. Damage status: Approximately 80% of cases involve 1% to 20% of advertising costs being defrauded. A structural risk lurking in all companies.

36.8% of the total respondents answered that they "have experienced ad fraud damage." Among those who experienced damage, the most common percentage of defrauded advertising costs was "less than 1% to 5% (27.9%)," followed by "less than 5% to 10% (26.5%)" and "less than 10% to 20% (23.8%)," totaling approximately 80%. This revealed that ad fraud is a widespread structural risk, occurring at levels that are difficult to notice, from a few percent of advertising costs to levels that significantly erode profits.

3. The biggest barrier is "concern over CPA deterioration." 39.0% hesitate to take action due to fear of internal evaluation.

The biggest challenge revealed by this survey is the dilemma faced by operations managers. 39.0% of respondents have experienced hesitating (or stopping) ad fraud countermeasures due to fear of declining internal evaluation or worsening results, as implementing countermeasures reduces apparent clicks and increases CPA. This suggests that traditional evaluation systems, which even factor in "low-quality, cheap clicks," are hindering fundamental fraud prevention.

4. Ambiguous responsibility. An opaque reliance on "someone else is doing it."

The most common countermeasure currently implemented was "leaving it to an advertising agency (42.8%)." On the other hand, regarding the locus of responsibility for countermeasures, "relying on an advertising agency (17.8%)" and "no clear person in charge (16.0%)" combined accounted for 33.8%, highlighting a lack of ownership and frequent ambiguity of responsibility.

Comment from Professor Takamichi Saito, Director of Meiji University Cyber Security Research Institute

Ad fraud is not merely a problem of reduced efficiency in ad operations but should be positioned as a type of cybercrime. Specifically, methods of fraudulently acquiring advertising revenue through the generation of invalid traffic and click manipulation using botnets, etc., have been confirmed.

As has been pointed out in past issues with pirated sites, the fraudulent acquisition of digital advertising revenue has historically served as a funding source for organized criminal activities. In other words, leaving insufficient countermeasures in place would lead to tolerating the funding of anti-social activities, which constitutes a significant governance risk for modern companies.

The dilemma revealed in this survey, where "hesitation to implement countermeasures due to fear of apparent CPA deterioration," indicates a structural conflict between short-term KPI optimization and risk management, which should be prioritized. From a risk management perspective, this means prioritizing business continuity while recognizing the problem.