A study conducted by Marketing Science analyzed 50 million ad impressions to investigate fraudulent activities, specifically 'naked ad calls'—impressions served without webpages. The findings revealed that while reputable publishers have low instances of such calls, open exchanges averaged a problematic 47% of impressions, with low-cost inventory performing even worse at nearly 77%. The analysis warns buyers to be cautious when purchasing from open exchanges due to high incidences of fraud and subpar impressions.

1. August 2017 / Page 0marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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“Naked Ad Calls” Study (August 2017)
Marketing Science analyzed 50 million ad impressions and measured for bot
activity and other suspicious activities known to be used to inflate impression
counts - specifically, “naked ad calls.” This form of fraud can be done by bots,
malware, auto-refreshing of ad units, stacked redirects or other forms of cheating.
There was a good correlation between “naked ad calls” and “bottom of the barrel”
impressions (lowest cost CPMs) purchased from open exchanges. BUYER BEWARE.
KEY FINDINGS (labeled in the chart below)
1. Good publishers call ads when the page is loaded – no impressions were
served without pages; also much less other problems like viewability and bots
2. On exchanges, an average of 20% of the impressions were called and served
without a page – “naked ad call.” Other problems like not viewable
impressions and bots added up to an average of 47%.
3. When buying low cost inventory (“Bottom of Barrel”) naked ad calls averaged
nearly 30%. Factoring in viewability and bots, 77% of the impressions were
problematic or useless.
Good Publishers
Exchange Media
Bottom of Barrel
47% avg
77% avg
“Naked ad calls” are ad impressions served without webpages
11% avg