IAS: 2024 Industry Pulse Report, US Edition

IAS released its 2024 Industry Pulse Report, U.S. Edition. Social media is the type of media most likely to face severe challenges this year. This may be related to the inherent risks of these platforms, especially in an election year, as social media is considered the most vulnerable environment to brand risk and ad fraud.

When respondents were asked to identify the three types of media most likely to be subject to brand risk in the coming year, 52% named social media, more than double the percentage who cited mobile media (25%) as the next most vulnerable. This is consistent with previous research showing that advertisers have pointed to paid social media as the channel with the highest brand risk.

A similar pattern emerged when considering ad fraud, with 60% of respondents citing social media as one of the top three environments most susceptible to fraud, about double the number two channel, digital display (29%), where marketers do not consider fraud to be a major challenge. Mobile was slightly lower at 22%, with previous research showing that ad fraud on mobile has stabilized at historic lows.

This election year could heighten these concerns: About six in ten digital media experts surveyed (59%) said the upcoming presidential election will bring more advertising challenges to disinformation and fake news. Social media has long been cited as the channel most susceptible to misinformation, with almost half of U.S. adults knowing someone who has been influenced by misinformation on social media.

Despite the challenges associated with social media, respondents also see some opportunities. Two-thirds of people believe that social media is one of the top three priorities this year, far ahead of digital video, including CTV (37%) and digital display (29%). In addition, social media is considered the innovation and opportunity with the most potential (50%), ahead of digital video, including CTV (41%) and mobile (35%).