ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, head of research and analysis, ExchangeWire. In this week’s edition: Ad fraud on uncertified apps; Over-hyped Christmas ads; Waitrose strongest on email; and AVOD on the up.

Ad fraud on uncertified apps  

There is a staggering volume of malicious traffic, manifested as unsolicited or non-viewable advertising, according to Sizmek. This has the potential to increase advertiser costs and impart a poor experience for users by slowing phone speeds and draining battery life.

Ad fraud appears on over half (52%) of uncertified apps and in nearly one-tenth (8%) of certified app traffic. In addition, although official app stores provide a layer of oversight to prevent fraudulent apps from entering the marketplace, they still find their way onto mobile devices, typically from users downloading from third-party app stores or websites, where malicious app developers place sophisticated and often 'legitimate' looking apps.

For iOS devices, half (50%) of illegally downloaded uncertified apps performed malicious activity. Over half (56%) of all uncertified apps on Android devices performed malicious activity. AVG, a common protection suite, discovered less than a quarter (22%) of all malicious apps and under half (43%) of all malicious traffic on uncertified apps.

Over-hyped Christmas ads

John Lewis is the clear winner of the Christmas ad wars, according to TubeMogul and BrandSights. According to the responses, John Lewis dominated recall and favourability among UK consumers, with 29% of all survey participants liking or recalling the ad versus second-place Sainsbury's – well behind at 13%. Waitrose (7%), Amazon (5%), and H&M (2%) rounded out the list.

Despite John Lewis’ success, there is cause for concern in the findings as 44% of respondents claiming they ‘had not seen any Christmas ads this year’, with 77% of all survey participants stating that ‘they don’t care about Christmas ad campaigns and/or believe they are over-hyped’.

“The H&M campaign is a wonderfully filmed spot, but survey respondents simply found it too long for mobile consumption”, says Jeff Parrish, TubeMogul’s executive creative director. “With over 50% of video content being enjoyed on a mobile in the UK, this is a big miss.

Waitrose strongest on email

Waitrose is ahead of other supermarkets in the email campaign stakes, according to email service provider Mailjet.

The research analysed emails sent by eight of the leading UK supermarkets and scored the emails according to a range of metrics, including design best practices, personalisation, subject line, cross-channel marketing, and the creativity of the content.

Close on Waitrose’s tail are Tesco and ASDA. The mid-market brands have excelled this year in creating email campaigns that are tailored to the recipient and deliver a content-rich, interactive experience. By contrast, Marks & Spencer struggled to compete this year in each of the parameters being measured.

Focusing on emails prospecting new consumer audiences, the research places Morrisons and Sainsbury’s joint last; with both retailers failing to send any communications to consumers who haven’t yet purchased through their online shopping systems.

Despite the amount of conversation that has taken place this year about the importance of personalisation in campaigns, only two of the UK supermarkets made any headway in this field. ASDA specifically fell short on the top spot for their lack of personalisation by omitting any room to add personal messaging to the email in favour of a singularly product-focused, visual structure.

This supports Mailjet’s research earlier this year, which revealed that automation isn’t being utilised fully by marketers.

AVOD on the up

As viewing options for premium content increase exponentially through online services, it is vital for catch-up TV providers to offer the right content at the right time, finds Ooyala’s 'Beyond The Living Room' research.

The average time per play for AVOD services is 51.6 minutes; while the average time AVOD consumers spend watching this content each day is 133.8 minutes.

Pre-rolls have been the darlings of online video advertisers; but the evidence is clear that the rise of the mid-roll is sustained and growing. In fact, in the last year, mid-roll impressions are up by over 110%, whereas pre-rolls show more conservative growth (14%). Post-roll ads have also seen growth of 74%.

This is no surprise, given that average ad completion rate for mid-rolls is standing at 90%. This compares to 78% for pre-roll and 65% for post-roll.