ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, ExchangeWire, head of research and analysis. In this week’s edition: £277m wasted on fraudulent ads; coupons used by 9 in 10 millennials; and over 50% of millennials engaged with advertising.

Fraud accounts for almost £300m, despite a decrease in fraud in ad exchanges

In the UK, in Q2, 12.2% of ad impressions were fraudulent, equating to £277m of wasted ad spend, according to Integral Ad Science’s ‘Media Quality Report - Q2 2015.’ Fraudulent impressions are highest in ad exchanges and ad networks (14.1%) a 2.4% year-on-year decrease from 16.5%; direct buy impressions have the lowest percentage of fraud impressions (6.8%).

Niall Hogan, managing director UK, Integral Ad Science commented: "Fraud is at the forefront of the media quality debate and when we see figures in the order of nearly £300m being siphoned off from ad budgets, we understand why advertisers like Unilever and Nestle are voicing concerns. It is essential that we come together as an industry, through initiatives like the JICWEBS anti-fraud group, to educate and build advertiser confidence in the ways that we can address potential media quality issues."

Overall, viewability fell 5% year-on-year from 49.4% to 44%. Impressions purchased directly had a higher viewability rate (63.8%), than those purchased programmatically (52.1%). The UK has the highest overall viewability rate (55.4%), followed by Germany (49.7%) and France (43.8%).

Vast majority of millennials use coupons to plan shop

In the UK, 89% of consumers have used coupons, saving £3.2bn a year according to Valassis’  ‘Coupon Intelligence Report.’ Coupon usage is higher in millennials with children, with 53% of parents using mobile to access coupons, compared to those without (34%). Spending in households with children is 40% higher than childless households. In the past year, households with children are more likely to have increased their coupon usage (51% versus 34%), spent more time sourcing coupons (44% versus 29%) and have a higher perceived value of the money saved by their usage (57% versus 40%).

Paper coupons are more popular than paperless coupons (89% versus 63% ); both often require consumers to sign up to a brands email marketing before accessing coupons. Paper coupons have a 96% redemption rate, allowing marketers to track the consumer spending cycle.

Millennials are most likely to search the internet for coupons (83%), followed by Generation X (78%). Downloading coupons onto a loyalty card (47%) and cutting out coupons from a newspaper (46%) are the preferred methods for accessing coupons, demonstrating that millennials are eager to find discounts, regardless of the way they are delivered.

Generational split in advertising perceptions

In the UK, 51% of millennials are engaged with advertising, compared to just 29% of over 55s, according to Axicom’s ‘Ad Campaigns Reimagined’. In the 55+ category, 41% believe that nothing could make them respond positively to an advert, compared to just 15% of millennials.

Those aged 18-34 and more than twice as likely (26% versus 12%) than those aged 35+ to purchase after viewing an ad. Jed Mole, European marketing director, Acxiom commented: "The fact that millennials seem to react to advertising more positively across the board poses an interesting question. Is it reflective of this age group’s greater exposure to the online world, or do we as consumers simply become more cynical as we age?"