Marketers are expected to lose $23 billion this year in online ad spending because of ad fraud, a global economic study by CHEQ has revealed.

The military-grade cybersecurity company commissioned a report about the full scale of ad fraud, undertaken with economist Roberto Cavazos, a professor at the University of Baltimore, using the latest economic analysis, proprietary CHEQ data, and expert interviews. The report finds that while direct global economic costs of ad fraud are conservatively placed at $23 billion, indirect economic and social costs may increase the total to $30 billion.