Singapore ad viewability lags as mobile habits, fraud persist

Attention metrics, user behavior, and ad fraud are key barriers to improving ad effectiveness.

Singapore’s advertising ecosystem is facing mounting challenges in balancing visibility and brand safety, as revealed in the 20th edition of the Media Quality Report (MQR) released by Integral Ad Science (IAS). Despite being one of Asia’s most digitally advanced markets, Singapore records one of the highest brand safety risks in APAC, while its ad viewability rates remain below global benchmarks.

Desktop display ads in Singapore averaged a 69.1% viewability rate, while mobile app display reached 75.1%, both trailing global averages. Laura Quigley, SVP APAC at IAS, said improvements are being made. “Singapore is performing well on viewability, with only a 4% gap versus global… [and] mobile web is around 2%,” she noted.

Quigley pointed to a shift in advertiser focus toward “attention metrics” such as time-in-view and video completion rates. “This shows that advertisers are increasingly investing and valuing viewability… Attention is the emerging currency,” she said. However, she warned that a limited supply of premium inventory could force ads into less visible placements, particularly “below the fold,” unless brands prioritise quality from the outset.

Nicole Choo, Business Development & Digital Consultant at OpenMinds, emphasised that user behavior is a major factor in viewability challenges. “Most Singaporeans browse on their mobile phones… making them multitaskers,” she said. “Most of the ads tend to get skipped or placed on the lower ad placement itself.”

She added that slow-loading creatives and mobile-unoptimised formats contribute to poor user experience, further reducing viewability. “Singapore has one of the highest ad fraud rates among brand safe markets,” Choo said, attributing this to highly concentrated digital spending, widespread programmatic ad adoption, and increased use of connected devices.

Quigley stressed that “technology already exists to prevent ads from appearing next to harmful or inappropriate content,” urging brands to adopt a suitability-first approach ahead of year-end campaigns and cultural moments.

Choo added that Singapore’s intense media consumption habits heighten reputational risks for brands. “Ads are often placed programmatically next to emotionally charged news or user generated content,” she said. “Without proper guardrails, this can put brands at reputational risk.”

“It’s about crafting all these micro moments of relevance,” Choo said. “Brands could integrate martech stacks that pair with real-time behavior data and creative automation.”