MAM
Mobile campaigns in India deliver stronger results in H1’21: Report
Mumbai: Mobile campaigns in India posted lower brand risks than display, viewability on mobile environments increased in India, and ad fraud rates decreased in desktop and mobile web display. These are some of the findings from Integral Ad Science’s (IAS) Media Quality Report for H1 2021. The report released on Tuesday highlights brand safety, ad fraud, and viewability trends across display, video, mobile web, and in-app advertising while providing transparency into the performance and quality of Indian digital media, alongside global comparisons.
Mobile campaigns in India had more viewable impressions in H1 2021, with viewability on mobile web display increasing by one percentage point (pp) to 58.9 per cent in H1 2021, while viewability on mobile in-app display increased from 51.3 per cent to 54.1 per cent, as per the report.
“Mobile advertising has gained strong traction among Indian advertisers as consumers continue to spend more time engaging with content on mobile,” said IAS commercial lead India Saurabh Khattar.
“According to a report by App Annie, average smartphone usage is about 4.6 hours a day in India, which stands third in global rankings after Indonesia and Brazil. As spending increases on mobile, media quality challenges may arise such as ad fraud, unsafe brand environments, and unviewable inventory,” he added.
“With the upcoming festival buying period, advertisers are well-advised to work with third-party verification companies to help protect their campaigns from ad fraud, brand risks, and lower viewability to maximise engagement and ROI,” Khattar further said.
Mobile campaigns in India post lower brand risks than display
According to the report, brand risk worldwide was lower across all formats and environments in H1 2021, an indicator of brands’ increased efforts to optimise ad placements toward contextually relevant content. The overall brand risk dropped below four per cent across all formats and environments. In India, the display was one of the safest environments for advertisers, with desktop display brand risk at 0.8 per cent, down by 1.4 percentage points (pp).
Mobile web display brand risk fell from 2.6 per cent to 1.8 per cent, while the worldwide average was 2.6 per cent. Programmatic desktop and mobile web display inventory showed higher brand risk in India than publisher direct at 1.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively. This data suggests the market is actively using solutions to protect brand reputation and place its ads in suitable environments.
Viewability on mobile environments increased in India
Mobile campaigns in India had more viewable impressions in H1 2021, as against global display viewability, which was down 2.4 pp on desktop and 3.3 pp on mobile web year-over-year, reaching 69.5 per cent and 64.3 per cent, respectively, as per the report.
The worldwide reductions were driven by drops across Asia-Pacific, with India registering a 7.2 pp drop to post 54.9 per cent viewability in desktop environments. In India, desktop and mobile display environments showed significantly higher viewability rates in programmatically traded inventory than publisher direct. Connected TV (CTV) remained the most viewable format overall, averaging 93.2 per cent worldwide in H1 2021.
Ad fraud rates decrease in desktop and mobile web display in India
Both desktop and mobile web display had a marginal decrease in optimised ad fraud rates to reach 0.9 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, in H1 2021, stated the report. The worldwide non-optimised fraud rate for desktop display was 9.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent on mobile web display, clearly indicating that fraud mitigation strategies can reduce risks and reduce ad wastage.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
