Nearly half of online ads don't reach intended audience: Nielsen
Nielsen's digital ad ratings service has revealed 48% of online advertisements don't reach their intended audience across France, Germany, Italy and the UK. As a whole, Europe spent €36.4bn ($37.9bn) on digital advertising in 2015, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. While 65% of online travel ads reached the right people, only 45% of car adverts found their intended audience. Adverts targeting a younger audience were also less successful, with 44% of adverts aimed at 18 to 34-year-olds actually reaching the demographic. In contrast, 54% of adverts aimed at people aged between 35 and 64 reached their target group.
Figures revealed today show that almost half (48 percent) of online adverts do not reach the right people across France, Germany and Italy, and the U.K.

The statistics, from 's Digital Ad Ratings service, are likely to mean that billions of online marketing dollars are being wasted. Europe as a whole spent €36.4 billion ($37.9 billion) on digital advertising in 2015, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The consumer packaged goods sector fared the worst when it comes to ad impressions – or the number of times an online ad is seen by an audience – with only 42 percent of campaigns reaching the people they were aiming for.

Adverts for cars also fared poorly, with 45 percent reaching their intended audience, followed by those for computers and electronics, and shopping and retail (both with 49 percent). The best-performing sector is travel, where 65 percent of online ads reached the right people.