1) Incorrect viewability and invalid traffic (IVT) measurements can harm good publishers. Sources corroborate that spoofed domains with high IVT can cause real publishers to get blacklisted. 2) Fake websites pretend to be real sites like Esquire to get ad bids, then when fraud measurements show high rates of sophisticated bots, the actual Esquire site gets blacklisted. 3) Claiming ads are 100% viewable and have 0% non-human traffic when they are not attracts advertising dollars away from real publishers.

1. How BAD Measurements
Harm GOOD Publishers
February 2018
Augustine Fou, PhD.
acfou [at] mktsci.com
212. 203 .7239

2. February 2018 / Page 1marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Incorrect IVT measurements …
Incorrect IVT Measurement
Sources 1 and 2
corroborate
Source 3
in ad iframe,
sampled
... extorts refunds from pubs.

3. February 2018 / Page 2marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
High IVT on spoofed domains …
Domain (spoofed) % SIVT
esquire.com 77%
travelchannel.com 76%
foodnetwork.com 76%
popularmechanics.com 74%
latimes.com 72%
reuters.com 71%
bid request
fakesite123.com
esquire.com
blacklist
whitelist
✅
✅
declared
… causes real pub to get blacklisted
“fakesite123.com has to pretend
to be esquire.com to get bids;
when fraud measurement shows
high SIVT (sophisticated bots),
the REAL esquire.com gets
blacklisted and can no longer
make ad revenue.”

4. February 2018 / Page 3marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Fake 100% Viewable; 0% NHT…
FAKE 100% viewability
AD
Stack ads all above the
fold to trick detection
FAKE 0% NHT
Buy traffic that is guaranteed
to pass fraud filters
… attracts dollars away from real pubs.

5. February 2018 / Page 4marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Dr. Augustine Fou – Independent Ad Fraud Researcher
2013
2014
Published slide decks and posts:
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/presentations
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/augustinefou
2016
2015
2017