why do hackers hack? of course, it's fun for them. But they hack to make tons of money with their unique skillset. How does hacking connect to ad fraud? Here are a few examples.
marketers assume their digital marketing is working as expected; but if they looked more closely at analytics, they may see that some of those assumptions are not valid -- i.e. they are not getting what they thought they paid for. Take a closer look yourself.
Data from FouAnalytics, on-site measurement and in-ad measurement was compared to DBM exchange data for 26 exchanges, 7.5 trillion impressions (30 day period) to analyze browser market share -- specifically Safari/iOS.
Findings include: 1) bots pretending to be Safari/iOS outnumber real Safari users 5 to 1, and 2) there is a 1.5X average surplus of Safari impressions available on exchanges compared to unique cookies.
putting aside ad fraud for a moment, what's the elephant in the room? we're talking about your digital marketing. Do you think it is working? How do you know?
digital ad fraud is as rampant as ever; new ripples caused by privacy regulations are starting to affect the market. and more BS from trade associations pretending to be doing something
marketers assume their digital marketing is working as expected; but if they looked more closely at analytics, they may see that some of those assumptions are not valid -- i.e. they are not getting what they thought they paid for. Take a closer look yourself.
Data from FouAnalytics, on-site measurement and in-ad measurement was compared to DBM exchange data for 26 exchanges, 7.5 trillion impressions (30 day period) to analyze browser market share -- specifically Safari/iOS.
Findings include: 1) bots pretending to be Safari/iOS outnumber real Safari users 5 to 1, and 2) there is a 1.5X average surplus of Safari impressions available on exchanges compared to unique cookies.
putting aside ad fraud for a moment, what's the elephant in the room? we're talking about your digital marketing. Do you think it is working? How do you know?
digital ad fraud is as rampant as ever; new ripples caused by privacy regulations are starting to affect the market. and more BS from trade associations pretending to be doing something
How many of these hidden costs were you aware of?
Without even talking about digital ad fraud, there are other costs in the digital ad supply path that eat up most of every dollar that advertisers spend in digital. There are known costs of 60 - 70% extracted by adtech middlemen.
Ellen Pao was right. I have seen and documented the fake stuff since at least 2013. In digital, virtually unlimited fake accounts, fake traffic, fake users, fake ad impressions, etc. can be created. How many of the 50 slides in this deck were you familiar with?
In 2021 some marketers are still asking whether ad fraud is real and whether it is pervasive. This serves as a simple reminder of some of the evidence collected over the years.
FouAnalytics is an alternative to Google Analytics, but with fraud and bot detection baked in. Marketers can use FouAnalytics to look at their own campaigns, find the domains and apps that are eating up their budgets fraudulently, and turn them off, while the campaign is still running. How does that compare to your blackbox fraud detection that just gives you a percent IVT number?
“In addition to the ad fraud itself, bad guys make money by selling the “picks and shovels” too – e.g. bots, traffic, clicks, malware, fake apps, etc. They have an entire ecosystem to extract value. What follows are just a few examples, scratching the surface.”
The "Badtech Industrial Complex" was built on "surveillance marketing" which comes from the misguided notions of the long tail, hypertargeting, and behavioral targeting. Ad tech and supporting services were designed with a singular goal - to extract as much value as possible from the digital marketing supply chain.
A new balance is required for the future of the Internet.
Everyone is paying for fraud detection, but without enough technical knowledge, they don't realize the fraud detection doesn't work or is easily tricked by the bad guys. So what's worse is that the people paying for fraud detection have a false sense of security and take their eyes off of the obvious fraud that is still getting through.
FouAnalytics - site analytics and media analytics for practitioners to detect fraud and take action themselves - on-site tags and in-ad tags measure sites and ad impressions, respectively
from the IAB FY 2019 advertising revenue report, we show that CPM and CPC ads represent 92% of all digital spend; these are the favorite targets of fraudters
Ad fraud steals ad budgets and negatively impacts the class action notice industry - ads are not put in front of humans, but instead are shown to bots (software programs that load webpages). Bot don't complete claim forms; humans do.
Despite the use of fraud detection technologies, notice providers should use "best practicable" actions to verify the campaign analytics to see if ad fraud still gets through.
what you can't see will kill your marketing campaigns. Bot detection (also known as GIVT, IVT, NHT) catches bots. But most ad fraud is not from bots any more. Most of the fraud is missed by detection and still gets through unless you analyze the data and remove it yourself.
The original idea of the digital media trust collaborative is was sharing threat intelligence to more quickly remove fraudulent domains and apps from media buys.
Ad fraud is very bad. But no matter how big the number reported, brands often don't think it affects them -- i.e. it's someone elses' problem. Here are 3 case studies of marketers taking a look for themselves and solving ad fraud by putting in place best practices and processes to continuously monitor and reduce fraud, without using fraud detection tech.
Digital ad fraud is not illegal because there are not laws against it yet. But it is very similar to other crimes for which there are laws -- e.g. counterfeit goods, computer crimes, etc.
How many of these hidden costs were you aware of?
Without even talking about digital ad fraud, there are other costs in the digital ad supply path that eat up most of every dollar that advertisers spend in digital. There are known costs of 60 - 70% extracted by adtech middlemen.
Ellen Pao was right. I have seen and documented the fake stuff since at least 2013. In digital, virtually unlimited fake accounts, fake traffic, fake users, fake ad impressions, etc. can be created. How many of the 50 slides in this deck were you familiar with?
In 2021 some marketers are still asking whether ad fraud is real and whether it is pervasive. This serves as a simple reminder of some of the evidence collected over the years.
FouAnalytics is an alternative to Google Analytics, but with fraud and bot detection baked in. Marketers can use FouAnalytics to look at their own campaigns, find the domains and apps that are eating up their budgets fraudulently, and turn them off, while the campaign is still running. How does that compare to your blackbox fraud detection that just gives you a percent IVT number?
“In addition to the ad fraud itself, bad guys make money by selling the “picks and shovels” too – e.g. bots, traffic, clicks, malware, fake apps, etc. They have an entire ecosystem to extract value. What follows are just a few examples, scratching the surface.”
The "Badtech Industrial Complex" was built on "surveillance marketing" which comes from the misguided notions of the long tail, hypertargeting, and behavioral targeting. Ad tech and supporting services were designed with a singular goal - to extract as much value as possible from the digital marketing supply chain.
A new balance is required for the future of the Internet.
Everyone is paying for fraud detection, but without enough technical knowledge, they don't realize the fraud detection doesn't work or is easily tricked by the bad guys. So what's worse is that the people paying for fraud detection have a false sense of security and take their eyes off of the obvious fraud that is still getting through.
FouAnalytics - site analytics and media analytics for practitioners to detect fraud and take action themselves - on-site tags and in-ad tags measure sites and ad impressions, respectively
from the IAB FY 2019 advertising revenue report, we show that CPM and CPC ads represent 92% of all digital spend; these are the favorite targets of fraudters
Ad fraud steals ad budgets and negatively impacts the class action notice industry - ads are not put in front of humans, but instead are shown to bots (software programs that load webpages). Bot don't complete claim forms; humans do.
Despite the use of fraud detection technologies, notice providers should use "best practicable" actions to verify the campaign analytics to see if ad fraud still gets through.
what you can't see will kill your marketing campaigns. Bot detection (also known as GIVT, IVT, NHT) catches bots. But most ad fraud is not from bots any more. Most of the fraud is missed by detection and still gets through unless you analyze the data and remove it yourself.
The original idea of the digital media trust collaborative is was sharing threat intelligence to more quickly remove fraudulent domains and apps from media buys.
Ad fraud is very bad. But no matter how big the number reported, brands often don't think it affects them -- i.e. it's someone elses' problem. Here are 3 case studies of marketers taking a look for themselves and solving ad fraud by putting in place best practices and processes to continuously monitor and reduce fraud, without using fraud detection tech.
Digital ad fraud is not illegal because there are not laws against it yet. But it is very similar to other crimes for which there are laws -- e.g. counterfeit goods, computer crimes, etc.
Do you think fraud detection tech works? Consider this. Bad guys are hackers. They have better tech and are always 1 step ahead of good guys trying to detect and catch them.
Here are some questions to ask of fraud detection vendors so you can tell if you are getting ripped off and if they can actually do what they claim to be doing.
Publishers applied all sorts of ad tech to their sites and experimented with everything in an attempt to increase ad revenue. But some things didn't turn out the way they expected. In fact, some of these actions led to counterintuitive results - loss of revenue, loss of audience, lower CPMs, ad fraud, and other ills. Have you experienced any of these?
There are 2 main forms of mobile fraud - display ad fraud and install fraud. This deck focuses on the far more lucrative and larger form - mobile display fraud.
Digital ad fraud funds cybercrime. And cybercrime, in turn, leads to more ad fraud. There is an entire ecosystem set up to steal from the large pool of dollars -- $100 billion spent in digital in the U.S. per year, and $300 billion in digital worldwide.
Procurement can play a crucial role in fighting ad fraud; by helping marketers to move away from easily faked quantity metrics, to real business outcome metrics. And also removing misaligned incentives - like buying ultra low cost CPM inventory.
Much more data and case studies included. Good advertisers and good publishers are making significant headway against fraud that impacts their own businesses. This cannot be said more generally of the broader digital advertising ecosystem where fraud remains rampant, because it is allowed to be.
Good publishers have had to lay off journalists and other staff in an effort to survive. Ad dollars spent by marketers are not going to them but instead of siphoned off by ad tech for themselves and also into the pockets of bad guys, using ad fraud to steal ad dollars.
Go back to buying media as if it were 1995 and cut out the middlemen - the Badtech industrial Complex.
COVID-19 Impact on E-commerce and Payments: Newsflash April 9-15, 2020 by ySt...yStats.com
This blog is part of a series of weekly insights that reveal the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on global E-Commerce, Online Payment and many other vertical topics such as Online Travel, Cross-Border, Online Education etc.
how the money flows from the advertisers through the ad tech intermediaries to longtail, fraud, and fake sites, with the help of botnets and traffic sellers
bad guys started with fake websites, then moved to loading ads only to save time and bandwidth; now they are simply faking bid requests and flooding exchanges
Previous studies that addressed the impact of losing third party (“3P”) cookies on ad revenue did not clearly differentiate between the impact on ad tech intermediaries versus on publishers. Instead of “advertiser CPMs” (what advertisers pay) this study uses “media CPMs” (what the publishers get) to better isolate the impact of tracking vs no tracking on publishers.
most buyers who buy in programmatic channels think they are getting enormous "reach" -- i.e. their ads are shown on many sites; but this data shows the exact opposite is true. Their ads are being shown on a small number of sites (less than 1,000); the buyers might as well have bought more direct from good publishers.
Using Google Analytics to find abnormal traffic and fraud; this is a how-to, to get hourly charts instead of daily rolled-up or averaged data, which hides the fraud.
When marketers buy from good publishers and pay HIGHER CPMs, they get better outcomes and marketing efficiency, despite the higher CPM. This is because there are human audiences that visit those good publishers' sites.
1.Wireless Communication System_Wireless communication is a broad term that i...JeyaPerumal1
Wireless communication involves the transmission of information over a distance without the help of wires, cables or any other forms of electrical conductors.
Wireless communication is a broad term that incorporates all procedures and forms of connecting and communicating between two or more devices using a wireless signal through wireless communication technologies and devices.
Features of Wireless Communication
The evolution of wireless technology has brought many advancements with its effective features.
The transmitted distance can be anywhere between a few meters (for example, a television's remote control) and thousands of kilometers (for example, radio communication).
Wireless communication can be used for cellular telephony, wireless access to the internet, wireless home networking, and so on.
APNIC Foundation, presented by Ellisha Heppner at the PNG DNS Forum 2024APNIC
Ellisha Heppner, Grant Management Lead, presented an update on APNIC Foundation to the PNG DNS Forum held from 6 to 10 May, 2024 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
This 7-second Brain Wave Ritual Attracts Money To You.!nirahealhty
Discover the power of a simple 7-second brain wave ritual that can attract wealth and abundance into your life. By tapping into specific brain frequencies, this technique helps you manifest financial success effortlessly. Ready to transform your financial future? Try this powerful ritual and start attracting money today!
Bridging the Digital Gap Brad Spiegel Macon, GA Initiative.pptxBrad Spiegel Macon GA
Brad Spiegel Macon GA’s journey exemplifies the profound impact that one individual can have on their community. Through his unwavering dedication to digital inclusion, he’s not only bridging the gap in Macon but also setting an example for others to follow.
# Internet Security: Safeguarding Your Digital World
In the contemporary digital age, the internet is a cornerstone of our daily lives. It connects us to vast amounts of information, provides platforms for communication, enables commerce, and offers endless entertainment. However, with these conveniences come significant security challenges. Internet security is essential to protect our digital identities, sensitive data, and overall online experience. This comprehensive guide explores the multifaceted world of internet security, providing insights into its importance, common threats, and effective strategies to safeguard your digital world.
## Understanding Internet Security
Internet security encompasses the measures and protocols used to protect information, devices, and networks from unauthorized access, attacks, and damage. It involves a wide range of practices designed to safeguard data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Effective internet security is crucial for individuals, businesses, and governments alike, as cyber threats continue to evolve in complexity and scale.
### Key Components of Internet Security
1. **Confidentiality**: Ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to access it.
2. **Integrity**: Protecting information from being altered or tampered with by unauthorized parties.
3. **Availability**: Ensuring that authorized users have reliable access to information and resources when needed.
## Common Internet Security Threats
Cyber threats are numerous and constantly evolving. Understanding these threats is the first step in protecting against them. Some of the most common internet security threats include:
### Malware
Malware, or malicious software, is designed to harm, exploit, or otherwise compromise a device, network, or service. Common types of malware include:
- **Viruses**: Programs that attach themselves to legitimate software and replicate, spreading to other programs and files.
- **Worms**: Standalone malware that replicates itself to spread to other computers.
- **Trojan Horses**: Malicious software disguised as legitimate software.
- **Ransomware**: Malware that encrypts a user's files and demands a ransom for the decryption key.
- **Spyware**: Software that secretly monitors and collects user information.
### Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering attack that aims to steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details. Attackers often masquerade as trusted entities in email or other communication channels, tricking victims into providing their information.
### Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks
MitM attacks occur when an attacker intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties without their knowledge. This can lead to the unauthorized acquisition of sensitive information.
### Denial-of-Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks
Multi-cluster Kubernetes Networking- Patterns, Projects and GuidelinesSanjeev Rampal
Talk presented at Kubernetes Community Day, New York, May 2024.
Technical summary of Multi-Cluster Kubernetes Networking architectures with focus on 4 key topics.
1) Key patterns for Multi-cluster architectures
2) Architectural comparison of several OSS/ CNCF projects to address these patterns
3) Evolution trends for the APIs of these projects
4) Some design recommendations & guidelines for adopting/ deploying these solutions.
1. February 2020 / Page 0marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Ad Fraud is “Cash Out”
for Malware/Hacking
February 2020
Augustine Fou, PhD.
acfou [at] mktsci.com
2. February 2020 / Page 1marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Why do hackers hack?
3. February 2020 / Page 2marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
To make enormous profits
Stealing from digital ad budgets – like an open vault of gold
Advertisers Publishers
Bad Guys
1/3
2/3
Ads are not shown
to humans, wasted
ad dollars
Ad revenue declines
because dollars are
stolen by bad guys.
Steal money using fake ads;
siphon dollars out of ecosystem.
4. February 2020 / Page 3marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
How big? $330B every year
Worldwide digital ad spending to exceed $330 billion by 2020
5. February 2020 / Page 4marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
How do hackers make
money?
6. February 2020 / Page 5marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Counterfeit goods bits/bytes
Fakes or unauthorized replicas of real ad impressions
ad impressions shown to
bots/software not to humans
ad fraud
7. February 2020 / Page 6marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Simple three step process
1. set up
FAKE SITES
2. buy
FAKE TRAFFIC
3. sell
FAKE ADS
8. February 2020 / Page 7marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
More profitable use of DDoSNow use enormous DDoS traffic to generate enormous ad revenues
Google Digital Attack Map
9. February 2020 / Page 8marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
New “largest ever” botnet every year
Vast botnets targeting high-value video ads, disguising/hiding
10. February 2020 / Page 9marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Fake Sites, Fake News Thrive
November 2019
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/fake-local-
news-sites-albany-edmonton
February 2020
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/
craigsilverman/these-fake-local-news-
sites-have-confused-people-for-years
Fake sites are
spreading
disinformation,
hate, fake news,
and other
content; they
are able to
thrive and grow
because they
make money
using adtech.
11. February 2020 / Page 10marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
What about mobile?
12. February 2020 / Page 11marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Millions of apps on millions of phones
Apps loading ads in background, continuously; stealing data
September 2019
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/sweet-
camera-play-store-removed-
ihandy
May 2019
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/vidmate-
app-download
April 2019
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/google-
play-store-ad-fraud-du-group-
baidu
13. February 2020 / Page 12marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Millions of apps on millions of phones
Stealing data, abusing permissions, attribution fraud
October 2018
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/how-a-
massive-ad-fraud-scheme-
exploited-android-phones-to
November 2018
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/android-
apps-cheetah-mobile-kika-
kochava-ad-fraud
March 2019
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/in-banner-
video-ad-fraud
14. February 2020 / Page 13marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Uber sues 100 mobile exchanges
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stone-meet-glass-
house-significance-ubers-second-ad/
Mobile exchanges
were falsifying
placement reports to
make it appear the ads
ran on legitimate sites
and apps; some
exchanges were
fabricating the reports
entirely, when no ads
were even shown
15. February 2020 / Page 14marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
(2017) Been going on for a while…
May 26 Forbes “Judy Malware”
• 40 bad apps to load ads
• 36 million fake devices to load
bad apps
• e.g. 30 ads per device /minute
• 30 ads per minute = 1 billion
fraud impressions per minute
June 1 Checkpoint “Fireball”
• 250 million infected computers
• primary use = traffic for ad
fraud
• 4 ads /pageview (2s load time)
• fraudulent impressions at the
rate of 30 billion per minute
16. February 2020 / Page 15marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
What about CTV/OTT?
17. February 2020 / Page 16marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Mobile Apps Fake Video Streams
January 2020
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/
article/craigsilverman/grindr-
roku-apps-ad-fraud-scheme
Source: http://blog.pixalate.com/invalid-ssai-measure-ott-ctv-ad-fraud
Fraudsters use the same bots to
simulate more video streams to
cause more video ads.
18. February 2020 / Page 17marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
What else?
19. February 2020 / Page 18marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Browser extensions, js code
Extensions can load ads, fake clicks, record clicks, exfiltrate data
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/google-chrome-web-store-
extensions-500-removed-ad-fraud-2180242
Source: Freedom to Tinker, Nov 2017
20. February 2020 / Page 19marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Malvertising
Malware in ads used to compromise fresh devices, for ad fraud
https://twitter.com/j_rom_/status/1221715676907393024
https://medium.com/@clean.io/summary-of-
malicious-ads-and-reputation-threats-q3-2019-
2dd285e1c65a
21. February 2020 / Page 20marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Online child abuse images
“Using a variety of sophisticated techniques to avoid detection,
offenders are exploiting online advertising networks to
monetise their distribution of child sexual abuse material.”
Source: The Drum Nov 6, 2018 Source: CNN, Feb 2019 Source: NYT, Sep 2019
22. February 2020 / Page 21marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Alter measurement; click fraud
Make the ads appear viewable; affiliate fraud (click flooding)
Buzzfeed, March 2018
Source:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/19/business/la-
fi-mo-cookie-stuffing-ebay-20130419
“Laguna Niguel man pleads
guilty in 'cookie stuffing' scam
against Ebay. The online
auctioneer paid Dunning’s
company about $5.2 million in
2006 and 2007, the U.S. Attorney
said.”
23. February 2020 / Page 22marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Stolen identities; fake accounts
Unverifiable lookalike audiences contain fake profiles/preferences
Bots pretend to be
oncologists by visiting
oncology related sites.
“[LOTAME] purged 400 million
of its over 4 billion profiles after
identifying them as bots.”
Adweek, Feb 2018
24. February 2020 / Page 23marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Money laundering
Dollars are laundered as digital media ad spend on “cash out” sites
1. Buy and place digital ads on sites and apps
controlled by the same entity
2. Collect dollars from “cash out” sites, fully
laundered
25. February 2020 / Page 24marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Financial crimes - laundering
Dollars are laundered and moved via digital games, virtual goods
Valve suspended the trading between
players of “container keys”—an in-
game gambling device that players can
buy (with real money) to try to win
(virtual) rewards such as special
weapons or clothing. The firm says
“nearly all” of the trades of such
keys were “believed to be fraud-
sourced”. It is a rare admission of the
growing problem of using video games
to facilitate financial crime.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-
economics/2019/11/07/financial-crime-through-video-
games-is-on-the-rise
26. February 2020 / Page 25marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
About the Author
Augustine Fou, PhD.
acfou [@] mktsci.com
27. February 2020 / Page 26marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Dr. Augustine Fou – Researcher
2013
2014
Published slide decks and posts:
http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/presentations
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/augustinefou
2016
2015
2017
20192018