US industry bodies join forces to tackle online ad fraud
Online ad fraud is becoming increasingly prevalent and sophisticated, with ‘bots’ evolving to mimic humans and agencies bidding for fake ad space.
In an effort to increase marketplace transparency in the US, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), Association of National Advertisers (ANA), and Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) have announced plans to create a first-of-its-kind cross-industry accountability program designed to fight ad fraud, malware and the piracy of intellectual property.
Established as a jointly controlled body, with its own board and leadership, the organisation aims to “operationalise principles around the critical issues that face the industry in this arena.”
Once officially launched, the program will monitor the industry for compliance and “develop incentives for broad industry participation and consequences for untrustworthy actors.”
“Criminal activity threatens to erode trust in the digital ecosystem,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB.
“Quality, original content is not sufficiently protected against the threats of fraudulent traffic, malware attacks, and IP piracy, and it is time that publishers, marketers and agencies stand together to combat these dangerous forces as a unified entity.”
Online ad fraud and transparency have been much-debated topics in the industry, with media journalist Dominic Mills recently describing the current state of the ad industry as a “toxic cesspit of online fraud” that nobody is taking responsibility for.
“I am coming round to the view that parts of the online advertising system resemble nothing so much as a communal cesspit gone toxic,” he said.
“This cesspit is bedevilled by the rotting stench of fraud. The local residents all know there is a problem, but no-one has the responsibility to clean it up or drain it.”
Mills says that, theoretically, the industry could begin to eliminate it by preventing fraudulent inventory from entering the supply chain in the first place.
“But the providers – the publishers, the ad networks, the DSPs and so on – who make it available to the market appear to have little incentive,” writes Mills.
“Why? Because they want as much inventory as possible – preferably cheap (and fraudulent inventory is invariably cheaper) – and don’t care where it comes from.”
Adloox’s Marco Ricci also voiced his concerns over growing prevalence of ‘phantom bots’, ‘cyclops’ and ‘decepti-bots’, which are beginning to cleverly mimic human intentions.
“Fake ‘robot’ ads are being targeted to a particular niche – resulting in a higher CPM than untargeted ads, thus deceiving advertisers into believing they are receiving valuable, targeted clicks,” said Ricci.
“The reality, however, is everyone’s computer becomes a breeding ground for fraud. Fake sites inject their virus eggs on to user IPs via false installation apps and fake ads. The malware hatches, the virus is born, and your computer becomes a ‘botnet’.”
IAB UK told Newsline that it is currently in talks with the US team about taking action in the UK, and that it hopes for a clearer picture in the coming months. The IAB added that any proposals made will require further agreement from JICWEBS.
More information on the new US cross-industry compliance organisation can be found here.
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