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Can we have a spamhaus for ad fraud? * list of botnet infected IPs participating in ad fraud * list of offending/incompetent SSP blindly accepting forged requ

Can we have a spamhaus for ad fraud? * list of botnet infected IPs participating in ad fraud * list of offending/incompetent SSP blindly accepting forged requests

geocar 10y ago
> Can we have a spamhaus for ad fraud? There are a lot of vendors in this space now, offering various kinds of "spamhaus"-type solutions. They're all crap because they operate blacklists of various kinds to keep their customers dependent. The ideal scenario is for ad networks/SSPs to implement the anti-fraud technology themselves, however getting there from here is difficult: The first ad network to go clean will be at a significant (fiscal) disadvantage. I'd like to get in touch with anyone ad network/SSP that wants to go first. > lists of botnet infected IPs participating in ad fraud This won't be enough. A popular "audience extender" is to use an iframe containing your site as an ad tag, and run it on your display network. Unless you have been using an ad blocker for the last ten years (and maybe even then), it's very likely your IP address has been used in ad fraud. > lists of offending/incompetent SSP blindly accepting forged requests Google facilitates an enormous amount of ad fraud, but media buyers have to buy from Google because nobody else sells Google search ads (except, I suppose, the injection people...) Yahoo purchased a company who was selling video ads that were muted using uncommon AS3 mixer controls. I think a much shorter list would be the media suppliers that don't have ad fraud on them and don't facilitate ad fraud. You'll find such a list below.
- bryanrasmussen 10y ago
  I upvoted you because of your helpful list.
  - eis 10y ago
    Hm I can't seem to see any list. Where is it?
    - fsaintjacques 10y ago
      I almost replied like you did; the joke is that there is no such list.
      - B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
        ()
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- 0x0 10y ago
  Do you have any more information about the as3 mixer controls?
  - geocar 10y ago
    Sure. var st:SoundTransform = new SoundTransform(1.0); st.leftToLeft = st.leftToRight = 0.0; st.rightToLeft = st.rightToRight = 0.0; SoundMixer.soundTransform = st; Mutes the audio, but if a VPAID component naively checks: SoundMixer.soundTransform.volume they will get 1.0. Most don't even bother checking though.
- kieranr 10y ago
  I don't understand ad networks enough to grasp how fraudulent ad inventory works, but as this article shows - you can make a killing exploiting it.. As is stands, is there any sort of compliance measure (or regulatory body) to monitor/prevent ad fraud in these networks?
  - geocar 10y ago
    > I don't understand ad networks enough to grasp how fraudulent ad inventory works, but as this article shows - you can make a killing exploiting it.. Someone has some "sites" that they show to an ad network or an advertiser and tries to sell the impressions on those sites. They receive "ad tags" in exchange, and the theory is that users are exposed to the ads shown by those ad tags, and the advertiser is satisfied. However, once they have "ad tags", they can do whatever they want with them. They can find the URL signal that represents "give me money" and arrange to fire that signal. > As is stands, is there any sort of compliance measure (or regulatory body) to monitor/prevent ad fraud in these networks? No. The Media Rating Council[1] was endowed by congress with special powers that allow participants to talk to each other antitrust protections kicking in, but these conversations are extremely non-productive. [1]: http://mediaratingcouncil.org/ http://mediaratingcouncil.org/
- didntt 10y ago
  >Yahoo purchased a company who was selling video ads that were muted using uncommon AS3 mixer controls. Thanks for the code above. What was the company name? never heard of it.

Can we have a spamhaus for ad fraud? * list of botnet infected IPs participating in ad fraud * list of offending/incompetent SSP blindly accepting forged requests

geocar 10y ago

> Can we have a spamhaus for ad fraud? There are a lot of vendors in this space now, offering various kinds of "spamhaus"-type solutions. They're all crap because they operate blacklists of various kinds to keep their customers dependent. The ideal scenario is for ad networks/SSPs to implement the anti-fraud technology themselves, however getting there from here is difficult: The first ad network to go clean will be at a significant (fiscal) disadvantage. I'd like to get in touch with anyone ad network/SSP that wants to go first. > lists of botnet infected IPs participating in ad fraud This won't be enough. A popular "audience extender" is to use an iframe containing your site as an ad tag, and run it on your display network. Unless you have been using an ad blocker for the last ten years (and maybe even then), it's very likely your IP address has been used in ad fraud. > lists of offending/incompetent SSP blindly accepting forged requests Google facilitates an enormous amount of ad fraud, but media buyers have to buy from Google because nobody else sells Google search ads (except, I suppose, the injection people...) Yahoo purchased a company who was selling video ads that were muted using uncommon AS3 mixer controls. I think a much shorter list would be the media suppliers that don't have ad fraud on them and don't facilitate ad fraud. You'll find such a list below.

bryanrasmussen 10y ago
I upvoted you because of your helpful list.
- eis 10y ago
  Hm I can't seem to see any list. Where is it?
  - fsaintjacques 10y ago
    I almost replied like you did; the joke is that there is no such list.
    - B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
      ()
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
0x0 10y ago
Do you have any more information about the as3 mixer controls?
- geocar 10y ago
  Sure. var st:SoundTransform = new SoundTransform(1.0); st.leftToLeft = st.leftToRight = 0.0; st.rightToLeft = st.rightToRight = 0.0; SoundMixer.soundTransform = st; Mutes the audio, but if a VPAID component naively checks: SoundMixer.soundTransform.volume they will get 1.0. Most don't even bother checking though.
kieranr 10y ago
I don't understand ad networks enough to grasp how fraudulent ad inventory works, but as this article shows - you can make a killing exploiting it.. As is stands, is there any sort of compliance measure (or regulatory body) to monitor/prevent ad fraud in these networks?
- geocar 10y ago
  > I don't understand ad networks enough to grasp how fraudulent ad inventory works, but as this article shows - you can make a killing exploiting it.. Someone has some "sites" that they show to an ad network or an advertiser and tries to sell the impressions on those sites. They receive "ad tags" in exchange, and the theory is that users are exposed to the ads shown by those ad tags, and the advertiser is satisfied. However, once they have "ad tags", they can do whatever they want with them. They can find the URL signal that represents "give me money" and arrange to fire that signal. > As is stands, is there any sort of compliance measure (or regulatory body) to monitor/prevent ad fraud in these networks? No. The Media Rating Council[1] was endowed by congress with special powers that allow participants to talk to each other antitrust protections kicking in, but these conversations are extremely non-productive. [1]: http://mediaratingcouncil.org/ http://mediaratingcouncil.org/
didntt 10y ago
>Yahoo purchased a company who was selling video ads that were muted using uncommon AS3 mixer controls. Thanks for the code above. What was the company name? never heard of it.