Marketers are becoming increasingly vulnerable to fraud on the internet – both from targeted attacks launched from fake ads, and more recently, from 'legitimate' publishers looking to eke out extra money from advertisers.
In 2007, MarketingVOX was snookered by a fraudulent and malicious trojan-horse campaign, while the most recent victim has been The New York Times, after the venerable publisher inadvertently sold fake ads to hackers, reported All Things Digital.
These don't appear to be isolated incidents. French ad holding company Publicis has been warning web publishers to be on the lookout for these bogus ads and described the problem as an "industry issue."
The rogue ads, which most often appear to be for a mainstream company - in this case Vonage - instead become platforms for hackers to distribute malware. What the malware does is unclear, but it could be for any purpose from launching a widespread phishing attack to finding a back door into a company’s internal systems.
Invisible Ads on Rise
Another growing problem, discussed in depth in a new report by Harvard University business professor Ben Edelman, are sleight-of-hand tactics used by some websites to sell more advertising than they have space for.
These publishers use so-called invisible ads created by computer codes. To marketers it appears that their ads are running on the actual website – but in fact they are on special sites created with deception in mind.
Edelman, who studies internet advertising and advocates for the industry, said that Kraft Foods, Greyhound Lines and Capital One Financial were among the firms victimized.
Safeguarding against such tactics will require more vigilance - and less automation - on the part of marketers. Audit procedures can protect against invisible ads, according to Edelman, while manually verifying ad orders would winnow out fraudulent campaigns designed by hackers, Publicis says.
Online Bill of Rights Needed
These risks to marketers and “the increasingly powerful ad networks” are among the reasons why Edelman is calling for a Bill of Rights for Online Advertisers with “An advertiser’s right to know where its ads are shown” first on the list.
“Fraudulent placements risk draining advertisers’ budgets with no genuine marketing benefit,” Edelman said, noting that he has found Google ads placed through deceptive toolbars that create search ad traffic when users attempt direct navigation. He’s also found Google ads placed through spyware/adware targeting merchants’ own organic traffic as well as Google ads placed through typosquatting sites,which feature subtle misspellings of advertisers’ own names.
Banner ads pose equal threats, Edelman added, noting that some shady companies document impressions faked through nested invisible windows, and spyware that loads banners invisibly and even fakes clicks.
Industry watchers believe it remains unclear how much traction Edelman’s push for transparency will gain. There isn’t "immense pressure from advertisers" for change as the vast majority of ad disputes come from a small minority of parties, said search engine marketing expert Kevin Lee.
