Tag Archives: fraud

Ad Blockers: Common Sense

Posted on Monday, 8 January 2018 9:18 am by

With the recent news of the Spectre and Meltdown CPU flaws, it’s more important than ever that you do a few things: Install ad blockers (do your homework first* [update: see how-to below]!) Turn on DNT (for whatever that’s worth) … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, fraud, Media, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Another Day, More Digital Fraud

Posted on Wednesday, 22 November 2017 9:20 am by

How many of your ad tech and mar tech technology providers called you in September and October and said “Hey, we’re seeing some odd things happening and we think maybe there’s some new fraud taking place. Maybe you should cut … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Media, Security, Tactics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Checklist Marketing: Digital Media List

Posted on Friday, 6 October 2017 8:35 am by

Bob Liodice and Marc Pritchard took to the bully pulpit at the ANA’s Masters of Marketing conference yesterday, and kept up the pressure on the adtech shysters who steal our money. As Liodice said,  “CMOs operate in the most nontransparent … Continue reading →

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Ads.txt: Cui bono?

Posted on Thursday, 5 October 2017 8:27 am by

Ads.txt is not the answer to solving the widespread problem of fraud in the digital marketing ecosystem, but it’s a small step in the right direction. I was glad to hear that MediaMath announced that it will begin rapidly rolling out … Continue reading →

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Bots in the Walled Garden!

Posted on Friday, 29 September 2017 10:17 am by

I’ve been getting a spike in “likes” every week for my Facebook business page over the last 4-6 months. They’re all clearly bot likes, as they appear to come from India, where I do no business nor have friends or … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Canal Street Ad Impressions

Posted on Wednesday, 27 September 2017 8:50 am by

You’ll never find a real Rolex on Canal Street in New York City for $30. But for some reason we delude ourselves into believing that the FT.com ad impressions that show up on some sketchy exchange for $2 CPM are … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Media | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Videri Quam Esse: P&G and Digital Advertising

Posted on Monday, 31 July 2017 10:11 am by

P&G cut between $100 and $140 million in digital advertising last quarter and sales went up. I don’t mean they were flat or that margins went up through a short-sided strategy of cutting marketing investment. This wasn’t just advertising that sort … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Marketing, Media, Strategy, Tactics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Occam’s Bots

I was reading “Mythbusting Digital Ad Fraud” by Dr. Augustine Fou this morning and this quote struck me: “Do you think humans really spend 30 mins a day ON AVERAGE watching videos on mobile? They may, but there is an … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Tuesday, 6 June 2017 7:18 am by | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fake News Root Cause: Digital Advertisers

Posted on Wednesday, 10 May 2017 9:32 am by

Somewhere in our rush to use digital media, we got obsessed with reach and the size of audiences (the magic word again) and impressions. We got taken for a ride by the ad tech industry hucksters, who built an almost-perfect money-making machine on top of fake inventory created on phony websites. Continue reading →

Posted in fraud, Leadership, Marketing, Philosophy, Rants | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Assume Fraud Is Worse

When you’re looking to reduce your ad fraud rates, always: Pick the vendor that detects the most fraud Check every impression (not a sample) for fraud Look for brokered traffic (it’s garbage) Assume fraud is worse than you think Don’t be … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Tuesday, 2 May 2017 7:36 am by | Tagged , | Leave a comment