by certifiedbug on April 29, 2010
in News
Ben Edelman, Sony’s Crackle: Invisible Traffic Galore
Advertisers buying display ads from Sony’s Crackle.com rightly and reasonably expect that users can see the ads. After all, a visible ad is a basic and crucial condition for effective display advertising: If a user can’t see ad, then the impression is wasted, as is the associated spending. Nonetheless, in a surprising series of incidents, numerous Crackle partners are loading the Crackle site invisibly — thereby overcharging advertisers for worthless invisible impressions.
Edelman presents three recent examples: http://www.benedelman.org/news/042710-1.html
http://certifiedbug.com/blog/tag/edelman/
Benjamin Edelman
January 12, 2010
I’ve repeatedly reported improper placements of Google ads. In most of my write-ups, the impropriety occurs in ad placement — Google PPC ads shown in spyware popups, in typosquatting sites or in improperly-installed and/or deceptive toolbars. This article is different: Here, the impropriety includes a fake click — click fraud — charging an advertiser for a PPC click, when in fact the user never actually clicked.
But this is no ordinary click fraud. Here, spyware on a user’s PC monitors the user’s browsing to determine the user’s likely purchase intent. Then the spyware fakes a click on a Google PPC ad promoting the exact merchant the user was already visiting. If the user proceeds to make a purchase — reasonably likely for a user already intentionally requesting the merchant’s site — the merchant will naturally credit Google for the sale. Furthermore, a standard ad optimization strategy will lead the merchant to increase its Google PPC bid for this keyword on the reasonable (albeit mistaken) view that Google is successfully finding new customers. But in fact Google and its partners are merely taking credit for customers the merchant had already reached by other methods.
In this piece, I show the details of the spyware that tracks user browsing and fakes Google PPC ad clicks, and I identify the numerous intermediaries that perpetrate these improper charges. I then criticize Google’s decision to continue placing ads through InfoSpace, the traffic broker that connected Google to this click fraud chain. I consider this practice in light of Google’s advice to advertisers and favored arguments that click fraud problems are small and manageable. Finally, I propose specific actions Google should take to satisfy to prevent these scams and to satisfy Google’s obligations to advertisers.
Article here
http://certifiedbug.com/blog/tag/edelman/
by certifiedbug on November 13, 2009
in Microsoft
Microsoft PressPass
Microsoft is enabling global marketers to utilize the desktop or Internet browsing experience exclusively for their brand, with Windows Theme Experience and Windows Personalization Gallery. The announcement was made at the Monaco Media Forum in Monte Carlo.
Both of these Windows 7 theme experiences are being tested by a handful of brands as part of a pilot program that runs until October 2010. The themes allow new consumer engagement opportunities across Microsoft’s unique product portfolio and let consumers connect with their favorite brands outside of traditional online advertising. The themes are opt in for consumers, who have the choice to download the branded themes they are most passionate about.
ZDNet article. http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=4538
by certifiedbug on September 21, 2009
in News
Benjamin Edelman
I offer five rights to protect advertisers from increasingly powerful ad networks — avoiding fraudulent charges for services not rendered, guaranteeing data portability so advertisers get the best possible value, and assuring price transparency so advertisers know what they’re buying. I explain the need for these rights by presenting specific practices causing particular concern.
Towards a Bill of Rights for Online Advertisers
