YouTube video views and ad impressions can be faked -- and so they are by bad guys looking to make money from the huge surge in video ad budgets.

1. How Video Fraud
Works (ads, views)
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://linkd.in/augustinefou
February 2014
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Augustine Fou

2. Motive
(of the bad guys)
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Augustine Fou

3. Partner Channels
Source: comScore July 17, 2013
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Augustine Fou

4. Ad Revenue Share
YouTube Ends The 'Sweetheart Deals'
Enjoyed By TV And Film Studios
YouTube restructured the terms in partnerships it has with TV
networks and major film studios. The new terms put an end to
"sweetheart deals," wherein TV and film producers would keep up to
70% of ad revenues — now their share has been reduced to
55%. YouTube says it hopes to have all its partnerships, which
includes CBS and Warner Bros., transitioned to the new revenue split
by January 2014.
Source: BusinessInsider November 4, 2013
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Augustine Fou

5. Display and Video Ads
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Augustine Fou

6. Video Ads Are Lucrative
Video ad CPMs
are $8 - $12,
which means
they are more
than 10X more
lucrative than
display or
mobile ads.
Source: Turn, Inc.
October 2013
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Augustine Fou

7. Budget Allocation to Video
Source: AdoTube via MarketingCharts March 2013
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Augustine Fou

8. Video Ad Budgets from ...
An October 2013 survey
from Adap.tv and33% New budget and
Digiday polled digital
marketing professionalsFrom a bead on the
31% to get Broadcast TV
Where are video ad budgets coming from?video 30% FromThey found that
print, and display ad budgets
state of the TV, ad industry. display ad budgets
online advertising budgets were most often
growing at the expense of TV broadcast
budgets, according to brands. In fact, 31% of
brands that responded were planning to shift
their advertising budgets away from broadcast
television and into online video, while 30%
planned to take money away from display
advertising for online video.
Source: Adap.tv and Digiday via MarketingCharts October 2013
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Augustine Fou

9. Online Video
Ad Stats
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Augustine Fou

10. UPDATE: Jan 2014
Dec 2013 35.2B
video ads per month
Source: comScore, Jan 2014 via MarketingCharts
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Augustine Fou

11. UPDATE: Dec 2013
Nov 2013 reach = 56% frequency = 155 ads /mo
Source: comScore, dec 2013 via MarketingCharts
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Augustine Fou

12. Digital Video Ad Spend
Source: eMarketer, March 2013
Digital video ad
spend continues to
rise rapidly as more
TV ad dollars shift to
digital.
Because video CPMs
are so much more
lucrative, it is more
lucrative for bad
guys too.
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Augustine Fou

13. Video Minutes and Ads
Viewers watched 1,250
minutes of online video in
May 2013 (20.8 hours/mo or
42 mins per day)
Video ads accounted for 27.9
percent of all videos viewed
and 2.6% of all minutes spent
viewing video online
Source: comScore June 2013
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Augustine Fou

14. Video Ad Formats (length)
Source: tnooz.com Feb 2013
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Augustine Fou

15. Video Ads CPMs
Video ad CPMs
are $8 - $12,
which means
they are more
than 10X more
lucrative than
display or
mobile ads.
Source: Turn, Inc.
October 2013
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Augustine Fou

16. Video Ad Fraud
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Augustine Fou

17. Documented Fraud
REPORT: AOL's $400 Million Video Ad Business
Has Tons Of Bogus Inventory – By: Jim Edwards
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/aol-adaptv-deal-comeswith-bogus-ad-inventory-adweek-says-2013-8#ixzz2sawEgWzD
Leaked Document Shows How Big Brands' Video Ad
Budgets Get Spent On Asian Porn Sites – By: Jim Edwards
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/telemetry-document-adbudgets-asian-porn-2013-12#ixzz2sawbKAL4
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Augustine Fou

18. Video Ad Impressions
50 - 77%
fraudulent, autoplay, wasted, not-in-view
Source: Vindico via Adweek, December 15, 2013
eMarketer: Digital Video Ad Spend est. $4B in 2013
• Advanced bots are programmed to load video ads and wait
till they are counted as ―views‖ before leaving the page
• Video ads have 10x the CPM compared with display ads, and
are therefore a prime target for ‗bad guys‘
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Augustine Fou

19. Where Fake Impressions Come From
Ad exchanges are particularly prone to fraud because shady sites sell enormous
quantities ―ad impression inventory‖ into the exchanges for re-sale.
Source: Integral Ad Science, via BusinessWeek Nov 26, 2013
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Augustine Fou

20. Video Ad Viewability
A new study [download page] from
VideoHub indicates that during the first
quarter, average viewability for online
video ads in the US was 83%, although
rates varied widely among properties,
from 43% on the low end to 94% on the
high end. Broadcast TV sites fared best
(89% on average) among property
categories, with networks and
exchanges (73%) bringing up the rear.
Source: VideoHub August 2013 via MarketingCharts
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Augustine Fou

21. Video Ad Views Fraud
35 billion
video ad impressions /mo
40%
Source: Vindico, 2013
estimated fake views
~$8 - $12
cost per thousand
$1-2 billion
wasted ad spend
(annualized)
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Augustine Fou

22. Fake YouTube
Videos for SEO
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Augustine Fou

23. Google Search
―selena gomez nude‖
22.3M results
• 4 of 10 page 1 results are
YouTube videos
• exact duplicate video,
different keywords on page
• click through to same porn site
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Augustine Fou

24. All Videos Go To Same Site
http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=upSOCzlSoHk
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lhbDGpqCmZQ
http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UcdiM4uD6fM
http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=an6xRpQ5Wh8
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Augustine Fou

25. Google Search
―natalie portman nude‖
10.6M results
• 4 of 10 page 1 results are
YouTube videos
• exact duplicate video,
different keywords on page
• click through to same porn site
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Augustine Fou

26. Google Search
―ariana grande nude‖
3.3M results
• 5 of 10 page 1 results are
YouTube videos
• exact duplicate video,
different keywords on page
• click through to same porn site
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Augustine Fou

27. What Legit Viral Video
Traffic Curve Looks Like
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Augustine Fou

28. Improv Everywhere
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo
In the cumulative chart, the initial rise is large and then it flattens out. In the
daily chart, after an initial, large spike the long tail remains low.
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Augustine Fou

29. Space Jump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f-K-XnHi9I
The cumulative chart shows asymptotic rise and the daily chart shows
asymptotic drop to near baseline. NOTE: the official RedBull video has
statistics turned off so this one was used instead.
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Augustine Fou

30. Old Spice Guy
Views supported by TV ads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
Increases in views correspond to
support by TV ads; search volume at
those exact times also corroborate.
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Search volume for ―old spice guy‖
Augustine Fou

31. What Purchased Video
Views Looks Like
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Augustine Fou

32. Bruno Mars – Treasure
straight line
propped up baseline
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPvuNsRccVw
In the cumulative chart, views are perfectly straight line (consistent with a set
amount of purchased views over time). In the daily chart, the traffic remains
―propped up‖ and shows regular spikes; this is inconsistent with naturally occurring
PR or word of mouth generated views.
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Augustine Fou

33. Macklemore – Same Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0
When they started buying traffic
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Augustine Fou

34. What Advertisers
Can/Should Do
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Augustine Fou

35. Areas of Optimization
30%
40%
30%
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targeting
improving
optimization
delivery
viewability
bots /not seen by humans
waste
reduction
Augustine Fou

36. Low Hanging Fruit
The most immediate, direct impact on ROI comes from reducing waste
25% On-Target Delivery
(Nielsen)
54% Not In View
(comScore)
23% Ad Blocked
(PageFair)
24 – 29% confirmed bot
(Solve Media)
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Augustine Fou

37. Digital Ad Forensics Process
Preliminary Scan
Sizing of
ad fraud
Forensic Analysis
Maintenance
• Technology Tools
• Statistical analysis
• Budget shifts
• Further optimization
Implementation
FREE
$$$
Preliminary analysis of
paid campaigns and
analytics to determine
magnitude of the ad
fraud impacting client.
Creating recommended
list of changes,
including list of sites to
exclude in each ad
channel.
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$
Subscribe to triangulated,
cross-industry database of
―ad fraud offenders‖ to
continuously update
blacklists and whitelists.
Augustine Fou

38. Dr. Augustine Fou – Digital Consigliere
“I advise clients on optimizing
advertising across all channels. One
main area of focus is reducing ad waste
due to fraud – fake impressions, clicks,
leads, and sales.”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
ClickZ Articles: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-clickz
Slideshares: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-slideshares
LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/augustinefou
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@acfou
Augustine Fou

39. Related Articles
Digital Ad Fraud Briefing
By: Augustine Fou December 2013
Fake Linkedin Profiles
By: Augustine Fou, December 2013
Ad Fraud Fighting Techniques
By: Augustine Fou October 2013
Fake Facebook Profiles
By: Augustine Fou, Dec 2013
How Display Fraud Works
By: Augustine Fou, May 2013
Fake Twitter Accounts
By: Augustine Fou, August 2013
How Click Fraud Works
By: Augustine Fou, November 2013
An Ecosystem of Digital Ad Fraud
By: Augustine Fou, October 2013
The Magnitude of Digital Ad Fraud
By: Augustine Fou, November 2013
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Augustine Fou