Malware and botnets enable ad fraud by generating fake pageviews and video views.

1. Stats of Malware that
Enables Ad Fraud
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://linkd.in/augustinefou
October 2013
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2. UPDATE: June 2013
Source: Google Safe Browsing Initiative
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3. Network Block Analysis
Source: StopBadware.org
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4. Phishing Sites – June 2012
Source: Google Safe Browsing Initiative
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5. Infected Sites – June 2012
Drive by downloads install and
run a variety of malicious
programs, such as:
Spyware to gather information
like your banking credentials.
Malware that uses your computer
to send spam.
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Source: Google Safe Browsing Initiative
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6. Attack Sites – June 2012
Attack sites are purposely built
for distributing malware and try to
avoid detection by services such
as Safe Browsing. To do so, they
adopt several techniques, such as
rapidly changing their location
through free web hosting,
dynamic DNS records, and
automated generation of new
domain names.
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Source: Google Safe Browsing Initiative
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7. What Bots Are Used For
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8. Traffic Firehose
Source: Alexa
Source: Quantcast
Legit human traffic does not change rapidly; but bot traffic
(firehose) can be rapidly turned on or off and directed to other sites.
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9. Fake Mobile Ad Traffic
While “mobile” is more likely to be human, there is no guarantee!
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10. Solving Captchas
A captcha is difficult for most computers to solve because it distorts letters
and numbers in unusual ways, says Vicarious co-founder Scott Phoenix.
Humans use their powers of perception to see a "m and o" with a line through
it and still read the word "morning."
"We picked CAPTCHA to solve because it was explicitly designed to be
impossible for computers to solve. If you're trying to build artificial
intelligence, CAPTCHA a great test," Phoenix says.
Source: Business Insider October 28, 2013
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11. Fraud Value Chain
impressions
clicks
Networks of algo-generated
content sites that attract free
organic search traffic
Botnets generate fake pageviews
which produce ad impression
“inventory” (get paid for CPM)
leads
Click farms generate fake clicks (get
paid for CPC)
sales
Fake leads (get paid for CPL minus cost of
filling out lead forms)
Fake sales via affiliate revenue shares; money
laundering, especially on digital goods/subscriptions
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12. Related Articles
Bad Guys Happily Rob Display Advertisers
By: Augustine Fou, July 23, 2012
Everything Fake (Display Ad Fraud, Search Click Fraud)
By: Augustine Fou, April 2013
Blacklisting vs Whitelisting
By: Augustine Fou, October 2013
Fake Profiles on Facebook
By: Augustine Fou, July 2013
How Display Ad Fraud Works
By: Augustine Fou, May 2013
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13. Dr. Augustine Fou – Digital Consigliere
“I advise clients on optimizing
advertising across all channels. Using
insights and fast-feedback loops from
digital, we can not only target brand ads
better, but we can shift towards more
detailed measurement and ROI.”
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
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