Independent Researcher, Dr. Augustine Fou, Shows Digital Ad Fraud at All-Time Highs

Despite using "every flavor of fraud detection," case after case of massive ad fraud are still being documented and reported.

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Marketing Science Consulting Group, Inc.

Jun 06, 2018, 04:47 ET

NEW YORK, June 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study "State of Digital Ad Fraud Q2 2018" published by Dr. Augustine Fou, an independent ad fraud and cybersecurity researcher exposes the true extent of ad fraud and how it continues to thrive, despite the widespread use of fraud detection technologies.

Published Study: https://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/state-of-digital-ad-fraud-q2-2018

Digital ad fraud is the most profitable criminal activity - high margins, low risk, infinitely scalable.

Everyone is aware of ad fraud. Some believe it is under control and even going down. This study shows that this is not the case. In fact, based on the overwhelming evidence, ad fraud is at its all-time highs, both in rate and in dollars despite the use of fraud detection technologies. Many forms of fraud are truly enormous and have gone on for years. They continue undetected by current fraud detection technologies because they do not necessarily involve bots hitting webpages.

More specifically, mobile apps can easily "misbehave" by loading thousands of impressions in the background – a form of fraud that is missed by bot-detection technology companies. Redirect traffic fraud – where webpages autoredirect to other webpages in infinite loops – are also invisible to bot detection. So, while many participants in the digital ad supply chain think ad fraud is low, it is not; instead, it is simply because detection technologies are not catching it.

Independent researcher, Dr. Augustine Fou, has documented each form of fraudulent activity over the years, shows current data on fraud in client campaigns despite the use of fraud detection, how each form of fraud has evaded detection, and what marketers can do to protect themselves – "sometimes with just plain ol' common sense."

Citing one of the slides, a reporter commented "so interesting, so facepalm – 'top mobile apps by ad revenue … are entirely different than the ones humans use most'."

About Marketing Science Consulting Group, Inc.
Marketing Science Consulting Group, Inc. is a management consulting firm, founded in 2000 by Dr. Augustine Fou, that provides digital strategy consulting to clients in diverse industry sectors. Dr Fou helps clients optimize marketing campaigns across both digital and traditional channels, with a specific focus on attribution and analytics and the reduction of ad fraud.

Contact: Dr. Augustine Fou [email protected]

https://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou/presentations

SOURCE Marketing Science Consulting Group, Inc.