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Trust
Eric, He Can Stop Click Fraud
Despite a recent $90 million settlement in a click fraud case, Google CEO Eric
Schmidt claims his company sees fake clicks before the advertisers do.
Yahoo
To Kickoff Mobile World Cup App
A deal between major World Cup sponsor Yahoo and mobile application developer
Everypoint will provide real-time information about the competition this summer.
GM
User Created Ad Contest Backfires
Giving the public the opportunity to create Chevy Tahoe video advertisements led
to the creation of numerous anti-SUV commercials instead.
Movies
For Sale Online – Legally!
Except for the high prices, restrictive usage terms, and no extras a la typical
DVDs, Hollywood has at least attempted to enter the downloadable movie market.
Google
Maps The Way To Version 2
The official launch of the Google Maps API Version 2 provides a number of tweaks
to enhance its performance and decrease the number of memory leaks that happened
in previous versions.
Pavlov’s
Search Engine: Blingo.com
There are effective gimmicks and then there are effective gimmicks. A search engine
named Blingo.com, hands out random prizes to searchers like iPods, movie tickets,
a PlayStation Portable, or Visa gift cards.
Google
Subpoena Just "Tip Of the Iceberg"
The US Department of Justice harassed more than the major search engines for information
to support its case for the Child Online Protection Act. A Freedom of Information
Act request by Information Week revealed that the DOJ also sought evidence from
nearly three dozen ISPs, search engines, and security companies.
Promptu
Gives Mobile A Voice In Search
Voice-activated search and navigation company, Promptu, recently released a technology
for voice search on mobile phones, allowing wireless subscribers seek out and
purchase available content by speaking.
Korea
Vows Online Robots In Every Home
A heaping dose of Battle Bots and movies like Terminator and I, Robot have instilled
a (healthy?) paranoia of centrally controlled robot futures - at least in the
States. In South Korea, not so much, as the country announced its plan to have
a robot in every home...
AOL
Much Ado About Mobile
With the ubiquitous presence of mobile phones and their ever-expanding functionality,
AOL has taken steps to make its services more available to mobile phone users.
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Tuesday Apr 04, 2006 |
Advertisers who expect their Overture ad campaigns to run with certain Yahoo Searches may be surprised to find their ads running in syndicated spyware applications that render each impression as an ad click the advertiser must pay.
Editor's Note: Ben Edelman has again made some damning claims
about Yahoo and its relationship with spyware vendors. Have your Overture campaigns
seen behavior that looks like click fraud? Tell us more at WebProWorld.
 When
that click is paid, according to spyware researcher Ben Edelman, Yahoo and the
spyware vendor split the revenue. Edelman has
followed up his August
2005 research into spyware receiving payments from Yahoo's Overture by noting
an increase in this possible syndication fraud.
"In my August syndication fraud examples, an advertiser only pays Yahoo if a user clicks the advertiser's ad. Not so for three of today's examples. Here, spyware completely fakes a click -- causing Yahoo to charge an advertiser a "pay-per-click" fee, even though no user actually clicked on any pay-per-click link. This is "click fraud," Edelman wrote.
Edelman documented three examples where actual click fraud took place. He named 180solutions, Nbcsearch, and Look2me/Ad-w-a-r-e as culprits in presenting popup ads that defrauded advertisers with Yahoo.
"Spyware syndication falls within the general problem of syndication-based click fraud. Suppose X, the Yahoo partner site, hires a spyware vendor to send users to its site and to make it appear as if those users clicked X's Yahoo ads. Then advertisers will pay Yahoo, and Yahoo will pay X, even though users never actually clicked the ads," said Edelman.
His examples of this click fraud are not guesswork and assumptions. For each case, Edelman provided a full packet log, annontated screenshots, and video of the spyware-based click fraud taking place.
A fourth example of nefarious practices taking place involves the practice of inserting pay-per-click links into text without the consent of the publisher. Edelman displayed one example of this, a story about Iraq from the New York Times website that had a third-party link inserted.
Edelman believes that Overture is the sole funding source for Qklinkserver.com, which inserted the link. He diagrammed the process that took place with this insertion:
(T)he net effect of these practices is that advertisers pay Yahoo, then Yahoo pays Intermix (Sirsearch), then Intermix pays Searchdistribution.net which pays Qklinkserver.com / Srch-results.com.
Intermix, the parent of MySpace, is now owned by News Corp. Intermix has been implicated in spyware schemes in the past, when the company was investigated by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office before News Corp purchased it.
While News Corp has been publicly cleaning up MySpace, it may need to take a harder look at some of Intermix's other businesses. And Yahoo should be doing these types of audits itself, instead of waiting for Edelman or someone else to do them before correcting a problem.
About
the Author:
David is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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America Online has settled its identity crisis and accepted its nickname. "My
name is…AOL!" said the company, reminiscent of Gene Wilder's proud realization
that he was a Frankenstein after all.
The company says the name official change is more reflective of the world's recognition of the company by its initials, and falls in line with the broader plan for international expansion. The branding is meant to imply that it is "everyone's" ISP, not just Americans'.
"Our company long ago accomplished the mission implied by our old name ... we literally got America online," said Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of AOL.
"Our new corporate identity better reflects our expanded mission - to make everyone's online experience better. Plus, consumers in the U.S. and around the world already know us by our initials."
In addition to rebranding, AOL's legal structure was changed from corporation to limited liability company. By changing to an LLC, Time Warner can still incorporate AOL financial information for tax purposes, but is protected from lawsuits filed against AOL.
This is the second name change for AOL. The company was originally founded in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services, Inc. After an employee naming contest in 1991, the name was changed to America Online, Inc.
Last October, Miller announced that the company would also stop sending out CDs, which means everyone will now have to go out and buy new drink coasters. Since they began their direct mail CD campaign, AOL has pestered America with over 660 million CDs.
About
the Author:
Jason is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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