In my twenty-plus years in the advertising industry, I’ve learned, among other things, that advertisers copy what works — and so do scammers. My startup, InfoHawk, recently traced a deepfake campaign selling a fake Alzheimer’s cure that ran across several ad networks and SMS, and implicated 35 different service providers, from domain registrars to video hosts.
Scaled access to ad data is how you find networks like that and push them off the whole supply chain, not just one channel. But as tensions around ad fraud mount, some regulators are now asking: how much of the ad ecosystem should be visible, and to whom?
The U.K.’s online safety regulator, Ofcom, is finishing a consultation on new rules that would require the largest platforms and search engines to tackle fraudulent advertising under the Online Safety Act 2023. Ofcom’s proposals are serious, including advertiser verification,…
Scammers capitalize on major disasters or heart-wrenching stories to solicit donations for non-existent charities. They often use names that are very similar to well-known, legitimate organizations to confuse donors.