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Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

forbes.com

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Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#51

Post by rcarrigan87 »

angusb wrote: post #16

Can anyone explain why it's the ad buyers that lose out in this case, not the ad network? Surely it makes way more sense for the ad networks to bare the financial responsibility of preventing ad fraud and not the ad buyer? (The ad equivalent of a money-back-guarantee) How is an ad buyer ever supposed to make an informed decision about how susceptible their chosen ad vendor is to fraud?

At this point, advertisers just assume some level of fraud is part of the deal with any platform.

As long as you're hitting your target ROI than advertising on still makes sense.

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#52

Post by tlrobinson »

geocar wrote: post #15

Normally a "real browser" can't run 100s of ad players at once, but "methbrowser" is a node.js application with a C module that speaks Flash's plugin protocol directly. It simulates a dom, runs JavaScript in a node VM, but doesn't have to do any of the messy rendering that things like PhantomJS have to. It was discovered years ago because: * Their IP stack was acting like Linux[1] * Their flash player said "I'm Linux…

Given the complexity and quirks of modern browser engines it seems like it should be pretty easy to detect this type of custom "browser".

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#53

Post by 77pt77 »

elcct wrote: post #33
77pt77 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> $13.04 per thousand faked views I thought the usual payout was an order of magnitude lower than that. Something like 1$ per thousand views

Probably $13.04 is what network takes for 1k views... publishers get scraps

I seriously doubt the order of magnitude is right.

I'd really like someone with monetized videos to give some real input on this.

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#54

Post by johnward »

Bombthecat wrote: post #40
ssharp wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you really want to put a dent in things, search for medical issues and click the law firm ads. I've seen clicks costing in the high hundreds.

For real? I also think that prices are extremely inflated. Even stuff which shows like hundred people a day costs you 8 dollar per click. No amount of selling will you get back the money. Imho something is wrong there...

> No amount of selling will you get back the money.

If that were true these ads would just go away, or cost less. They are making money.

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#55

Post by PretzelFisch »

ssharp wrote: post #36
rb808 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get a cheap thrill out of clicking ads to make people pay. Trump ad ... click Comcast ... click Ambulance chasing lawyer ... click click click So that would be better than random - a plugin that clicks the ads for things you don't like or aren't interested in.

If you really want to put a dent in things, search for medical issues and click the law firm ads. I've seen clicks costing in the high hundreds.

Do we have an api that will let me know how much a given ad costs? I fancy a bot/extension that clicks the most costly ad.

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#58

Post by shawabawa3 »

77pt77 wrote: post #53
elcct wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably $13.04 is what network takes for 1k views... publishers get scraps

I seriously doubt the order of magnitude is right. I'd really like someone with monetized videos to give some real input on this.

I used to work on an online video platform where we were selling some 30-second unskippable video ads for £20CPM, so order of magnitude seems right to me

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#59

Post by nightbrawler »

geocar wrote: post #15

Normally a "real browser" can't run 100s of ad players at once, but "methbrowser" is a node.js application with a C module that speaks Flash's plugin protocol directly. It simulates a dom, runs JavaScript in a node VM, but doesn't have to do any of the messy rendering that things like PhantomJS have to. It was discovered years ago because: * Their IP stack was acting like Linux[1] * Their flash player said "I'm Linux…

Here's an awesome technical writeup about MethBot: http://go.whiteops.com/rs/179-SQE-823/images/WO_Methbot_Oper...

Re: Hackers Make $5M a Day by Faking 300M Video Views

#60

Post by kelvin0 »

I know some legitimate businesses depend on ads for revenue, but it really has become ridiculous. As a 'normal' internet user, being bombarded and having websites complaining about my ad blocker is starting to piss off quite a bit of people.

When I need something, I buy it online most of the time (if possible).

I'm kinda happy someone is gaming that whole system against them, maybe it will help transform the ad ecosystem into something that does not seem to be obtrusive and annoying to most people.

Quite open to counter points if anyone accepts explaining them (instead of simply down voting this comment)

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