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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

#91

Post by hnguy4 »

baybal2 wrote: post #73
tlrobinson wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Aah, they were doing it for the last 10 years or so. People who are serious into botting have software that basicaly runs the browser in a vm. The level of programming skill in the "industrial scale botting" community is high. Top tier botters can easily get into +$100k club if they were doing whitehat stuff.

I am a developer with these types of skills, but was mainly testing for a pet project scraping data. What are you referring to with the "whitehat stuff" to get in the 100k+ (/day) club?

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

#92

Post by kelvin0 »

kuschku wrote: post #81
jstandard wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I can see how this would really help transform the ad ecosystem, even on a sustained basis. The hackers did this enrich themselves at the expense of companies wanting to advertise a product. If the victimized companies were selling low value or dubious products (a value judgement) like magical diet pills, then it might bankrupt a few of them in the short-term. Maybe those companies who lost money go back…

> In the end, what actual change do you think would be enacted by companies who wish to advertise their products being the victim of fraud? They stop advertising through the web, and we can get rid of the ad-driven startup bubble, and get rid of most ads on the web in general.

This. Thanks for clarifying to parent poster.

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

#93

Post by sangnoir »

techer wrote: post #34
riprowan wrote: post #5

So one way this fraud is committed is by consuming the content (youtube videos, spotify plays, etc) and taking in the direct revenue streams. The bigger picture is virality. Nobody wants to watch your video with 100 views. Same video with 10M views, now everyone has to watch it. The music business has been doing this so much for so long that it's to the point where I automatically distrust everything that's "popular"…

This is a decent place to find videos that haven't been gamed: https://www.reddit.com/r/DeepIntoYouTube/

I'm not sure how big that subreddit is, but it sounds like the place I'd go to get views - that is game my videos if I were unscrupulous.

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

#94

Post by angry-hacker »

riprowan wrote: post #5

So one way this fraud is committed is by consuming the content (youtube videos, spotify plays, etc) and taking in the direct revenue streams. The bigger picture is virality. Nobody wants to watch your video with 100 views. Same video with 10M views, now everyone has to watch it. The music business has been doing this so much for so long that it's to the point where I automatically distrust everything that's "popular"…

Just like the old-school radio scam, where radio DJ's were paid to say they played certain songs but they didn't. Then people created charts using that data and paid artists found themselves popular... system(s) have been always gamed :)

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

#95

Post by hoprocker »

echelon wrote: post #2

I've long wondered if the best ad blocker would be a client that simply randomly clicks ads instead of blocking them. If you send fake clicks and spoof looking like real activity, that will pressure both advertisers and the websites that display ads. If millions of people do this...

This isn't for ads, but if you want to obfuscate Google's profile of you in the background, you can check out NYU's TrackMeNot: https://cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/

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

#99

Post by squozzer »

rbanffy wrote: post #49
finid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your imagination, my friend, scares me.

We scare because we care.

Oops, you may have inadvertantly triggered the next big entertainment vehicle - The Scare Bears. Or as some call them, just bears.

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

#100

Post by B1FF_PSUVM »

Senji wrote: post #67
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.

It would be extremely hilarious if when google detects you're doing that, it locks you out of all of your google accounts.

Fortunately it's just the Chinese who intend to control their population with online reputation indexes ...

(Have they come up with "no fly" lists over there yet?)

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