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Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

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Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#71
post #67
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or for the contentcreators, think Youtube, their CPM going from 2$ to 0.5$ just because people dislike Google seems a little cruel.

The cynic in me: Oh, no, my daughter will have less 2h videos of people unwrapping Kinder surprise eggs to watch; a cultural loss.

Killer feature! Does Adnauseum work on iPad? :)

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#72
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to understand the level of _schadenfreude_ that warrants use of AdNauseam. Ads can be hated. That's all right. But, why would anyone be so hell bent on depleting advertisers budget. What if the advertiser is not a rich company but a small business. How acceptable it's to destroy the potential value of her budget? Of course, Google might already be detecting it, but the intent of AdNeuseam seems nothing but…

Or for the contentcreators, think Youtube, their CPM going from 2$ to 0.5$ just because people dislike Google seems a little cruel.

YouTube already ruined the CPM of creators several months ago, through a bunch of hair-brained schemes to try to appeal to advertisers that were scared by flat-out lies by WSJ.

AdNauseum was created long after the "adpocalypse". I would not be surprised if some people are using it in protest of YouTube's attempts to ruin the ability for independent media to fund themselves.

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#73
post #8

In related news, certain subreddits have been promoting the use of https://adnauseam.io/ , a fork of uBlock origin that automatically clicks all the ads encountered. The same redditors also encourage searching for high-CPC terms (e.g. insurance or rare medical conditions) to maximize the impact.

It's hard to understand the level of _schadenfreude_ that warrants use of AdNauseam. Ads can be hated. That's all right. But, why would anyone be so hell bent on depleting advertisers budget. What if the advertiser is not a rich company but a small business. How acceptable it's to destroy the potential value of her budget? Of course, Google might already be detecting it, but the intent of AdNeuseam seems nothing but…

I think the intent is to screw Google over. The advertisers are an unfortunate casualty

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#74
post #59
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with ads is much bigger than most people realize. To put it simply: ads work against the free market; instead of the "best" product, the one with the largest advertisement budget wins.

Free market cannot work without propagation of information. Curious what kind of mechanism you envision to solve that problem: public service anouncements in place of ads ?

If ads were the only type of information, we were already doomed.

For example, why do you think reviews are so important?

Also, you are reading articles through HN, not by watching ads for them first.

Then there is the age-old word-of-mouth.

Or seeing products in action with friends.

I could go on and on.

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#75
post #8

In related news, certain subreddits have been promoting the use of https://adnauseam.io/ , a fork of uBlock origin that automatically clicks all the ads encountered. The same redditors also encourage searching for high-CPC terms (e.g. insurance or rare medical conditions) to maximize the impact.

It's hard to understand the level of _schadenfreude_ that warrants use of AdNauseam. Ads can be hated. That's all right. But, why would anyone be so hell bent on depleting advertisers budget. What if the advertiser is not a rich company but a small business. How acceptable it's to destroy the potential value of her budget? Of course, Google might already be detecting it, but the intent of AdNeuseam seems nothing but…

I think there are two major point why people hate ads: no privacy and a potential source of malware and what not.

Yesterday I was looking for a nice Android game and stumbled upon Mekorama. Not only is it a great game but the developer is asking very politely for some money without the use of ads. In the reviews you can see this is an absolute bonus. And because of this the game doesn't need ads for exposure. See, I just promoted the game on HN.

People just hate ads.

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#76
post #8

In related news, certain subreddits have been promoting the use of https://adnauseam.io/ , a fork of uBlock origin that automatically clicks all the ads encountered. The same redditors also encourage searching for high-CPC terms (e.g. insurance or rare medical conditions) to maximize the impact.

Warning: Don't use that plugin if you have web sites and use any of google adsense/adword/analytics. Your account would get banned for fake clicks.

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#77
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free market cannot work without propagation of information. Curious what kind of mechanism you envision to solve that problem: public service anouncements in place of ads ?

I imagine a single state-owned database where merchants enter detailed product information. The consumers may then query the database at their leisure.

Which government would you trust to do that?

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#78
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with ads is much bigger than most people realize. To put it simply: ads work against the free market; instead of the "best" product, the one with the largest advertisement budget wins.

I disagree. A large advertising budget will win more eyeballs but that doesn't meant a shitty product will have a free reign. A product has to work hard to justify its value. Yes, marketing and advertising is misused to make people pay more for the same thing, but that doesn't mean that chief benefit of advertising, which is discovery, is lost in the process.

I would keep ads. But I would prefer if advertisers are not allowed to lie or make unverified claims on ads. I would perefer to be able to take an advertiser to court for the claims made. That still leaves a lot of room for word play and weaseling ..."upto 80% improvement in blah", but better than nothing.

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#79
post #74
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free market cannot work without propagation of information. Curious what kind of mechanism you envision to solve that problem: public service anouncements in place of ads ?

If ads were the only type of information, we were already doomed. For example, why do you think reviews are so important? Also, you are reading articles through HN, not by watching ads for them first. Then there is the age-old word-of-mouth. Or seeing products in action with friends. I could go on and on.

I see that you have a very practical and scalable solution out there.

We will gush about a movie/product/service launch on television and call it news. One might even consider incentivising people to write positive reviews, we will just not call them ads. Why havent we seen any of these yet ? I have my review-blocker, post-blocker, word-of-mouth blocker startups still in waiting.

Re: Google Issuing Refunds to Advertisers Over Fake Traffic, Plans New Safeguard

#80
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine a single state-owned database where merchants enter detailed product information. The consumers may then query the database at their leisure.

Which government would you trust to do that?

I'd trust the UK civil service to do that. The hardest but would probably be verification -- does that lasagne really only have beef in, was the cocoa for that chocolate actually grown in a Fairtrade farm, in Ivory Coast, etc..
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