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“35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

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Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#91

Post by Nextgrid »

b_ocu wrote: post #78
Liquix wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't want to, ever, see online ads transform into TV ads. Targeting would be okay if it was done properly. What's so awful about TV ads? I'd be fine with seeing more "mainstream" ads if the tradeoff was no targeting/tracking.

>the entire selling point of online ads, which is giving a chance to smaller players a chance at the game. Aunt Mae's cookie shop will never be able to compete with Pepsi for airtime

The problem is that opening up the market to "Aunt Mae" will also open up the market to malicious players.

The financial barrier of entry of TV & print advertising is a very effective filter against scams. I have yet to see scam ads for fake tech support or "win an iPhone by filling a survey" or some "free" trial which uses unreadable fine print to sign you up for something very expensive, but those are commonplace online.

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#92

Post by calcifer »

surround wrote: post #76
zokier wrote: post #73

I find it so weird idea that people really click on ads. I don't know if I've ever done so (intentionally). As such I would have expected more like 90% of clicks to be fraudulent.

I’ve never bought anything because of an advertisement.

Not consciously, perhaps.

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#94

Post by ufmace »

What I don't get here is - who is doing this? I'm not sure who has the motivation to falsify clicks on Reddit ads. For Google ads, somebody might want to falsify clicks on the ads displayed on their site because they get paid by the click, but who other than Reddit would want to do that here?

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#95

Post by Nextgrid »

rrdharan wrote: post #47
mountainb wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turn off an ad blocker for a day after years of running one and you will routinely get solicitations for fake tech support lines, fake crypto ransom demands, and so on even if you are only browsing mainstream sites. This even goes for both iOS and Android phones. Digital display ads are major vectors of crime and the websites and the ad networks that serve them should be held liable for the damages that they cause to…

Given the hyper targeted efficiency of the modern ad networks, are you sure the fake crypto and tech support ads are going to everyone and not just to you?

My concern would be the opposite. What if scams are only targeted towards those that are likely to fall for it like the elderly, flying under the radar of anyone who has the skills to recognize it as a scam and report it?

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#96

Post by h0p3 »

ffpip wrote: post #41
thrownaway954 wrote: post #3

adnauseam.io i don't know how many people actually install this extension, but it is specifically designed to clicks ads so you don't have to :)

That is a stupid idea and will get your accounts and IP banned from Google and Cloudflare. Use it yourself if you want, do not encourage others to use it. It is based off uBlock Origin. Just use uBlock Origin.

I'll challenge your claim that it's a stupid idea, if you really want to speak carefully about it together. Your prescription to not prescribe using it requires some justification.

The best way to use the tool is to have it click between rarely and sometimes. Anti-tracking tools may allow you to dial it up as well.

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#97

Post by kikki »

24gttghh wrote: post #39
parliament32 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming this isn't Reddit, but just a bunch of users with AdNauseum installed, what do you expect them to do? Present a captcha before letting a user click through an ad?

That's one way to kill the ad industry, and I'm all for it!

And what should replace the ad industry - to keep websites running?

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#98

Post by hinkley »

ceejayoz wrote: post #28
earthboundkid wrote: post #8

Every newspaper in America has obvious scam ads on its homepage. The whole online ad market is diseased and needs to be uprooted. Common sense fixes: - Never allow dynamic ad content! Ads should be individually approved by publishers and not subject to change after approval. - Ban user tracking and targeting. It's a red queen's race and no one benefits. Everyone is better off once it's illegal. - Pay for ad time slot…

> Every newspaper in America has obvious scam ads on its homepage. It's genuinely baffling, given largely bad-faith "fake news" accusations, that news organizations are willing to light their credibility on fire like this. It feeds the nonsense, and justifiably so.

I'm constantly amazed at the frequency with which articles posted to Hacker News have a bar of clickbait ads immediately following the body of the article.

Those rabbit-hole articles where they split eight facts across 12 pages and in some cases never mention the fact they were advertising in the original link. All so they can put six more ads per click in front of you.

Re: “35-50% of clicks on Reddit Ads are fraudulent”

#99

Post by et1337 »

ufmace wrote: post #94

What I don't get here is - who is doing this? I'm not sure who has the motivation to falsify clicks on Reddit ads. For Google ads, somebody might want to falsify clicks on the ads displayed on their site because they get paid by the click, but who other than Reddit would want to do that here?

Not sure about ads, but I do know with Facebook likes, people who sell likes have to like a lot of organic-looking random pages to avoid being banned. Something similar could be happening here. Either that, or it’s Ad Nauseam. Edit: someone else mentioned money laundering too.
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