Narrative Map Example

Methbot & HOW TO AVOIDAd Fraud

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3 Key Things YOUR BRANDNeeds to Know

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What is METHBOT?1

Methbot is the biggest known digital video AD FRAUDoperationever.

At its peak, the Methbot scheme defrauded advertisers of $3-$5 MILLION A DAY

Estimated at over $180 MILLION TOTAL

How did thisHAPPEN?

FAKE SITESMethbot created more than 6,000 domainsand 250,000 URLs within themwith brand-name domains. (like CBS Sports, The New York Times, Allrecipes, etc.)

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FAKE IPsThe cyberforgers then created more than 570,000 fake IP addresses in the US to show traffic from various geolocations.

FAKE TRAFFICMethbot faked traffic from the IPs to the sites, generating video ad calls.

This drove up the price of video ads with the payment going to the cyberforgers masquerading as real sites with viewers.

Who did MethbotAFFECT?2

NEWS SITESPrimarily video-heavy sites like:Fox News, CBS Sports, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal

CONTENT PLATFORMSFacebook, Yahoo, AccuWeather, Allrecipes, etc.

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But most importantlyADVERTISERS

Who ended up paying criminals for video ads that were never watched by real people.

The scheme was very sophisticated, mimicking actions of real users.

As cyber schemes become more advanced and widespread, the question becomes

How do you prevent this from happening to your brand?

How to prevent futureATTACKS3

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Focus your video campaigns on targeting REAL PEOPLE

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Monitor and track consumers actions so you can evaluate online viewers on the recency and relevancy of their online and offline activities.

It is extremely difficult to replicatethe actions of real people.

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Focus your campaigns on producing REAL OUTCOMES

Reach, frequency and impressions are easily manipulated.

If you focus on evaluating actual consumer activity, not just engagement, youll naturally avoid fraud issues.

P&G just announced that it will require its agencies, ad tech partners and publishers to enable viewability and third-party measurement to root out fraud.

Weve been giving a pass to the new media in the spirit of learning. Weve come to our senses We dont want to waste time and money on a crappy media supply chain.

Marc PritchardChief Brand Officer, P&G AdExchanger, January 2017

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NEXT STEPS

1. Evaluate Campaign Metrics2. Set Standards for Your Brand3. Demand Accountability from Partners4. Work with Those that Comply

There is no sustainable advantage in a complicated, nontransparent, inefficient and fraudulent media supply chain.

Marc PritchardChief Branding Officer, P&GAdExchanger, 2017

Learn more about ad fraud from our CRO:

The Bottom Line: Fraud & Methbot

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ReferencesNEW YORK TIMES

WALL STREET JOURNAL

FORBES

FORTUNE

CNN MONEY

WHITE OPS PR

WHITEOPS WHITEPAPER

INTEGRAL AD SCIENCE BLOG POST

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