No company is safe, dating apps such as Grindr have fallen foul to fraudsters and a gambling app developer in Tokyo has discovered high amounts of fraud too, simply by analysing unnaturally speedy transactions and clicks followed by a lack of activity following a download.
teams who are distributing ad budgets as they have done for many years, but in this emerging and rapidly growing market, they’re quite possibly blissfully unaware of the waste, and the malpractice. Te UA manager has a different challenge, however. Tey may be aware of the existence of fraudulent activity, maybe not to its full extent, but highlighting it could be costly to their livelihoods and careers. With these heady budgets, it’s a lot to lose on their watch.
IS THIS, AS GOOD AS IT GETS?
No, it isn’t. App developers spend millions in commission to ad networks but if that commission is legitimate, the returns are phenomenal. And, as more and more companies use apps as the gateway to both reaching out to the user, and realising a healthy income stream, more budget will undoubtedly be released to attract and acquire new users. I imagine this will bring life to even better app technology, usability and customer experience and ultimately, greater security.
return. Tis will demonstrate a much higher spend per head and enable digital marketers to focus efforts upon this particular user and be more targeted with their ad strategies.
WHERE’S THE MONEY GOING?
Below the line targeting has got a lot better, and that $65 billion is being spent to reach users who need nothing more than a good signal and a swift thumb to join up is testament to that. But the fraudulent player’s criminal activity is technologically advanced, enabling them to remain one step ahead. I’ve said before, it’s difficult to sue a foreign bot farm, and in all honesty, I doubt whether bot farms are being funded by the techy geeks. No doubt there will be higher echelons controlling this activity.
Bot farms, virtual phones and racks of automated devices certainly work quicker than your average human scammer. Tey are also brighter than most too, with the more advanced having software to mimic human activity,
Likewise, those fighting fraud are producing software that spots and even anticipates questionable activity and are working with app developers to eliminate the waste. But one thing is very evident, fraudsters are syphoning billions of dollars from fraudulent installs even as we speak.
SO WHERE IS IT ALL GOING WRONG, AND WHY ISN’T MORE BEING DONE?
Tere are many issues here, two of which we can work on to get things right. One requires addressing psychological barriers in marketing, the other needs heads to be removed from the sand.
Tat CFO I mentioned will work with marketing
pausing at the right times before clicking, switching between pages and scrolling as if pondering, and it’s only a matter of time before artificial intelligence is incorporated into this practice.
No company is safe, dating apps such as Grindr have fallen foul to fraudsters in recent weeks and the new wave of crime has started to impact users’ personal data as well as company profits. And a gambling app developer in Tokyo has discovered high amounts of fraud too, simply by analysing unnaturally speedy transactions and clicks followed by a lack of activity following a download.
It’s out there and making headlines. Google and Amazon have started taking the issue seriously. Tey know a thing or two about operating in this sphere, and perhaps have realised they’re not immune to the threat. So, if it’s good enough for them…
Ultimately, billions of dollars globally are being stolen, and I can think of no other industry that would be so blissfully unaware of an impact on this scale affecting their bottom line. CFOs need to start analysing and tracking the journey of their investment.
It’s no good being satisfied that profit is being made without examining some form of transparent traceability, or the journey from dollar out, dollar in. Likewise, some UA managers need to get their head out of sand. After all, discovering a problem, highlighting it to stakeholders and then solving it is better than being the scapegoat.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P103
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
