Ad Scammers Getting Harder To Spot
from the reasons-to-use-adblock dept
When we've discussed adblockers in the past, one important point that many people have raised is the growing likelihood of scammers "buying" ads as a method of distributing malware through popular sites. Apparently, that business of "malvertising" is getting more and more popular... and more and more sophisticated. Joshin4colours points us to a story about a super sophisticated "malvertiser" who went to great lengths to appear legit. In another discussion about that case, it's suggested that somewhere around 50% of "self-service" advertising setups may be part of some kind of scam. I'm not sure I quite believe that number, but if the number is even half of that, it does raise questions about how online ad buying and ad placement works, and how it will work in the future. Perhaps this will finally drive companies who insist on banner ads, rather than more effective forms of advertising/marketing, to rethink their position.Filed Under: advertising, malvertising, malware, scams
