AdAngel Blog

openx test

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:04:00 +0000

Unanimus Test

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:50:00 +0000

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Beta Partner - Platform A - UK Test

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Beta Partner - Collective Test

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:23:00 +0000

This is a test page.

Behavioral Targeting - Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Turns out, my last post had nothing to do with Behavioral Targeting, more to do with the continuous nefarious acts of fraudulent publishers. In this case, malware installed due to trickery linked to a porn video. The malware came in the form of a codec which when installed, updates the local DNS server which then hijacks display ads served from any ad network delivering ads of a specific size. The download, install, and updates are very sophisticated, all confirmed through testing in our lab. I have made several attempts in notifying the ad networks but the information has fallen on deaf ears, the perpetrator continues to perform drive by installs from their site and the DNS server continues to swap out display ads. Check out the screen caps below of several top tier publisher victims... the ads highlighted by red borders are the fraudulently delivered ads. 95% of ads delivered on the infected laptop, regardless of the publisher, are hijacked and promoting either the Natromax Penis Enlargement pill or ED meds (Viagra, Cialis, etc...).

Behavioral Targeting Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:17:00 +0000

This is a continuation on my last post, recall I mentioned my at home laptop being profiled as a "porner". Rather then cleaning up my cookies which would essential reset the profile (realize BT is predicated on the use of third party cookies), I allowed the profile to continue to materialize in hopes of catching other instances of objectionable display ads delivered due to the that profile. Needless to say, it did not take long to catch another instance . Over the weekend, I discovered an aggressive Natromax ad campaign..."Click here to add Four Inches", "Shock the woman in your life", "Do you want woman to talk about you"... I'll let you the reader determine the product be endorsed. The shocking part of the campaign is that it syncronously ran across several different, and disparate top tier publisher sites. The laptop is now plugged into the AdAngel lab environment for deeper analysis and determination of the ad networks and subsequent distribution methods involved here... how this campaign can persist throughout the browsing session is interesting from a not only a forensics point of view, but from a privacy one as well. I am suspecting foul play here given the top tier, branded publisher properties who distributed these ads. If any foul play is discovered, expect a forensic review in a future post...stay tuned.

Behavioral Targeting Gone Wrong!

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:36:00 +0000

I spend lots of time these days reviewing objectionable sites, bringing my work home and reviewing reports on the home computer. Unlike the monitoring environment at work which resets cookies on a per session basis, the home computer lets cookies persist. This computer is also occasionally shared by the wife which leads me to the point of this post. After reviewing 100s of sites identified by AdAngel monitoring as objectionable (celebrity sites hosting nude pics, full blown porn sites, warez, etc...) it is inevitable that a handful of sites are involved in BT cookie drops. End result, the home computer (not the enduser) is profiled as a "porner". Now on to the wife who, while browsing (shopping) landed on a page that delivered one of those raunchy Adult Friend Finder ads. Needless to say she was both appalled at the ad content and with the site that delivered (again, I have a policy not to post any examples due to client confidentiality). Taking a quick look I confirmed the ad delivery was predicated on the "porner" profile resulting from BT. I am not condoning BT and feel it has a place in digital marketing, however I do feel it the networks engaged in BT have a responsibility in assuring quality and providing some controls to prevent appalling my wife. It is looking as if the FTC is moving towards self regulation for BT which is great news (never a fan of big brother policing. That said, lets hope the ad networks and service providers will step up to the plate and invest in technology to monitor and control the environment.

1 Billion new pages added to the internet per day!

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Simply astounding, Google also states that the number of active, unique pages containing some content of value has passed the 1 trillion mark. At this point and at these rates, only Google can keep up with this volume. Speculating based on the AdAngel compliance view of the internet, 20% of new pages are likely linked to porn or the porn industry, another 10% associated with file sharing, downloads or other related sites which infringe on copyright protected material.

Transparency... The 2009 word of year!

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Transparency is a word gaining huge popularity and use these days. From President Obama, to banking, the housing crisis...pundits are crying out for more transparency and oversight. I have been preaching the need for improved transparency and controls in the online advertising industry well before this word became famous. Hopefully we will see transparency put to good use vs buzz word for 2009...we have Obama leading the way!

Transparency, oversight, controls... great words to solve the many challenges faced by marketers, politicians, financiers, etc...

"Obama" Brand Protection

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:28:00 +0000

"Obama" commemorative paraphernalia is in vogue these days with inauguration soon approaching. Whoever is behind the "official" marketing of "Obama" plate, coin, placemats, etc... has no clue of brand protection. Over the last several days, AdAngel monitoring has witnessed an alarming increase of "Obama" product advertisements on objectionable (porn) sites. Respect and agreements with our clients prevents us from disclosing actual sites but trust me, Obama would not be happy with the publisher content associated with the commemoration of his achievements (of which I applaud BTW). The ads were not associated with any of my clients so I was powerless to influence (we don't waste time dealing with publishers, we only report and recommend). My bet on the perpetrator behind this issue is an agency or agencies running campaigns blind or network fill through their ad network partners. Obama has certainly more to deal with then worry about his namesake on the internet... if only he had the Procter and Gamble legal team watching over his brand.

Third Party Ad Serving Ubiquity

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:02:00 +0000

The holiday slowdown has allowed us to take a deep breath at AdAngel and glean some perspective from the three months of monitoring and analyzing publisher sites for objectionable content and other nefarious acts. One of the more interesting views collected is the astounding number of third party ad serving & tracking domains and the rate at which new domains enter the fold. Review of a sample set of 10,000 unique publisher properties (domains) monetizing predominantly through CPM advertising yielded approximately 1000 unique ad serving domains. That's a 1:10 ratio between ad serving/tracking domains to publisher property.

In addition, AdAngel crawlers continuously identify, grade, and add identified third party ad serving/tracking domains to our respective white and black lists. Review of list updates over the last three months witnessed roughly one new domain addition per day.

You can form your own conclusions regarding these numbers, mine is pretty straightforward,the third party ad serving and tracking market is at a saturation point. Interesting to see how this trends in 2009 and which domains will survive and remain active during the display downturn.

NAI and Behavioral Targeting

noreply@blogger.com (Terance Kinsky) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:11:00 +0000

A good article on NAI and their involvement with privacy policy in regards to BT. Lets hope regulation remains in private hands (NAI) as opposed to public. As it regards BT, the monitoring labs set up at AdAngel are seeing a continued increase in third party publisher cookie drops linked to enduser targeting or retargeting. It is no longer surprising to find publishers dropping hundreds of cookies per session. As these numbers increase, so will the the privacy concerns. The NAI has great intentions, but as the article mentions, policies go only so far and being the fox does not help either. I hope to see the NAI get more involved on the publisher side of the equation...worth watching for 2009!