1. 1. Search Advertising for Small Business Fraudulent Internet Yellow Pages Traffic
2. 2. http://digimechanix.com
3. 3. Whats A Bot? A Bot is: A Malicious Software Program that infects a home computer and simulates Human Activity Controlled by a Criminal who makes money selling fraudulent web traffic Capable of simulating chats and clicks, rendering ads, and impersonating real computer users A Single Infected Home Computer that is often Combined with other Bots in a Group called a Botnet
4. 4. 2014 Fraudulent Bot Traffic Report 63 to 80% of Traffic to Small and Medium-size websites came from Bots
5. 5. Financial Impact of Fraudulent Bot Traffic
6. 6. Fraudulent Bot Traffic Worthless to small and medium-size businesses Mixed in with legitimate unique visitor, click, and page view data Purchased by IYP publishers for fractions of a cent and resold to small business advertisers with a huge markup Fraudulent Bot Traffic is: Acquired from IYPs Networks of Local Publishers Indistinguishable from real online ad performance data http://digimechanix.com
7. 7. Be used in collections of computers called Botnets that are controlled by fraudsters Render ads on websites Distribute malware disguised as popular search items or games on download sites Masquerade as legitimate search engine crawlers Impersonate Real Unique Visitors Impersonator Bots Confound IYP Results Impersonator Bots can :
8. 8. Attack of the Impersonator Bots http://digimechanix.com
9. 9. Bots Spread Across the U.S.
10. 10. Bot Traffic Comes from Residential IP Addresses http://digimechanix.com
11. 11. Bots Hijack Home Computers Log in to large email exchanges Share/View content on Social Media websites Make purchases on ecommerce sites Computer users unknowingly invite Bots into their home computers when they: http://digimechanix.com Download Free Apps and Games
12. 12. Consumers are Infected by Bots http://digimechanix.com
13. 13. Symptoms of Bot Infections
14. 14. Free = Fraud =
15. 15. The Price of Free Software is Too High http://digimechanix.com
16. 16. Anatomy of IYP Fraud
17. 17. Internet Yellow Pages publishers benefit from Bots because they: Mimic the profiles of the real consumers whose computers they infect Click on ads and links more often than real people do Move the cursor on webpages making sure to pass over ads Visit various websites to generate user histories and cookies Place items in online shopping carts Bots Inflate IYP Results
18. 18. Prevalence of Internet Yellow Pages Fraud Internet Yellow Pages fraud from Bot traffic is more likely to occur: http://digimechanix.com
19. 19. Prevalence of Internet Yellow Pages Fraud Internet Yellow Pages Fraud from Bot Traffic is more likely to occur:
20. 20. Fraudulent IYP Traffic Occurs at Overnight http://digimechanix.com
21. 21. Fraudulent Saturday Afternoon IYP Traffic
22. 22. Who Benefits from Fraudulent IYP Traffic? The Sales and Distribution of Fraudulent Bot Traffic: Pumps Up Internet Yellow Pages Profits Inflates Ad Performance and Advertiser Fees Increases the percentages paid to ad Exchanges and Networks of Local Publishers Provides a profitable income stream for cyber thieves Allows Ad Agencies to Over-estimate Their Effectiveness http://digimechanix.com
23. 23. 2014 Estimated Fraudulent IYP Traffic by Category http://digimechanix.com 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Restaurants Locksmiths Attorneys Plumbers Dentist/Physicians Bailbondsmen Fraudulent Traffic In-House Traffic Human Traffic
24. 24. IYP Advertisers Lose
25. 25. Summary 56% of all online traffic comes from Bots IYPs purchase fraudulent traffic from members of their Networks of Local Publishers Impersonator Bots are the most harmful type of malware to IYP advertisers IYP advertisers will pay about $1 billion for worthless, fraudulent Bot traffic in 2015 67% of fraudulent Bot traffic originates from home computers infected with malware
26. 26. Summary 63 to 80% of IYP Traffic to Small and medium-size websites comes from Bots Over 20% of video ad impressions reported by IYP publishers come from fraudulent Bot Traffic Fraudulent IYP Traffic is more likely to occur everyday between midnight and 6 am and on Saturday afternoons 52% of the traffic purchased from IYPs Networks of Local Publishers is fraudulent Over 50% of IYP traffic received by advertisers in the Legal, Plumbing, and Dentists/Physicians categories came from Bots http://digimechanix.com
27. 27. Recommendations for IYP Advertisers Apply day-parting strategies whenever possible Avoid signing long-term IYP contracts to limit exposure to Fraudulent Bot Traffic Carefully scrutinize monthly IYP Traffic reports Investigate how IYPs Networks of Local Publishers source traffic
28. 28. Recommendations for IYP Advertisers Avoid IYP publishers that do not publicize Blacklists of fraudulent IP addresses and traffic sources Be aware that video ad plays are often generated by Bots rather than humans Demand transparency from IYP publishers regarding all third-party sources of traffic http://digimechanix.com Request a regularly scheduled, independent third-party IYP Traffic Audit
29. 29. For More Information Visit Us at: http://digimechanix.com
30. 30. Fraudulent IYP Traffic System http://digimechanix.com