Rogue web plug-ins that inject their own content over the top of legitimate ads are still in widespread use by unscrupulous advertisers—and Google, Yahoo, and other major networks are keeping them in business, according to a recent study.
An ad injector is usually installed on an end-user's computer as part of a bundle in a free software download, according to Harvard Business School associate professor Ben Edelman and the founder of fraud detection service iPensatori, Wesley Brandi. Once active, the injector can modify the way the user's browser displays web pages, allowing advertisers to slap their own content onto any website they want—even if it blocks out existing ads or violates a site's ad policies.
The companies behind the injectors have substantial advantages over legitimate advertisers—the authors noted injected ads tend to rate well on click-through and conversion analytics, and the fact that the injectors don't have to spend any money creating content of their own makes them even more profitable.
Moreover, the complexity, automation and large number of intermediaries present in the online ad market mean that it can be difficult to detect injector traffic, which means that both those intermediaries and the advertisers themselves may inadvertently contribute to the problem.
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