Disinformation

Digital ads are a $330-billion global business, according to estimates by the research firm eMarketer, and one that’s increasingly dominated by a few major players like Google and Facebook. Google plays a dual role in it both as one of the biggest sellers of online ads on the planet, and also the biggest tech company placing online ads on... See more

Sophisticated fake news attacks targeting financial markets have become increasingly common. In 2016, fraudsters created an exact replica of a reputable news site and published false allegations about French construction giant Vinci SA's accounting practices. The result was immediate—a staggering 18% drop in the company's share price, erasing 6... See more

Where has the Wayfair conspiracy spread?Although it began in the US, the conspiracy theory soon became a global trend.According to data from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned social media analytics tool, the term Wayfair has generated 4.4 million engagements on Instagram. It also spread rapidly on public groups and pages on Facebook, resulting in more... See more

“There has always been good placements of ads and bad placements of ads and media buying companies have always prided themselves on trying to get the context right,” said Charlie Crowe, chairman of the media and marketing publisher C Squared. “The difference in the online world is that it’s all done by an algorithm. The human element is taken out... See more

The involvement of big names, like BMW and IPG Mediabrands, in the study signals that the marketing industry is taking steps to create a safer, more transparent ad ecosystem. Trade association 4A’s unveiled the Advertiser Protection Bureau, where agencies collectively share the responsibility of creating a community to protect the health of all... See more

A study released Sunday by The Global Disinformation Index, a UK nonprofit that rates sites’ trustworthiness, found that 70% of roughly 1,700 disinformation sites it analyzed were getting so-called “programmatic ads” — ads placed automatically — from Google, putting brand names such as Audi and Sprint next to junk content.