‘The larger the marketer, the more subject to fraud they are’: Why advertiser complicity and complacency could be masking ad fraud’s true extent

Ad fraud is “the ultimate white collar crime” and is woefully underestimated and reported, according to NY-based digital marketer Augustine Fou. He thinks it could be more lucrative for criminals than even the international drugs racket: There is no product to move, hardly any risk of getting caught, and little punishment for the few that do. Yet marketers don’t seem to care. As advertiser peak bodies like the ANA prepare to dive back in to supply chain transparency, Fou suggests they will again get nowhere because they are asking the wrong questions. Likewise he says by focusing primarily on invalid traffic, verification firms are looking in the wrong places, cuckolding marketers as a result. Fou advises marketers to emulate the likes of P&G, Uber and Airbnb: Pause digital spending and measure not “vanity metrics”, but business impacts – if any.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.