MediaTech Law

By MIRSKY & COMPANY, PLLC

The Growing Problem of Ad Fraud and the Recent Methbot Attack

Posted August 29, 2017 by Andrew Mirsky 0

Fraud, particularly using “bots,” is increasingly threatening the effectiveness of online advertising and arguably calling into question the long-term viability of the industry. According to a recent study reported on by AdWeek, fraud from “bots” was projected to cost brands $7.2 billion in 2016, up from the $6.3 billion in 2015. Basically, “bots” are applications that perform automated tasks. While they can be used for legitimate purposes, in cases of ad fraud bots can “create millions upon millions of ad impressions that are seen by no one but often get charged to marketers as a viewed promotion.”

A recent article in AdWeek discussed some of the common ad fraud schemes. In one, called the “The Phony Traffic Broker,” writer Christopher Heine explained:

• A company wants to increase traffic to its site and goes to a traffic broker site that’s actually run by a fraudster, who promises volumes of highly qualified users;
• The fraudster deploys “bots” to simulate human traffic to the site; and
• The site’s views soar, advertisers pay the company for the increased traffic, and the fraudster gets paid for being the broker.

Read More

Legal Issues in Ad Tech: Who Owns Marketing Performance Data?

Posted October 11, 2016 by Andrew Mirsky 0

Does a marketer own data related to performance of its own marketing campaigns? It might surprise marketers to know that data ownership isn’t automatically so. Or more broadly, who does own that data? A data rights clause in contracts with DSPs or agencies might state something like this:

“Client owns and retains all right, title and interest (including without limitation all intellectual property rights) in and to Client Data”,

… where “Client Data” is defined as “Client’s data files”. Or this:

“As between the Parties, Advertiser retains and shall have sole and exclusive ownership and Intellectual Property Rights in the … Performance Data”,

… where “Performance Data” means “campaign data related to the delivery and tracking of Advertiser’s digital advertising”.

Both clauses are vague, although the second is broader and more favorable to the marketer. In neither case are “data files” or “campaign data” defined with any particularity, and neither case includes any delivery obligation much less specifications for formatting, reporting or performance analytics. And even if data were provided by a vendor or agency, these other questions remain: What kind of data would be provided, how would it be provided, and how useful would the data be if it were provided?

Read More

Website Policies and Terms: What You Lose if You Don’t Read Them

Posted July 15, 2015 by Roman Vayner 0

When was the last time you actually read the privacy policy or terms of use of your go-to social media website or you favorite app? If you’re a diligent internet user (like me), it might take you an average of 10 minutes to skim a privacy policy before clicking “ok” or “I agree.” But after you click “ok,” have you properly consented to all the ways in which your information may be used?

As consumers become more aware of how companies profit from the use of their personal information, the way a company discloses its data collection methods and obtains consent from its users becomes more important, both to the company and to users.  Some critics even advocate voluntarily paying social media sites like Facebook in exchange for more control over how their personal information is used. In other examples, courts have scrutinized whether websites can protect themselves against claims that they misused users’ information, simply because they presented a privacy policy or terms of service to a consumer, and the user clicked “ok.”

The concept of “clickable consent” has gained more attention because of the cross-promotional nature of many leading websites and mobile apps. 

Read More

Copyright 2022 Mirsky & Company, PLLC