Bots can generate web pages, load pages to generate ad impressions, type keywords to load search ads, and click on search ads. They are used in all sorts of ways to commit digital ad fraud. Understanding what they are able to do and how they do it is a first step in mitigating the bot apocalypse in digital advertising.

1. Augustine Fou- 1 -
What Can’t Bots Do?
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://linkd.in/augustinefou
acfou @mktsci .com
July 2014

2. Augustine Fou- 2 -
Bots Talk to Customers
“In the mid-1960s, MIT professor
Joseph Weizenbaum developed a
computer program called ELIZA, which
could engage in open-ended
conversation with a real human being.
Over time these chat bots have gotten
better and better at interacting with
humans, mostly because programmers
have loaded them up with knowledge
about the real world. They can also learn
from their conversations, becoming ever
more skilled at fooling us into thinking
that they, too, are intelligent.”
Source: WSJ July 28, 2014

3. Augustine Fou- 3 -
Bots Make Web Pages
Characteristics
• Auto-generated by bots,
stuffed with search keywords
• To attract organic search traffic
• Not human readable (low
instance of natural phrases)
• Stuffed with affiliate links and
display ads

4. Augustine Fou- 4 -
Bots Make Ad Impressions
http://interiorcom plex.com/
http://modernbab y.com/

5. Augustine Fou- 5 -
Bots Type Search Term
buy eye cream online
healthsiteproduc tionalways.com

6. Augustine Fou- 6 -
Bots Click Search Ad
Olay.com ad
in #1 position

7. Augustine Fou- 7 -
Bots Drain Ad Budgets
“Using a combination of
custom software and hands-
on customer service,
GoodGoogle promises
clients the ability to block the
appearance of competitors’
ads, by draining their ad
budgets.”
Source: Krebs on Security,
July 2014

8. Augustine Fou- 8 -
Bots Write Wikipedia
Mr. Johansson's program
scrubs databases and other
digital sources for
information, and then
packages it into an article.
On a good day, he says his
"Lsjbot" creates up to
10,000 new entries (PER
DAY)
Source: WSJ July 2014

9. Augustine Fou- 9 -
Bots Make Facebook Profiles
Using plagiarized images and content

10. Augustine Fou- 10 -
Bots Write News
“More news is being
written by robots than you
think.”
Souce: Singularity Hub
March 2014

11. Augustine Fou- 11 -
Results Speak Loudly
Source: Google Fighting Spam
Source: Google Malware Report

12. Augustine Fou- 12 -
Dr. Augustine Fou – Digital Consigliere
“I research ad fraud so I can advise
clients on how to detect and mitigate it.
This has the most direct mpact on the
ROI of their digital marketing programs
(i.e. Reducing ad waste due to fraud).”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
@acfou
ClickZ Articles: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-clickz
Slideshares: http://bit.ly/augustine-fou-slideshares
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/84444-augustinefou

13. Augustine Fou- 13 -
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