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Report Implicates Well-Known Ad Networks For Serving Spyware

  • ClickZ, Monday, June 26, 2006 11 AM
Benjamin Edelman, the Harvard Law student who spends his free time fighting cyber crime, has issued a new report that takes aim at the shady world of ad network affiliates. In his research, Edelman implicates a handful of relatively unknown ad networks, including a few well-regarded technology providers like DoubleClick's Falk and behavioral targeting firm AlmondNet. The report shows how an endless trail of affiliates can lead to sexually explicit advertisements on unsuspecting publishers' sites. Representatives from both Falk and AlmondNet said they felt victimized by their affiliates, who they thought were legitimate players. Edelman says it's "very typical" for a spyware server to send traffic to an ad server--although another server often acts as a bridge between the two. Edelman says his goal in issuing the report was to increase awareness in the ad industry of affiliate relationships that lead to such unwanted advertising. It prompted AlmondNet to terminate its relationship with one of its affiliates, who may have had relationships with one or more drive-by spyware companies. Both AlmondNet and Falk said it's nearly impossible for ad servers to track what happens as site traffic is shifted from one server to another. As Edelman says, "the number of middlemen who can get into these transactions is extraordinary," which is precisely what makes it such a mess.

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