AOL, Facebook, Google, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Twitter and others have created an alliance to stop bad online advertisements. The team will lead participating partners Mozilla to PayPal, Verizon, Verisign and others. The group, Ads Integrity Alliance, falls under the parent company Stopbadware. Founded in 2006 as a project at Harvard University, Stopbadware spun off as a nonprofit organization in 2010 to focus on ridding the Internet of malware and malicious viruses such as Trojans, rootkits, and spam bots, according to Maxim Weinstein, executive director for the company. Weinstein said the group will start by focusing on text-based ads, such as paid search. This is a challenge, he said, because someone doesn't typically review each ad before it's posted online. A machine must catch the error. With more platforms like Twitter and Facebook joining Google by moving more to automated systems, that could become complicated. "We see a lot of counterfeit goods and malware being carried through Flash-based ads," Weinstein said. "The criminal is doing everything he can to exploit loopholes, and that's what we're hoping to address." Each company participating in the alliance supports a team within their respective organizations working to stop bad ads. The formal committee will meet once monthly to share ideas and share information on trends and attacks through subcommittees. The working groups will meet as often as needed. Weinstein said the groups will form policies and procedures to share with others and build a structure that will allow others to adopt the practices. Not catching illegal ads can put a financial burden on search engines. Last year, Google settled a U.S. criminal investigation into allegations it made millions of dollars by accepting ads from online pharmacies that break U.S. laws. Rogue pharmaceutical ads have been a thorn in the search engines' side, but Weinstein points to handbags and other consumer goods. There's no shortage of counterfeit, misleading and damaging ads that can cost reputable brands buying paid-search ads on engines -- not only financially, but the ads can also ruin their reputation. While Google said bad ads continue to decline -- disabling more than 130 million in 2011 -- the engine merely scratched the surface, reducing bad ads by about 50% from the prior year. In 2011, Google shut down approximately 150,000 accounts for attempting to advertise counterfeit goods, and more than 95% of these accounts were discovered through its own technology.
All of those wonderful swooping 3D flybys that Apple showed off for its upcoming Google Maps replacement in iOS 6 were cute enough. And yes, it is on between the two companies over maps -- a search interface that is super-powered on mobile platforms. But the next war is when that flying camera view comes in the window. In a research brief from IMS this week, analyst Alex West noted that both Google and Microsoft were already actively mapping indoor spaces and that firms like Aisle 411, Micello and Point Inside were building databases of indoor maps. Look for some friction from venues as retailers and malls discover that the simple interior maps of their location suddenly have a new value to the big dogs. In fact, a complex new supply chain may evolve as maps go indoors and become app-ified. “There are a few revenue models that can be applied for maps,” West told me. Aside from simply licensing the map to be used by app developers via an API -- much like how Google Maps currently works -- there is the option of licensing the raw indoor map data itself, giving a third party the ability to create the map in its own style.” For the smaller players in the space, developing just the map data is not enough of a business -- and so they have been moving to wrap service and features around the maps for clients. “This is thought to be the only way for a small map vendor to successfully monetize the market,” he says. But the model requires some kinds of advertising and marketing to fund the license. West points to mapping data company Point Inside and its work with Meijer to create a Find-It app that has couponing and item ordering features as well as in-store tools for finding products on specific shelves. The app even allows you to find the restrooms in a store and the bottle return bin. West believes that Google, Microsoft and Nokia and Apple ultimately will dominate the indoor mapping market. They will gobble up some of the startups in the category to gain advantage over one another, but there may still be a tier of independents that will be there to serve the retailers who will not want to work with (or for) the big operating systems and search providers. Not a minute too soon. Have you tried to find anything in Target or Home Depot? Now here is where we need turn-by-turn directions from our phones. Siri – Where are the Honey Roasted Planters Cashews that are on sale here? “Turn left at the Metamucil after you pick up two canisters.” Siri, I don’t need any Metamucil. “Don’t argue with me, dumbass. Yes, you do. Remember, I go with you everywhere.”