"机器人欺诈"给广告业带来巨额损失

Marketers will lose $6bn next year to fraudsters who are using networks of robots to exploit the online advertising industry, according to the largest study to date of digital ad crime.

一项对数字广告犯罪行为迄今最大规模的研究表明，明年，使用机器人“观看”广告的欺诈行为，会给广告商带来60亿美元损失。

The Association of National Advertisers, whose members spend more than $250bn on marketing each year, conducted the study with White Ops, an ad fraud detection company.

这项研究由美国全国广告商协会(Association of National Advertisers，简称ANA)与广告欺诈侦探所White Ops共同开展。ANA旗下成员每年用于市场营销的开支超过2500亿美元。

The US association found that a quarter of online video ads were “viewed” by bots — automated computer programmes that are remotely operated by fraudsters — rather than human beings.

这家美国行会发现，四分之一的在线视频广告是由机器人而不是真人“观看”的。这里的机器人是指那种由欺诈者远程操纵的自动化电脑程序。

The study, which analysed 5.5bn ad impressions, found that one in 10 display ads were viewed by bots rather than real people.

这项研究分析了55亿次广告投放，发现每10个显示广告中就有一个是由机器人而不是真人观看的。

Ford, Pfizer and Nestlé were among the brands that took part in the investigation, which provides the clearest sign yet that fraud is rife in the fast-growing online advertising market.

参与此次调查的包括福特(Ford)、辉瑞(Pfizer)和雀巢(Nestlé)等品牌。这次调查得出迄今最明确的结果，即在快速增长的在线广告市场中，欺诈现象十分普遍。

To take advantage of marketers, fraudsters create software that mimics the cursor movements and mouse clicks of humans, giving the impression that a person is visiting a website.

为了欺骗广告商，欺诈者设计了能模仿人类操控下移动光标和点击鼠标的软件，从而留下有人在访问该网站的印象。

After installing the software on their own servers or on a hijacked computer, the fraudsters are able to direct the bots to visit certain websites. This allows them to profit from selling ads on their own sites or by driving fake traffic to a site of an affiliate.

在将软件安装在自己的服务器或被挟持的电脑上之后，欺诈者就能操纵这些机器人访问特定网站。这让他们可以通过在自己网站上销售广告，或将虚假流量导向关联公司网站获利。

“A bot can look like a sports fan, someone with a six-figure income, someone interested in buying a car, or a grandparent looking for holiday gifts for grandchildren,” the report said.

报告称：“机器人的行为可以表现得像体育爱好者、收入6位数的人、想买车的人、或为孙子孙女寻找假日礼品的祖父母。”

White Ops and the ANA worked with 36 of the association’s member organisations to analyse digital advertising campaign traffic between August 1 and September 30.

在报告中，White Ops和ANA与该协会36家成员机构合作，分析了今年8月1日到9月30日之间的线上广告活动的流量。

The researchers inserted special software into the ad units of the advertisers and then applied proprietary analysis techniques, alongside data from third parties, to identify bots. Marketers rarely conduct such a detailed level of forensic analysis of their online advertising campaigns.

研究人员在广告商的广告单元中植入特殊软件，再使用独家分析技术，并综合第三方数据来辨认机器人。相比之下，广告商很少采取如此细化的方式，如此详尽地分析其在线广告活动的数据。

The ANA estimated that advertisers will lose approximately $6.3bn globally to bots in 2015, after applying the bot levels observed across its study to the estimated $40bn spent globally on display ads and the estimated $8.3bn spent globally on video ads.

在把研究中观察到的机器人比例推广到全球的显示广告和视频广告之后，ANA估计，2015年全球广告商因机器人而遭遇的损失约为63亿美元。目前，全球用于显示广告的开支估计为400亿美元，用于视频广告的开支估计为83亿美元。