{"id":431684,"date":"2022-04-14T19:21:23","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T16:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\/"},"modified":"2022-04-14T19:21:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T16:21:23","slug":"heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"#Here\u2019s why sketchy ads appear on legit websites"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3d3ff6644e8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3d3ff6644e8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\/#%E2%80%9CHeres_why_sketchy_ads_appear_on_legit_websites%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Here\u2019s why sketchy ads appear on legit websites&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\/#Programmatic_advertising_explained\" >Programmatic advertising, explained<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\/#Screening_out_bad_ads_an_imperfect_system\" >Screening out bad ads: an imperfect system<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\/#Bad_ads_by_design_native_advertising_on_news_websites\" >Bad ads by design: native advertising on news websites<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHeres_why_sketchy_ads_appear_on_legit_websites%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Here\u2019s why sketchy ads appear on legit websites&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            Sketchy ads, like those for miracle weight loss pills and suspicious-looking software, sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ear on legitimate, well-regarded websites. It turns out that most websites don\u2019t actually decide who gets to show ads to their viewers. Instead, most sites outsource this task to a complex network of advertising tech companies that do the work of figuring out which ads are shown to each particular person.<\/p>\n<p>The online ad ecosystem is largely built around \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsnewinpublishing.com\/publishers-whats-the-difference-between-direct-and-programmatic-ads\/\">programmatic advertising<\/a>,\u201d a system for placing advertisements from millions of advertisers on millions of websites. The system uses computers to automate bidding by advertisers on available ad spaces, often with transactions occurring faster than would be possible manually.<\/p>\n<p>Programmatic advertising is a powerful tool that allows advertisers to target and reach people on a huge range of websites. As a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=y5yR8WIAAAAJ&amp;hl=en\">doctoral student in computer science<\/a>, I study how malicious online advertisers take advantage of this system and use online ads to spread scams or malware to millions of people. This means that online advertising companies have a big responsibility to prevent harmful ads from reaching users, but they sometimes fall short.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Programmatic_advertising_explained\"><\/span>Programmatic advertising, explained<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The modern online advertising marketplace is meant to solve one problem: match the high volume of advertisements with the large number of ad spaces. The websites want to keep their ad spaces full and at the best prices, and the advertisers want to target their ads to relevant sites and users.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than each website and advertiser pairing up to run ads together, advertisers work with demand-side platforms, tech companies that let advertisers buy ads. Websites work with supply-side platforms, tech companies that pay sites to put ads on their page. These companies handle the details of figuring out which websites and users should be matched with specific ads.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the time, ad tech companies decide which ads to show through a real-time bidding auction. Whenever a person loads a website, and the website has a space for an ad, the website\u2019s supply-side platform will request bids for ads from demand-side platforms through an auction system called an ad exchange. The demand-side platform will decide which ad in their inventory best targets the particular user, based on any information they\u2019ve collected about the user\u2019s interests and web history from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/consumer.ftc.gov\/articles\/how-protect-your-privacy-online\">tracking users\u2019 browsing<\/a>, and then submit a bid. The winner of this auction gets to place their ad in front of the user. This all happens in an instant.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"Diagram showing the different entities involved in real time bidding, and the requests and responses\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=348&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=348&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=348&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=438&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=438&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=438&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"Diagram showing the different entities involved in real time bidding, and the requests and responses\" class=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=348&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=348&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=348&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=438&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=438&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457773\/original\/file-20220412-23-9qtbd2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=438&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">When you see an ad on a web page, behind the scenes an ad network has just automatically conducted an auction to decide which advertiser won the right to present their ad to you.<\/span><br \/><span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Eric Zeng<\/span>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\">CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Big players in this marketplace include Google, which runs a supply-side platform, demand-side platform and an exchange. These three components make up an ad network. A variety of smaller companies such as Criteo, Pubmatic, Rubicon and AppNexus also operate in the online advertising market.<\/p>\n<p>This system allows an advertiser to run ads to potentially millions of users, across millions of websites, without needing to know the details of how that happens. And it allows websites to solicit ads from countless potential advertisers without needing to contact or reach an agreement with any of them.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Screening_out_bad_ads_an_imperfect_system\"><\/span>Screening out bad ads: an imperfect system<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Malicious advertisers, like any other advertiser, can take advantage of the scale and reach of programmatic advertising to send scams and links to malware to potentially millions of users on any website.<\/p>\n<p>There are some checks against bad ads at multiple levels. Ad networks, supply-side platforms and demand-side platforms typically have content policies restricting harmful ads. For example, Google Ads has an extensive content policy that forbids illegal and dangerous products, inappropriate and offensive content, and a long list of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/adspolicy\/answer\/6020955\">deceptive techniques<\/a>, such as phishing, clickbait, false advertising and doctored imagery.<\/p>\n<p>However, other ad networks have less stringent policies. For example, MGID, a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/business-guidance\/resources\/native-advertising-guide-businesses\">native advertising<\/a> network my colleagues and I examined for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/badads.cs.washington.edu\/files\/Zeng-ConPro2020-BadNews.pdf\">a study<\/a> and found to run many lower-quality ads, has a much shorter <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/help.mgid.com\/prohibited-content-products-and-services\">content policy<\/a> that prohibits illegal, offensive and malicious ads, and a single line about \u201cmisleading, inaccurate or deceitful information.\u201d Native advertising is designed to imitate the look and feel of the website that it appears on, and is typically responsible for the sketchy looking ads at the bottom of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> articles. Another native ad network, content.ad, has no content policy on their website at all.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"Three screenshots of misleading political ads\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=167&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=167&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=167&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=210&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=210&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=210&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"Three screenshots of misleading political ads\" class=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=167&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=167&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=167&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=210&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=210&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457639\/original\/file-20220412-26-ftg3ry.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=210&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">These political ads from the 2020 election are examples of potentially misleading techniques to get you to click on them. The ad on the left uses Trump\u2019s name and a clickbait headline promising money. The ad in the center claims to be a thank you card for Dr. Fauci but in reality is intended to collect email addresses for political mailing lists. The ad on the right presents itself as an opinion poll, but links to a page selling a product.<\/span><br \/><span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Screenshots by Eric Zeng<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Websites can block specific advertisers and categories of ads. For example, a site could block a particular advertiser that has been running scammy ads on their page, or specific ad networks that have been serving low-quality ads.<\/p>\n<p>However, these policies are only as good as the enforcement. Ad networks typically use a combination of manual content moderators and automated tools to check that each ad campaign complies with their policies. How effective these are is unclear, but <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.confiant.com\/demand-quality-report\">a report by ad quality firm Confiant<\/a> suggests that between 0.14% and 1.29% of ads served by various supply-side platforms in the third quarter of 2020 were <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.confiant.com\/demand-quality-report#def\">low quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Malicious advertisers adapt to countermeasures and figure out ways to evade automated or manual auditing of their ads, or exploit gray areas in content policies. For example, in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/badads.cs.washington.edu\/political.html\">a study<\/a> my colleagues and I conducted on deceptive political ads during the 2020 U.S. elections, we found many examples of fake political polls, which purported to be public opinion polls but asked for an email address to vote. Voting in the poll signed the user up for political email lists. Despite this deception, ads like these may not have violated Google\u2019s content policies for political content, data collection or misrepresentation, or were simply missed in the review process.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bad_ads_by_design_native_advertising_on_news_websites\"><\/span>Bad ads by design: native advertising on news websites<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Lastly, some examples of \u201cbad\u201d ads are intentionally designed to be misleading and deceptive, by both the website and ad network. Native ads are a prime example. They apparently are effective because native advertising companies <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.outbrain.com\/blog\/native-ads-vs-display-ads\/\">claim<\/a> higher clickthrough rates and revenue for sites. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177%2F0022243719879711\">Studies<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177%2F0002764216660140\">have<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/00913367.2015.1115380\">shown<\/a> that this is likely because users have difficulty telling the difference between native ads and the website\u2019s content.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"A grid of three native ads that look like news articles. One ad is selling CBD gummies, another is a clickbait story, and the last is trying to sell financial advice.\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=306&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=306&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=306&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"A grid of three native ads that look like news articles. One ad is selling CBD gummies, another is a clickbait story, and the last is trying to sell financial advice.\" class=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=306&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=306&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=306&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/457631\/original\/file-20220412-18-uz1ze5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">These are examples of native ads found on news websites. They imitate the look and feel of links to news articles and often contain clickbait, scams and questionable products.<\/span><br \/><span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Screenshot by Eric Zeng<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You may have seen native ads on many news and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> websites, including on major sites like CNN, USA Today and Vox. If you scroll to the bottom of a news article, there may be a section called \u201csponsored content\u201d or \u201caround the web,\u201d containing what look like news articles. However, all of these are paid content. My colleagues and I conducted a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/badads.cs.washington.edu\/files\/Zeng-ConPro2020-BadNews.pdf\">study<\/a> on native advertising on news and misinformation websites and found that these native ads disproportionately contained potentially deceptive and misleading content, such as ads for unregulated health supplements, deceptively written advertorials, investment pitches and content from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2011\/04\/21\/135514220\/webs-content-farms-grow-audiences-for-ads\">content farms<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This highlights an unfortunate situation. Even reputable news and media websites are struggling to earn revenue, and turn to running deceptive and misleading ads on their sites to earn more income, despite the risks it poses to their users and the cost to their reputations.<\/p>\n<p>[<em>Like what you\u2019ve read? Want more?<\/em> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/memberservices.theconversation.com\/newsletters\/?source=inline-likethis\">Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s daily newsletter<\/a>.]<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/178268\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/178268\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><br \/>\n<em>This article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/eric-zeng-1323975\">Eric Zeng<\/a>, PhD Candidate in Computer <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a> &amp; Engineering, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-washington-699\">University of Washington<\/a>, is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-bad-ads-appear-on-good-websites-a-computer-scientist-explains-178268\">original article<\/a>.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/heres-why-sketchy-ads-appear-on-legit-websites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Here\u2019s why sketchy ads appear on legit websites&#8221; Sketchy ads, like those for miracle weight loss pills and suspicious-looking software, sometimes appear on legitimate, well-regarded websites. It turns out that most websites don\u2019t actually decide who gets to show ads to their viewers. Instead, most sites outsource this task to a complex network of advertising&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":431685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/04\/Bad-ads-on-legit-sites.jpg&signature=cb929b2b37e5e3b0b1cc4358eb0de0df","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}