What you need to know in advertising today

Did you catch that bombshell story posted by BuzzFeed the other day about the super sophisticated online advertising fraud operation?

The scam allegedly pulled off in this case – creating a bunch of fake websites, selling lots of ads on them via programmatic channels, and then using bots to simulate human visitors – is not entirely new.

Which begs the question – why is this still happening? Aren't big marketers screaming about the need for transparency, and shining a light on the murky ad tech supply chain?

To read this commentary on why the advertising industry has been living a lie, click here.

In other news:

How Netflix prepares to unleash a monster like 'Stranger Things 2' to its 'north of 300 million' potential viewers. A huge part of Netflix’s pitch to investors, which has helped propel its stock up and up, is that it will become the first truly global TV network.

Google built a new Trojan Horse to get inside every aspect of your life. The company is taking hardware seriously after years of experimentation, to sneak the company's AI technology into everything else.

Speaking of Google, the company is planning to share revenue with partners that get new subscribers via its new targeting tools. The company will use its collection of data to help media companies to target potential new customers, and get a cut of the new subscription whenever a deal is successful.

Google is also officially launching its simplified payment "Pay with Google" service. The system works with a number of partners, such as Fancy and Instacart, while others like Airbnb and Deliveroo are coming "soon."

Jain Zaffer, CEO of mobile ad firm Vungle, has been arrested on charges of attempted murder, lewd act upon a child, and more. The company's board immediately removed Zaffer from the role, and voted to replace him.

Facebook is letting 10 media outlets charge readers subscriptions to view stories. 10 media outlets, including The Washington Post and The Telegraph, will introduce metered paywalls on Facebook's Instant Articles.

Snap hit with more layoffs, plans to slow hiring in 2018. Eighteen people have been laid off from Snap's recruiting division and more cuts are expected as managers institute a new system for evaluating employee performance.

Here is why the KFC Twitter account follows just 11 people. It's a brilliant marketing ploy.

LinkedIn may be looking to venture into original video content, The Information reports. In doing so, it would follow in the footsteps of Facebook and Snapchat.

Snapchat’s efforts to sell ads within the shows from its media partners have yielded "mixed results," Digiday reports. An executive at one partner that created a show that racked up 50 million views said Snap struggled to fill its ad inventory.

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