Mobile advertising has become a big business as millions of people globally download apps for entertainment and utility.
It’s also become a big target for those intent on siphoning off legitimate advertising dollars through the placement of fraudulent ads on mobile apps.
The industry’s underside has become so big, in fact, analysts estimate it is responsible for about $850 million in fraudulent mobile app advertisements each year and may very well reach the $1 billion mark by year’s end.
The firm Forensiq is dedicated to tracking fraud in online advertising. To delve into the issue of mobile device hijacking, it conducted a 10-day study involving devices in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Forensiq’s researchers found that 1% of all devices observed in America were subject to bogus ads. It also found 2% to 3% of devices in Asia and Europe were infected with fraudulent ad displays.
A custom packet capture and analysis tools were used to uncover the findings that are estimated to affect more than 12 million devices globally and some 13% of in-app, pre-bid advertising inventory.
Just What is Mobile Device Hijacking?
Forensiq is working to raise awareness about mobile device hijacking for two good reasons. First, the illegal practice siphons cash off from mobile advertisers’ legitimate ad spends. Second, it wastes mobile device users’ data.
The practice involves the use of mobile applications, often legitimate, useful ones that have malicious code added to them. This code enables the rapid loading of ads onto their devices. When these ads “run,” the perpetrators of this crime are able to cash in on advertising dollars.
The problem, Forensiq explained, is that the ads are not placed legitimately and they are hidden from mobile device users’ view in many cases. That means paying advertisers don’t get their money’s worth while mobile app users find their devices subject to slow downs, crashes and extreme use of data.
Essentially, those engaged in this type of fraud are stealing legitimate advertising dollars by presenting fraudulent display numbers.
The Scope of the Problem for Device Users
While advertisers’ marketing dollars are stolen courtesy of this scam, they’re not the only victims, Forensiq pointed out. Device users are also seeing their data stolen as the ads rapidly play out.
Forensiq estimated that as many as 700 invisible ads may load on a single hijacked device per hour, which adds up to about 2GB of lost data a day.
Forensiq had no clear-cut solution for this new form of fraud, but its founder and CEO, David Sendroff, said the study is meant to serve as a jumping off point to get stakeholders talking about the issue and how to fight back against this type of fraud.
“With mobile ad spending expected to overtake desktop spending in 2016, tracking fraudulent behavior and raising awareness to new threats such as mobile device hijacking is essential to building a more sustainable and overall safe advertising ecosystem,” Sendroff said.
