Google Acquires Spider.io to Help Combat Online Ad Fraud
Posted on February 21, 2014 by Kara Dunlap in Security
Google announced on Friday it has acquired UK startup spider.io for its technology used in the fight against online advertising fraud.
According to Google, the spider.io team has spent the past 3 years building a “world-class ad fraud fighting operation” that the search giant plans to integrate into its products.
“By including spider.io’s fraud-fighting expertise in our products, we can scale our efforts to weed out bad actors and improve the entire digital ecosystem,” Neal Mohan, VP, Display Advertising at Google’s DoubleClick unit, wrote in a blog post announcing the acquisition.
“Our immediate priority is to include their fraud detection technology in our video and display ads products, where they will complement our existing efforts,” Mohan continued. “Over the long term, our goal is to improve the metrics that advertisers and publishers use to determine the value of digital media and give all parties a clearer, cleaner picture of what campaigns and media are truly delivering strong results. Also, by including spider.io’s fraud fighting expertise in our products, we can scale our efforts to weed out bad actors and improve the entire digital ecosystem.”
Terms of the acquistion were not disclosed.
Earlier this month, Google acquired security startup SlickLogin, an Israeli company working on innovative authentication solutions that leverage mobile and audio technology.
Related: Flashback Trojan Targets Big Profits Through Google Ads Fraud Scheme
Related: ‘One-Click’ Scammers Changing Tactics: Symantec
Managing Editor, SecurityWeek.
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