Ben Edelman, independent consultant and longtime ad fraud investigator, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss the Phia affiliate controversy, the evolution of ad fraud, AppLovin's install practices, and what marketers should know about trust and attribution. They also cover Meta and Microsoft earnings, Google's Buyer Direct, creator marketing trends, FreeWheel's latest CTV update, and more.
Takeaways:
- Ben Edelman explains how affiliate fraud has evolved and why it remains a major issue.
- A deep dive into the Phia browser extension controversy and affiliate attribution.
- Lessons from the Blinkx adware scandal and AppLovin's forced install investigation.
- Ari and Eric discuss Meta and Microsoft earnings, Google's Buyer Direct, and the future of creator marketing.
- The latest updates from FreeWheel, Amazon, X, and the broader ad tech industry.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:12 Podcast updates and industry news preview
02:19 Meet Ben Edelman
03:20 The Blinkx adware investigation
10:04 How Ben investigates ad fraud
13:28 The Phia affiliate controversy explained
19:02 Can affiliate marketing be trusted?
23:50 AppLovin's install practices
27:37 Where to follow Ben Edelman
27:51 Meta and Microsoft earnings
33:37 Amazon becomes the largest Fortune 500 company
36:06 Google's Buyer Direct and antitrust concerns
40:14 The rise of micro and nano creators
42:44 AI-generated content in programmatic advertising
43:59 FreeWheel's new CTV reporting capabilities
45:08 X and the WFA legal settlement
46:25 Final thoughts
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