Google acquires Spider.io to fight with Ad fraud

London-based Spider.io has been acquired by Google, the company’s DoubleClick advertising blog announced today. Spider.io, which was founded just three years ago, provides a fraud-fighting service aimed at ensuring the accuracy of advertising metrics. Google didn't disclose the terms of the deal, but said that it plans to integrate Spider.io's service into Google's display and video ads immediately. Google will then build out Spider.io's platform to improve the general understanding of the people advertisers are targeting.

According to article of PC World , there are two types of display advertising fraud being committed using hijacked Internet-enabled devices, said Spider.io.

The first involves the attacker running fully automated browsers on the hijacked devices without the knowledge of the device owners. Those browsers visit ad-laden websites of the attacker’s choosing and simulate mouse movements and ad clicks, Spider.io said.

The second type involves hijacking the browsing sessions of the device owners. That typically takes one of four forms, Spider.io said. The device owner’s clicks could for instance be redirected to websites of the attacker’s choosing, and the device owner may also be shown unexpected pop-up windows. Web pages may also be hidden in pop-under windows under the owners’ active browser windows, and ads could be illegitimately injected into webpages ordinarily visited by the device owners.

Spider.io’s tech is designed specifically to detect attacks originating from PCs infected by malware. Often these hijacked computers are programmed by their attackers to place a high volume of ad requests, thus skewing the numbers and defrauding online advertisers out of millions of dollars.