Well that's a cheery read (:

I kind of expected the rise of ad blocking would also give rise to new and probably more obnoxious ways of advertising, as publishers look for other ways to monetize their content. Ironically, most of these "recommendation" type of ads ("...you won't believe what happens next!"), which frankly annoy me more than "regular" ads, aren't blocked.

Much of this came about by the majors relying on algorithms instead of vetting both ends of the chain ... that's either extreme hubris or turning the blind eye.

Nice find, subscribed to Kalkis Research to see what else they look into.

It looks like the spammers have found a new avenue for their talents.

Odd thing, it's not new. Been there all along. It is the incremental (quantum) abuse that has brought it to the public. That public is potential visitors who are now increasingly weaponized against "more ads shown to combat failing metrics." ... And that other "middleman" the provider getting burned by traffic above and beyond site display.

When ads are offered by a MACHINE humans will trick it every way they can. And they do. And here we are....

I kind of expected the rise of ad blocking would also give rise to new and probably more obnoxious ways of advertising, as publishers look for other ways to monetize their content.

i think it is the other way around where this mess has lead to adblocking.

i think it is the other way around where this mess has lead to adblocking.

Both, perhaps. Unfortunately, ad blockers don't actually block "low-quality content recommendations".

I see a proliferation of this through otherwise reputable huge web sites. Major online newspapers whom I don't AdBlock..