The topic Ad Fraud  is one that has been tossed around in reference to digital/internet marketing.  

Today I read a story in MediaPost that calls out Ad Fraud in the Television industry.

Before I dig in, let me make it clear what type of Ad Fraud I am referring to.

I am not talking about commercials that make fake or questionable claims or are for shady businesses.

The type of Ad Fraud I’m talking about today pertains to the buying and placing of ads on any type of media, and today I am going to address Television and the Internet.

There is a whole lot of trust that media buyers or business owners place in digital advertising that is worrisome. A few years ago when I worked full time in social media for a multi-million internet retailer, I learned how to game the system for getting Facebook likes for our brands pages.  I was given the assignment to double our Facebook page likes over the next 9 months.  Because I knew some tactics that they were not using, I was able to complete that task in just 3 weeks, not 39 weeks.

I have also dug deep into the Google Analytics of various businesses that I’ve worked with and unfortunately, the digger you dig, the more likely you are to find stuff that doesn’t look so good.  

Before you invest ANY money on anything in the digital world, you have to know the limitations and also know that along with any good stuff, you may end up with some worthless stuff.  I know that sounds vague.  

One of the promises of digital and internet marketing is that it is highly targetable and also highly trackable.  Those who sell those types of advertising like to promise that they “eliminate the waste” and “only deliver your ads to real customers.”

Bullshit is the most direct way I can tell you what those promises are.

Look, I can sell you digital solutions too, but not with the false promises that those others are pushing.   I’ll be honest with you.

Let’s go back to what prompted me to write this today and that is Ad Fraud in TV-land.

The headline from MediaPost is:

Top Media Buyers Allege Networks Lied — And Stole From Them — In Last Year’s Upfront

FYI, Upfronts are the meetings and presentations that traditional television networks have before the Fall TV season to roll out the new and returning shows to the media buyers to get them excited and get commitments from the media buyers to spend advertising dollars on those shows.  

Not only do the networks present the shows, they also share their plans for how they are going to promote, attract and retain audiences for their show.   In recent years, one tactic that was promised is the networks would reduce the number of ads.  This would mean the remaining ads would be priced higher but the audience retention rate would also be higher.

However:

A panel discussion featuring some of Madison Avenue’s biggest network TV buyers Thursday morning accused the network TV industry of misrepresenting itself in the previous year’s negotiations, even to the point of explicit fraud.

“It’s robbery,” Mike Law, head of U.S. media investment at Dentsu Aegis Network, asserted during the opening session of MediaPost’s Outfront Conference in New York City, adding, “They actually lied to us.”

Law was speaking about promises made by some major networks to reduce their prime-time commercial loads on the premise that it would improve their viewers’ experience and boost ratings and attention to advertising.

“I firmly believe they lied to us,” Law added, declining to name which network he was referring to, but it is well known that Fox and NBC took the most aggressive positions on reduced ad clutter pitches coming into last year’s upfront.

Here’s more:

He described going into some kind of post-delivery meeting with network executives and said, “I’m a pretty casual guy and I dropped f-bombs in that meeting, because it is ridiculous.”

While he didn’t use the word fraud, Law said, the network sales executives “sold us on a proposition that you thought was going to happen.

“You paid more for something they told you was going to happen and none of it happened.”

“We heard promises last year that we were going to see a reduction in commercialization and the fact of the matter, with that particular network, who is now my client — I would prefer not to mention who it is — their commercialization actually went up by 2%,” echoed John Muszynski, chief investment officer, Publicis Media Exchange.

Citing an analysis of upfront media buys for the major broadcast and cable networks over the past five years, their prime-time ad rates have risen 38%, said Muszynski, while their delivery of adult 18-49 viewers declined 39.%

“That’s having it both ways,” he said, adding that agencies and their clients also have been hit with a variety of ratings and format packages that do not necessarily benefit advertisers, but are intended to boost the “yield” of the networks’ sales organizations.

Law said his team did an analysis looking back to 2001 and said “the number is actually worse” — noting that prime-time ratings have declined 78% while ad rates have increased 180%.

“It’s a model that is completely broken,” Law said, adding, “If we come back and everybody walks back to the table with the same amount of money for television, like, shame on us, because it’s just playing right into their hands.”

In fairness, no one from the supply-side was represented on the panel, but all of the buyers were in agreement that this year likely would be one of massive correction, including shifting as much of their ad budgets out of the upfront and putting as much of it as possible into other media.

On a local level, I have no reason to believe that television stations are committing Ad Fraud.  I don’t any information one way or another.

Here is my advice:

Look for real measurement benchmarks.

Set up 3 or 4 or more ways to track what people are doing in their “consumer journey”.

Deal with people you trust to have your best interests at heart.  They are usually able to talk to you in terms that you understand without the need to have a masters degree in media and advertising lingo.

If you want my help as an advertising and marketing coach, just ask.  You can also sign up to receive my weekly Sound ADvice media and marketing tips newsletter using the form below.