Earlier this year, PubMatic, a sell-side platform (SSP) that helps online publishers sell display, video and mobile ads in an automated fashion, issued a “massive refund” to its clients.
The reason behind the San Francisco-based company – an expert in the programmatic space – reimbursing its customers was a highly sophisticated case of advertising fraud. More specifically, software security firm Lookout had discovered the presence of BeiTaAd, a “well-obfuscated advertising plugin”, hidden within numerous mobile apps where PubMatic offered ads.
In a clue regarding its scale, BeiTaAd was found on 238 apps – collectively installed 440 million times – that...