Google's Been Running a Secret Test to Detect Bogus Ads — and its Findings Should Make the Industry Nervous

The digital-advertising industry is looking to stamp out bogus ad inventory, like websites that claim to be premium brands but are actually sites the average person hardly ever visits.

Google, with help from some media giants, is taking the lead. The company is pushing an industry initiative called ads.txt that's aimed at wiping out fraud that's dubbed 'spoofing' by the industry. Spoofing encompasses the variety of ways ad buyers can be tricked into paying for space they're not getting.

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