Episode 184: Ben Edelman Will Send You to Affiliate Jail

Ben Edelman, independent consultant and longtime ad fraud investigator, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss the Phia affiliate controversy, the evolution of ad fraud, AppLovin's install practices, and what marketers should know about trust and attribution. They also cover Meta and Microsoft earnings, Google's Buyer Direct, creator marketing trends, FreeWheel's latest CTV update, and more.

Takeaways:

- Ben Edelman explains how affiliate fraud has evolved and why it remains a major issue.

- A deep dive into the Phia browser extension controversy and affiliate attribution.

- Lessons from the Blinkx adware scandal and AppLovin's forced install investigation.

- Ari and Eric discuss Meta and Microsoft earnings, Google's Buyer Direct, and the future of creator marketing.

- The latest updates from FreeWheel, Amazon, X, and the broader ad tech industry.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:12 Podcast updates and industry news preview

02:19 Meet Ben Edelman

03:20 The Blinkx adware investigation

10:04 How Ben investigates ad fraud

13:28 The Phia affiliate controversy explained

19:02 Can affiliate marketing be trusted?

23:50 AppLovin's install practices

27:37 Where to follow Ben Edelman

27:51 Meta and Microsoft earnings

33:37 Amazon becomes the largest Fortune 500 company

36:06 Google's Buyer Direct and antitrust concerns

40:14 The rise of micro and nano creators

42:44 AI-generated content in programmatic advertising

43:59 FreeWheel's new CTV reporting capabilities

45:08 X and the WFA legal settlement

46:25 Final thoughts
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