The digital advertising industry is worth billions, but many companies don’t actually know where their ad dollars end up. Programmatic ad exchanges and other third-party platforms have enabled companies to buy ads without the hassle of going to each seller. But in doing so, these ad exchanges have opened the door for fake news and disinformation sites to profit. As reporter Cherise Seucharan finds out, it has become easier and easier for these sites to proliferate, while real news websites lose out.

Featured in this episode:

Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin, co-founders of Check My Ads; Augustine Fou, anti-ad fraud consultant; Danny Rogers, co-founder and executive director at The Global Disinformation Index

Further reading:

• How an Activist Group Turned to the Dark Side to Hit Breitbart Where It Hurts, GQ
• Coronavirus Ad Blocking Is Starving Some News Sites Of Revenue, Craig Silverman, Buzzfeed News
• These Hugely Popular Local News Sites In The US And Canada Are Fake, Craig Silverman, Buzzfeed News
• Vice urges advertisers to stop blocking ‘Black Lives Matter’ and related keywords, Variety
• Big Advertisers Still Fund Hate And Disinformation Outside Of Facebook, Augustine Foh, Forbes
• Ad Funded Disinformation on Conflict in Ukraine: Ad tech Companies, Brands and Policy, Global Disinformation Index
• Tens of thousands of news articles are labeled as unsafe for advertisers, Adalytics Blog

Support Canadaland at canadaland.com/join

Sponsors: PolicyMe, Oxio.

Additional Music is by Audio Network