ADSCAM: How Online Advertising Gave Birth to One of History's Greatest Frauds, and Became a Threat to Democracy

Name: ADSCAM: How Online Advertising Gave Birth to One of History's Greatest Frauds, and Became a Threat to Democracy
Rating: 4.7 (42 reviews)

by: Bob Hoffman (0)

Everywhere we go on the web we are being followed. Everything we do on the web is being catalogued. This is called tracking. Tracking is just a pleasanter word for spying. By tracking us, marketers know who we talk to, what we say, where we go, and what we do. They know who our friends are, what our interests are, what our bank balances look like, what our sexual preferences are, what our political leanings are, and where we are at any moment. The consequences of all this surveillance have become shocking, disturbing, and dangerous. In Adscam, Bob Hoffman follows his #1 selling book BadMen to describe how online tracking has become a threat to individuals and to democratic societies, and has helped create one of the greatest frauds in history.

The Reviews

Eye opener. Fascinating. Could not put it down. Thank you

This slim volume boils down decades of Bob’s research and speaking in to a clear summary of the important challenges that growing AdTech has brought to our society. He demonstrates that the tracking technology adopted by AdTech has driven a loss of privacy and increased division in civic discourse. He concludes with a clear call to ban tracking on the Internet. Definitely worth the read!

Great book. Though it examines Ad-Fraud it addresses something much bigger. We live in a world of lies and scams. In a world reliant on the internet for information and in turn internet content reliant on ad revenue you have have a problem. Ad Fraud distorts everything we see and read on the internet and makes the world worse in many ways. Read this book and you will not only learn about the issues we face but you may be better equipped to navigate the world of lies we live in.

love this tea, very lemony, very good will definitely buy more

Bob is the conscious of an industry without a conscious. Online advertising is intrusive and full of fraud. Any marketer who is contemplating ANY online ads should read this book. I can’t get enough of Bob

In the usual humorous and appropriately hyperbolic style of Bob Hoffman, an exceptionally informative and substantially important read on the societal damage inflicted by tracking and algorithms. Changes forthcoming? Don't hold your breath

I've read all of Bob's books and they never fail to impress. Facts, facts, facts followed by consequences, and all impossible to argue with. The extra swearing is the cherry on the cake!

Bob Hoffman continues his exposure of the big digital/social media companies. Billions of dollars wasted by marketers on advertising that doesn’t deliver what it promises.ADSCAM should be required reading for every marketer!Would love to see Hoffman and Zuckerberg in a debate.

After +20 years working in digital advertising, I have 1st hand experience working with major publishers, ad networks, DSPs and ad verification specialists. After reading ADSCAM, I am now aware that the current system is not only BROKEN but it is RIPE with fraud. The political implecations of digital ads are more far-reaching than one would think (great example with ExxonMobil).While Zuck and Facebook get a lot of credit, the industry "stewards" are either incompetent or complicit with the opaque business practices, data abuse, etc. For anyone who doubts the merits of blockchain, this book is PRECISELY why I am so enthusiastic about Web3 and consumer data sovereignty. As the browser is the window to the Internet, I'm hopeful Web3 privacy browsers (e.g.Decentr.net) gain more attention as they protect consumer data, while creating a new data economy and real value exchange with consumers. Incedibly insightful book and awesome to see the collaboration!

As the author admits at the end of the book, they do not understand much about the technical details of the topics they discuss. I ended up reading ramblings of a person on something they do not grasp.The book is a collection of not that insightful blog posts. I do not think it worths the money I paid.