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by Noe2097 1355 days ago
I must be missing something; hasn't this been happening for years? Viewing an ad in exchange for a continue?

How is that different from ad videos that must be seen to access otherwise "free" resources, such as free WiFi in Airports? Or even from video ads that auto play on YouTube? None of them captured my genuine interest ; but I accepted the deal of my brain time (or my closed eyes) in exchange for some retribution.
2 comments
MWParkerson 1355 days ago
Videos that must be watched for Wi-Fi in airports can be properly attributed to boingboing/ unitedwifi.com/ etc…

Advertisers see these as organic mobile web page visits, when really they are incentivized /rewarded inapp impressions. There are different sets of expectations in such an environment. For one, impressions should probably be priced lower since the user has no engagement with the content. A lot of advertisers use contextual signals from the page text when deciding who to show ads to, and this disrupts the assumption that a user sought out the page they are on for some reason

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duskwuff 1355 days ago
> For one, impressions should probably be priced lower since the user has no engagement with the content.

And because displaying a web page in a temporary in-app browser will likely prevent the user from viewing or interacting with the ads as intended. (For example, if a user taps on one of the ads, where does that open?)

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fourthark 1355 days ago
Right, how is this different from free game apps showing you ads for other games?

Typically these days you have to watch about 15s of the ad. Seems involuntary but the ads take this into account, "can I get you to play this fake simulation of the game inside the ad, or are you just going to click close?"

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antoniojtorres 1355 days ago
The difference is that the content being shown is not an "Ad" in way whatsoever. If a website with 5-6 ads is loaded within a webview, those are 6 impressions that will be billed as if the user went that site directly. It's arbitrage. Similarly, for podcasts, having the actual player autoplay to count the plays as real, actual plays. Which is different from a podcast ad where you hear some sample content.
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kazinator 1354 days ago
Aribitrage is when you can buy and sell the same commodity in a loop, generating continuous profit.

This just looks like ad fraud at best.

> 6 impressions that will be billed as if the user went that site directly

Who the hell goes anywhere directly; and who believes it?

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