Google has a team of 100 people working on a project so secretive most of them can only reveal their first names (GOOG) | ||
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Google has an extremely secretive unit working to combat advertising fraud — many people within Google don't even know the team exists, but AdAge was given the first look at what the team of around 100 people are working on. Advertising fraud is a serious problem. The Internet Advertising Bureau predicts ad fraud could cost brands as much as £6.5 billion ($10.1 billion) in wasted spend from brands each year. For Google — the biggest seller of online advertising in the world — that's a huge problem. It wants and needs to be trusted that ads being bought through its platform are actually reaching a human audience, not an army of botnets created by criminal gangs exploiting unsuspecting consumers' personal computers, who are taking serious amounts of money out of the advertising ecosystem by generating millions of false clicks on ads (among other techniques.) And it's because ad fraud is essentially a form of organized crime that many people AdAge encountered during its time at Google's offices in central London asked only to be referred to by their first names. One Russian engineer, Sasha, said: "Because it is part of organized crime, I'm guessing it would not be a friendly environment for the people that speak out against it." The unit itself is situated behind a "hulking door with a circular vault-like handle," AdAge describes, which just adds to the air of mystery around it. The operation is "one of the most important and best-protected secret units of the web," AdAge writes.
The man leading Google's botnet-fighting unit can be named: Douglas de Jager. He founded Spider.io, which was sold to Google for an undisclosed amount last year. All seven Spider.io staff members moved over to Google. AdAge says it is the mixture of Spider.io's expertise, plus Google's computing power that has speeded up the fraud-fighting process "dramatically." But it has also added some restrictions: The bot-fighting unit has to steer clear of Google's sales team to avoid conflicts of interest. AdAge explains: The sales team, as you might imagine, doesn't stand to gain immediately when inventory is removed from Google's systems. The more ads it sells, the more money it takes in. The engineers work in what they describe as their "dungeon," scanning malware binary for up to two hour sessions at a time looking for patterns, and raking the forums used by fraudsters for clues as to where the bad actors originate from. But they do regularly emerge from their dungeon: For coffee. After each session, the team "flocked" to Google's famous micro-kitchens, where everything is free, to caffeinate "and forget," AdAge writes. Ultimately, Google's team are looking through all these clues for "signals" — a type of behavior that is inadvertently created by a fraudster when they program a bot that can help the engineers identify the traffic. Google's secret weapon to do this is called "Powerdrill": Powerdrill is a freak computing system. It's capable of processing a half trillion cells of data in a less than five seconds (translation: It's damn fast). And it can spit that data out as charts and other graphical representations that make it possible to spot the irregularities of nonhuman traffic. AdAge goes into further detail — including a fascinating anecdote about an un-named ad verification service that was responsible for a swathe of non-human traffic on the Google network — about what Google's team are up to and the way it goes about tracking down fraudsters in its article, which you can read in full here. SEE ALSO: Rocket Fuel — The Adtech Company Pilloried For Allegedly Serving Ads To Bots — Is Fighting Back Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 awesome Google features you didn't know about  | ||
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THE UK JUST FELL INTO DEFLATION | ||
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Consumer prices fell 0.1% in the year to April, with the UK officially and unexpectedly entering deflation. Analysts were expecting prices to stay flat year-on-year, with 0% inflation. Core prices, which strip out the effects of volatile items like food and energy, were expected to rise by 1%. In fact, core prices rose by just 0.8%, the lowest figure since 2001. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that the UK had some brief periods of deflation in the late 1950s and 1960, so it's been at least 55 years since such a low figure was recorded. Here's how that looks:
Capital Economics' Samuel Tombs doesn't sound too worried about the development. He had this to say in a note: Looking ahead, though, the UK’s deflation is likely to last for one month only. CPI inflation should return to positive territory in May, as the effect of the shifting timing of Easter ceases to depress it and as the negative contribution from energy and food prices starts to fade. Meanwhile, there are still few signs that very low inflation is having malign economic effects – consumers are undertaking, not delaying, purchases and wage growth is picking up. Nonetheless, the pound’s recent appreciation and the scope for productivity to recover suggests that it could still be another couple of years before CPI inflation returns to the 2% target. Accordingly, consumers can continue to look forward to healthy increases in their spending power for some time to come. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Google has a team of 100 people working on a project so secretive most of them can only reveal their first names (GOOG) | ||
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Google has an extremely secretive unit working to combat advertising fraud — many people within Google don't even know the team exists, but AdAge was given the first look at what the team of around 100 people are working on. Advertising fraud is a serious problem. The Internet Advertising Bureau predicts ad fraud could cost brands as much as £6.5 billion ($10.1 billion) in wasted spend from brands each year. For Google — the biggest seller of online advertising in the world — that's a huge problem. It wants and needs to be trusted that ads being bought through its platform are actually reaching a human audience, not an army of botnets created by criminal gangs exploiting unsuspecting consumers' personal computers, who are taking serious amounts of money out of the advertising ecosystem by generating millions of false clicks on ads (among other techniques.) And it's because ad fraud is essentially a form of organized crime that many people AdAge encountered during its time at Google's offices in central London asked only to be referred to by their first names. One Russian engineer, Sasha, said: "Because it is part of organized crime, I'm guessing it would not be a friendly environment for the people that speak out against it." The unit itself is situated behind a "hulking door with a circular vault-like handle," AdAge describes, which just adds to the air of mystery around it. The operation is "one of the most important and best-protected secret units of the web," AdAge writes.
The man leading Google's botnet-fighting unit can be named: Douglas de Jager. He founded Spider.io, which was sold to Google for an undisclosed amount last year. All seven Spider.io staff members moved over to Google. AdAge says it is the mixture of Spider.io's expertise, plus Google's computing power that has speeded up the fraud-fighting process "dramatically." But it has also added some restrictions: The bot-fighting unit has to steer clear of Google's sales team to avoid conflicts of interest. AdAge explains: The sales team, as you might imagine, doesn't stand to gain immediately when inventory is removed from Google's systems. The more ads it sells, the more money it takes in. The engineers work in what they describe as their "dungeon," scanning malware binary for up to two hour sessions at a time looking for patterns, and raking the forums used by fraudsters for clues as to where the bad actors originate from. But they do regularly emerge from their dungeon: For coffee. After each session, the team "flocked" to Google's famous micro-kitchens, where everything is free, to caffeinate "and forget," AdAge writes. Ultimately, Google's team are looking through all these clues for "signals" — a type of behavior that is inadvertently created by a fraudster when they program a bot that can help the engineers identify the traffic. Google's secret weapon to do this is called "Powerdrill": Powerdrill is a freak computing system. It's capable of processing a half trillion cells of data in a less than five seconds (translation: It's damn fast). And it can spit that data out as charts and other graphical representations that make it possible to spot the irregularities of nonhuman traffic. AdAge goes into further detail — including a fascinating anecdote about an un-named ad verification service that was responsible for a swathe of non-human traffic on the Google network — about what Google's team are up to and the way it goes about tracking down fraudsters in its article, which you can read in full here. SEE ALSO: Rocket Fuel — The Adtech Company Pilloried For Allegedly Serving Ads To Bots — Is Fighting Back Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 awesome Google features you didn't know about  | ||
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IMF: Global energy subsidies this year are 'shocking' | ||
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Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund voiced alarm Monday about energy subsidies across the world, saying they were expected to reach $5.3 trillion in 2015, more than government health spending. "These estimates are shocking," the IMF said in a report, noting the figures were among the largest negative factors for economic growth it had ever estimated, piling up adverse effects on efficiency, growth and inequality. The report estimated that this year's energy subsidies represent 6.5 percent of the global economy, likely exceeding government health spending across the world. Long an opponent of energy subsidies, the IMF defines them as the difference between the amount of money consumers pay for energy and its "true costs", plus a country's normal value-added or sales tax rate. In addition to what is required to produce and distribute energy, the "true costs" include environmental effects like carbon emissions that lead to global warming and the health effects of air pollution. According to the Fund, China is by far the largest spender on energy subsidies, at $2.3 trillion a year, followed by the United States at $699 billion and Russia at $335 billion. The report said that overall energy subsidies had more than doubled since 2011, the year covered by a similar IMF report in 2013. The IMF explained that more than half of the increase was due to more precise evidence of the damaging effects of energy consumption on air quality and health, such as premature deaths. "The IMF has long argued that getting energy prices right can help national governments achieve their goals not only for the environment but also for inclusive growth and sound public finances," the report said. The 188-nation Fund recommended countries increase energy prices gradually to reflect their true costs, an action it estimated would yield fiscal gains of about 3.5 percent of gross domestic product. The additional gains would give governments room to reduce some taxes, raise growth-spurring public spending on infrastructure, health and education, and finance cash transfers for the poor, it said. The IMF in March conditioned its $40 billion bailout program for Ukraine in part on the government undertaking energy sector reforms, including reductions in energy subsidies.
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This simple exercise will work out every muscle in your body  | ||
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'Peppa Pig' is now a billion-dollar brand | ||
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Entertainment One has got a cash cow on its hands — or rather a cash pig. "Peppa Pig," the British-made children's television series about a family of pigs, continues to deliver for the production and distribution company. Entertainment One revealed in its full-year results on Tuesday that "Peppa Pig" related sales hit $1 billion (£640 million) worldwide last year. Entertainment One called the small pink pig "the most loved pre-school property in the world." That insane popularity of the animation helped Entertainment One more than double pre-tax profit to £44 million ($68.74 million), despite revenue dipping 5% to £785.8 million ($1.22 million). Profit margins at its TV business are higher than in film and Entertainment One, which distributes Peppa Pig, owns half the rights to series. Entertainment One also owns all of the merchandising rights and Peppa Pig ended the year with over 600 licensing deals to its name. While Peppa Pig was a big hit, the company said it had a poor year for film. Revenue at its movie distribution business fell by 13% o £581.4 million ($908.25 million). Entertainment One said it was hoping for a turnaround this year, thanks to films its working on such as the new "Steve Jobs" biopic. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Vodafone underlying profits jump as sales climb 10% | ||
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London (AFP) - Vodafone's annual net profits slumped dramatically but the performance was skewed by the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless, the British company said Tuesday. Earnings after taxation collapsed to £5.76 billion ($9.0 billion, 8.0 billion euros) in the year to March 31, the world's second-largest mobile operator said in a results statement. That compared with an enormous net profit of £59.25 billion in the previous 2013/2014 financial year, when earnings were boosted by the sale of its 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon for $130 billion. The deal -- one of the biggest transactions in global corporate history -- was agreed in September 2013 but completed in February 2014. In a separate development last week, US telecoms giant Verizon announced plans to buy faded Internet pioneer AOL for $4.4 billion. Vodafone added Tuesday that annual revenues rose 10.1 percent to £42.2 billion, aided by its purchase of Spanish cable firm Ono and Kabel Deutschland (KDG), the largest cable operator in Germany. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) meanwhile gained 7.5 percent to £11.9 billion. The group also forecast that EBITDA would be in the range of £11.5 billion to £12.0 billion in the current 2015/2016 financial year. That compared with analysts' consensus forecast of £11.9 billion, according to Bloomberg. British group Vodafone is second only to China Mobile in terms of subscriber numbers. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Euro plummets after the ECB says it will frontload QE purchases | ||
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The euro dropped sharply against the dollar after the European Central Bank's Benoit Coeuré said that the central bank could step up its purchases of eurozone government bonds ahead of the summer lull. In a speech in London he said: "“We are also aware of seasonal patterns in fixed-income market activity with the traditional holiday period from mid-July to August characterised by notably lower market liquidity. If need be, the frontloading may be complemented by some backloading in September when market liquidity is expected to improve again." His comments sent the euro plummeting against the dollar:
The ECB is currently buying eurozone government bonds at a rate of €60 billion per month. Coeuré is suggesting that this may be increased in May and June in order for the central bank not to disrupt the market when trading volumes are lower in the summer. Some have seen this as a response to recent volatility in the German bund market. Over the past month 10-year German government bond yields have spiked to their highest level since October last year — albeit still at historically low levels.
Coeuré, however, dismissed these concerns saying that the "slightly higher purchase volume that market analysts may observe in the coming weeks is...unrelated to the recent episode of market volatility." Even if that is true, the side effects of the increase in purchases — a weaker euro and lower bond yields — will not be unwelcome developments for the ECB as it maintains its efforts to revitalise the eurozone's economy. The region's economy is grew by a quarterly rate of 0.4% in the first quarter of 2015, a faster rate than even the US and at its highest in almost two years, but both employment and output in the periphery remains significantly below historic levels. A period of brisk growth is the region's best chance of recovering the ground it has lost since the onset of the euro crisis. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Vodafone is finally back in growth after 10 brutal quarters of decline | ||
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Vodafone is finally growing again after ten consecutive quarters of decline — all thanks to Africa and India. The telecoms giant revealed in its full-year results today that it grew by 0.1% in the final three months of the year. Although small, it indicates that the company's turnaround plan is working. Vodafone, the world's second largest mobile operator, also said seven year's of earnings declines could finally be coming to an end this year. The company reported earnings of £11.9 billion ($18.63 billion) for the year ended March 31 and forecast earnings for the year ahead of £11.5-12 billion ($18-18.79 billion) — stability at last. Vodafone has been hit hard by increased competition in the European mobile market and a squeeze on consumer spending since the financial crisis. The key to the company's return to growth was the rise and rise of mobile internet across Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific (AMAP). While its European business shrunk 2.4% in the fourth quarter, AMAP grew by 6%. Vodafone highlighted particularly strong growth in India and said across its AMAP markets data usage — the amount of time people are spending browsing the web on their mobiles — more than doubled, growing by 106%. The company is also hoping to fix its European business by investing in high-end services like 4G as part of its turnaround plan codenamed 'Project Spring'. Vodafone said Europe began to stabilise in the second half of the year. Vodafone's full-year revenue rose 10.1% to £42.2 billion ($66.08 billion), while operating profit fell by 150.3% to £1.96 billion ($3.07 billion) as the company invested more in 4G and acquisitions. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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Singapore nets biggest ivory seizure in decade | ||
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Singapore (AFP) - Singapore authorities seized the biggest illegal shipment of ivory and other exotic animal parts in more than a decade Tuesday, with the haul from Kenya worth an estimated Sg$8 million ($6 million). The animal parts were discovered stashed among bags of tea leaves in two 20-foot containers while transiting through the city-state to Vietnam, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and Singapore Customs said in a joint statement. Authorities uncovered 1,783 pieces of raw ivory tusk hidden among the bags, the statement said. Four pieces of rhino horn and 22 teeth believed to be from African big cats -- cheetahs and leopards -- were also found in the containers, it said. The haul weighed 3.7 tonnes and is the largest seizure of illegal ivory in Singapore since 2002 when six tonnes of ivory were intercepted, the statement said. The shipping of ivory has been banned since 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) -- to which Singapore, a major hub for seaborne trade, is a signatory. In April last year, local authorities intercepted a shipment of illegal ivory worth Sg$2.0 million, labelled as coffee berries, transiting from Africa, according to the statement. A similar cargo, also from Africa, worth Sg$2.5 million was uncovered in January 2013. Ivory ornaments are coveted in Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand and China despite fears that the trade is pushing wild elephants to extinction. Rhino horn is prized for its supposed medicinal properties.
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A British storage company is making a killing because the economy is on fire and everyone is running out of space | ||
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The Big Yellow Group, one of Britain's biggest storage companies, unveiled a 17% rise in revenue to £84.3 million ($132 million) for the full year ending March 31, 2015. The group said it was mainly due to people needing to store their personal or business related items elsewhere because London, and other city properties, are really "constrained." That constraint occurred, the company said, because local economies have grown so fast since 2009 that everyone has run out of space. The Big Yellow Group said in a statement (emphasis ours): Self storage demand from businesses and individuals at any given store is linked in part to local economic activity, consumer and business confidence, all of which are inter-related. Fluctuations in housing activity whether in the rented or owner occupied sector are also a factor and in our view influence the top slice of demand over and above a core occupancy. This has been demonstrated by the resilience of our like-for-like stores since September 2007 despite a collapse in housing activity and GDP over the period 2007 to 2009. Local GDP and hence business and housing activity are greatest in the larger urban conurbations and in particular London and the South East. Furthermore, people and businesses are space constrained in these more expensive areas. Barriers to entry in terms of competition for land and difficulty around obtaining planning are also highest in more urbanised locations. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment  | ||
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The B&B owner who accidentally became an oil company owner just sold part of her stake | ||
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New World Oil and Gas, the Jersey based exploration and development company with projects in Belize and Denmark, just revealed that a British B&B owner who's son accidentally bought out half the group's shares, sold part of her stake. She now owns just 25.94% of the company, compared with 48.7% previously. On May 14, New World called an emergency meeting with its shareholders after the company's stock rocketed then plunged because a Judith Williams, the owner of Wyche Keep Country House, accidentally became the leading shareholder of the oil and gas group. She was the subject of a Takeover Panel discussion because her son Christopher bought 342 million shares believing that he was snapping up only a 10% stake in the group for £1.5 million ($2.4 million). Unfortunately, his share purchase, on behalf of his mother through a broker, ended up being at 48.7%. Because she was a significant stakeholder, Britain's Takeover Panel said that she may have to make a mandatory bid for the rest of the company under current law. However, according to the latest regulatory filing, Williams has sold a chunk of her stake, leaving her with now just a 25.94% slice of the company. This means New World can now avoid launching a rights issue and Williams won't be forced to buy out the rest of the company. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment  | ||
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