Q. I’m troubled by the proliferation of fake news on the internet. I read that the fabricators of these stories have made millions in ad revenue from Google, Facebook and other online advertising networks, based on the traffic the bogus stories generate. What’s being done to stop this?
A. Fortunately, a lot is being done—belatedly. Ad revenue is the lifeblood of internet publishing, and fake-news mills—employing writers who dream up and churn out outrageous fiction—have been set up simply to tap into a multibillion-dollar ad market. Their made-up stories (with “click bait” headlines) go viral on social media, shared by thousands of web readers who believe them to be true. This traffic triggers ad placements from automated “programmatic advertising” engines used by Google, Facebook and independent online advertising networks. These companies enable the fake-news boom and generate millions in revenues for themselves. Only they can cut off the lifeblood and reduce the financial incentive to create phony stories.
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