Google buys Spider.io to weed out online advertising fraud

"Advertising helps fund the digital world we love today... but this vibrant ecosystem only flourishes if marketers can buy media online with the confidence that their ads are reaching real people, that results they see are based on actual interest," said Neal Mohan at Google's DoubleClick unit which develops targeted ads.

With the new acquisition, Mohan said, "our immediate priority is to include their fraud detection technology in our video and display ads products, where they will complement our existing efforts."

He added that "by including spider.io's fraud-fighting expertise in our products, we can scale our efforts to weed out bad actors and improve the entire digital ecosystem."

The move helps Google combat the practice of click fraud, where criminals use automatic programs to boost the number of clicks on an online ad to boost revenues.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Speaking of acquisitions, reports indicate Google was very interested in snapping up WhatsApp in a supposed $10 billion deal, but that WhatsApp had rejected the offer to accepting the $19 billion one by Facebook.

The reports claim that Google CEO Larry Page made a last ditch effort last week, meeting with WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum to entice him once again. He even urged Koum to maintain the independence of his firm. Another report states Koum rejected the offer, given that Facebook was offering more money, and also a seat on its board of directors. Google didn't offer a seat, in addition to less money.

Written with inputs from AFP