Free tools for investigating digital ads

Brands and organizations of all sizes will spend more than $550 billion on digital ads this year. That means banner ads, video ads, sponsored tweets, search ads, ads in emails, ads in podcasts, and on and on…

The systems used to buy and sell digital ads are vast, complicated, poorly understood, and rife with fraud. Every year, billions of dollars disappear into the gaping maw of the murky and complex digital ad ecosystem.

I’m fascinated and horrified by the level of deception and criminality in digital advertising. I’ve done several investigations into ad fraud, as well as a series about a massive scam fuelled by tens of millions of dollars worth of deceptive Facebook ads. Last December, I published a story about how former Trump advisor and campaign chair Steve Bannon exploits a loophole in Google’s ads policies to earn money.

These investigations require an understanding of how digital advertising works, and the many ways people exploit the system. I also rely on tools to understand how a website or app earns money, which ad tech partners it works with, and to learn more about an advertiser.

Here’s a rundown of free tools you can use to investigate digital ads. First, a reminder: Tools are useless unless you understand when and how to use them. They can give you data, but you need to interpret the data, and to know which questions it can and can’t answer. It’s about how you think, not what tools you have access to. Enjoy and test out these tools — but don’t expect them to do the heavy lifting for you.

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