Are online ads being viewed by virtual eyeballs?
It was a spectacular bit of timing. On November 16th Baidu, a Chinese online-search giant, said it would buy YY Live, a China-focused video-streaming service with 40m monthly users, for $3.6bn. Two days later Muddy Waters, an American short-seller, published a report claiming YY Live was 「an ecosystem of mirages」 and 「almost entirely fake」. The share price of JOYY, YY Live’s parent company, slid by 26%.
Muddy Waters alleges that JOYY’s platforms, including YY Live, are infested with 「bots」—computers that log on to 「watch」 streams, pretending to be human. Many, it says, appear to sit in JOYY’s internal networks. The upshot, it alleges, is that somewhere between 73% and 84% of JOYY’s revenue is suspect.
JOYY responded by saying the report contained 「numerous errors, unsubstantiated statements and misleading conclusions and interpretations」. It said it would be open to 「cash verification and diligence」 conducted by 「competent third-party advisers」. (JOYY and Baidu did not respond to requests for comment.)
The allegations are unusual in accusing the platform of creating its own fake users. Technological complexity and minimal human oversight means the 「attention economy」 is full of virtual eyeballs. But such mischief tends to be the work of outsiders. Last year America’s Federal Trade Commission fined the boss of a firm called Devumi $2.5m for selling fake YouTube views, the first time such a complaint had been brought. Digital advertisers pay to have their ads shown to users. It is an open secret that many end up served to fake viewers, generated by computers infected with malware written for this purpose.
A new report by the University of Baltimore and CHEQ, an anti-fraud firm, estimates that $35bn is lost annually to such scams, from a total market worth $333bn. South-East Asian fraudsters employ humans to scoot between racks of smartphones, tapping ads and installing apps, says Gary Danks of Machine, a firm that offers ad-fraud detection. Those in places with higher labour costs simulate phones on computers.
Companies are fighting back. Last year Uber sued more than 100 ad agencies, accusing them of buying fake views on its behalf. Facebook launched a lawsuit against firms it says create malware that hijacks users phones, forcing them to generate fake ad clicks. Neither suit is likely to stem the fraudsters』 rise.
You』ve been botted
您已經被坑了
Are online ads being viewed by virtual eyeballs?
虛擬眼球是否正在觀看在線廣告？
//virtual /ˈvɜːrtʃuəl/ adj.幾乎…的；實質上的；（通過計算機）虛擬的
英譯1：
almost or very nearly the thing described, so that any slight difference is not important
例句：
The economy has come to a virtual standstill.
經濟幾乎已經處於停滯狀態。
英譯2：
(computing) made to appear to exist by the use of computer software, for example on the internet
例句：
virtual shopping 虛擬購物
virtual memory 虛擬內存
【擴展】
virtue /ˈvɜːrtʃuː/ n.美德；優點
by virtue of 因為
She succeeded by virtue of her tenacity rather than her talent.
她成功靠的是堅韌不拔，而不是天賦。
It was a spectacular bit of timing. On November 16th Baidu, a Chinese online-search giant, said it would buy YY Live, a China-focused video-streaming service with 40m monthly users, for $3.6bn. Two days later Muddy Waters, an American short-seller, published a report claiming YY Live was 「an ecosystem of mirages」 and 「almost entirely fake」. The share price of JOYY, YY Live’s parent company, slid by 26%.
這是一個令人驚訝的時點。去年11月16日，中國在線搜索巨頭百度宣布將以36億美元的價格收購YY直播。YY 直播專注於中國的視頻流服務服務公司，每月有4000萬用戶。兩天後，美國做空公司Muddy Waters發表了一份報告，聲稱YY 直播是「虛幻的生態系統」，並且「幾乎完全是假的」。YY直播的母公司JOYY的股價下跌了26％。
//spectacular /spekˈtækjələr/ adj.壯觀的；令人驚嘆的
He scored a spectacular goal in the second half.
他在下半場攻進了漂亮的一球。
//short-seller 做空者
英譯：
someone who sells shares that they have borrowed, hoping that their price will fall before they buy them back and return them to their owner, so that they make a profit
就是先賣後買，獲取差額利潤。
//mirage /mɪˈrɑːʒ/ n.海市蜃樓，幻景；幻想
Electoral victory is just a distant mirage.
選舉獲勝只是一個可望而不可即的美好幻景。
【擴展】
margin /ˈmɑːrdʒɪn/ n.差額；利潤；邊緣
on the margins of sth
處於…的邊緣，對…稍有涉足
He spent the 1980s on the margins of British politics.
20世紀80年代他曾稍稍涉足英國政治。
//entirely /ɪnˈtaɪrli/ adv.完全；徹底
The company is run almost entirely by middle-aged men.
管理這個公司的幾乎都是中年男性。
//slid /slaɪd/ v.（使）滑動；下滑；衰落；逐漸陷入 n.崩塌；滑梯；不知不覺陷入
He was improving for a while, but I think he's sliding back into his old habits.
他有一段時間確實在進步，可我擔心他正在故態復萌。
Muddy Waters alleges that JOYY’s platforms, including YY Live, are infested with 「bots」—computers that log on to 「watch」 streams, pretending to be human. Many, it says, appear to sit in JOYY’s internal networks. The upshot, it alleges, is that somewhere between 73% and 84% of JOYY’s revenue is suspect.
Muddy Waters聲稱，JOYY的平臺（包括YY 直播）到處都是「機器人」-即登錄到「觀看」流，假裝是人人類的計算機。似乎許多「機器人」存在於JOYY的內部網絡中。據稱，這導致JOYY收入的73％至84％左右是可疑的。
//infest /ɪnˈfest/ v.（動物、害蟲等）大批出沒於
The barn was infested with rats.
穀倉裡到處都是老鼠。
//log on/in /lɒɡ/ 進入，登錄（計算機系統）
Log on using your name and password.
用你的名字和密碼登錄。
【擴展】
log off/out 退出，註銷（計算機系統）
//upshot /ˈʌpʃɑːt/ n.結局；結果
The upshot of the discussions is that there will be no layoffs.
討論的結果是不會進行裁員。
JOYY responded by saying the report contained 「numerous errors, unsubstantiated statements and misleading conclusions and interpretations」. It said it would be open to 「cash verification and diligence」 conducted by 「competent third-party advisers」. (JOYY and Baidu did not respond to requests for comment.)
JOYY回應稱，該報告包含「大量錯誤、未經證實的陳述、誤導性結論和解釋」。JOYY說，它將接受由「合格第三方顧問」進行的「現金核實和盡職調查」。（JOYY和百度沒有回應置評請求。）
//unsubstantiated /ˌʌnsəbˈstænʃieɪtɪd/ adj.未經證實的，無事實根據的
Companies can be punished for making unsubstantiated claims about their products.
公司對產品的說明如果沒有事實根據將會受到處罰。
【擴展】
substantiate /səbˈstænʃieɪt/ v.證實
We have evidence to substantiate the allegations against him.
我們有證據支持對他的指控。
//diligence /ˈdɪlɪdʒəns/ n.勤奮，勤勉
Little by little his diligence was rewarded.
漸漸地，他的勤奮得到了回報。
The allegations are unusual in accusing the platform of creating its own fake users. Technological complexity and minimal human oversight means the 「attention economy」 is full of virtual eyeballs. But such mischief tends to be the work of outsiders. Last year America’s Federal Trade Commission fined the boss of a firm called Devumi $2.5m for selling fake YouTube views, the first time such a complaint had been brought. Digital advertisers pay to have their ads shown to users. It is an open secret that many end up served to fake viewers, generated by computers infected with malware written for this purpose.
這些控訴平臺創建虛假用戶的指控是很少見的。技術上的複雜性和最少的人為監督意味著「注意力經濟」充滿了虛擬眼球。但是，這種惡作劇往往是局外人所為。去年，一家名為Devumi的公司出售虛假的YouTube觀看，因此美國聯邦貿易委員會對其老闆處以250萬美元的罰款，這是首次提出此類投訴。數字廣告商需要付費才能將廣告投放給用戶。這是一個公開的秘密：許多公司最終提供給虛假用戶，這些虛假用戶是計算機生成的，而這些計算機安裝了為此目的編寫的惡意軟體。
//eyeball /ˈaɪbɑːl/ n.眼球 v.注視；盯
He eyeballed me across the bar.
他在酒吧的另一邊盯著我。
//mischief /ˈmɪstʃɪf/ n.惡作劇，淘氣；傷害
She's a lively little girl, full of mischief.
她是一個活潑好動的小姑娘，特別愛淘氣。
//infect /ɪnˈfekt/ v.（疾病、計算機病毒、情感）感染
A computer virus may lurk unseen in a computer's memory, calling up and infecting each of the machine's data files in turn.
計算機病毒可潛伏在計算機存儲器中，依次調出並感染計算機中的每一個數據文檔。
//malware /ˈmælwer/ n.惡意軟體
【擴展】
mal- 壞；不當；錯誤地
maladaptive adj.沒有適應能力的
malfunction v.發生故障 n.故障，失靈
malnutrition n.營養不良
A new report by the University of Baltimore and CHEQ, an anti-fraud firm, estimates that $35bn is lost annually to such scams, from a total market worth $333bn. South-East Asian fraudsters employ humans to scoot between racks of smartphones, tapping ads and installing apps, says Gary Danks of Machine, a firm that offers ad-fraud detection. Those in places with higher labour costs simulate phones on computers.
巴爾的摩大學和反欺詐公司CHEQ發布的最新報告估計，此類欺詐每年損失350億美元，而市場總值為3330億美元。提供廣告欺詐檢測服務的Machine公司的Gary Danks表示，東南亞的這些欺詐公司僱人在許多智慧型手機之間來回點擊廣告和安裝應用程式。在勞動力成本較高的地方，人們會在計算機上模擬手機。
//annually /ˈænjuəli/ adv.每年地
Your starting salary is £23,000 per annum and will be reviewed annually.
你的起薪是每年23000英鎊，以後每年核定一次。
//scam /skæm/ n.欺詐，詐騙
an insurance scam 保險詐騙
//scoot /skuːt/ v.疾走；飛奔；猛衝
I'll have to scoot or I'll miss my train.
我得快點走，要不就趕不上火車了。
I'm scooting off to the seaside for a few days' holiday.
我要趕緊去海邊度幾天假。
//racks of許多
通常地，n.(s)+of 或者 a+n.+of，可直接翻譯為許多。
//detection /dɪˈtekʃn/ n.發現；偵破（案件）
Early detection of the cancer improves the chances of successful treatment.
癌症及早發現會提高治癒的機率。
Companies are fighting back. Last year Uber sued more than 100 ad agencies, accusing them of buying fake views on its behalf. Facebook launched a lawsuit against firms it says create malware that hijacks users phones, forcing them to generate fake ad clicks. Neither suit is likely to stem the fraudsters』 rise.
公司正在反擊。去年，Uber起訴了100多家廣告代理商，指控他們代表Uber購買了虛假觀看。Facebook發起了對一些公司的訴訟，稱這些公司製作了劫持用戶手機的惡意軟體，迫使用戶產生虛假的廣告點擊。這兩個訴訟都不可能阻擋這些欺詐公司的崛起。
//sue /suː/ v.控告，對…提起訴訟
She is suing her husband for divorce.
她正在和丈夫打官司要求離婚。
//behalf /bɪˈhæf/ v.代表…；代替…；因為，為了…的利益
Unfortunately, George cannot be with us today so I am pleased to accept this award on his behalf.
遺憾的是喬治今天不能親臨，因此我很榮幸能替他領這個獎。
//stem /stem/ v.阻擋；阻止 n.主幹
We must take action to stem the tide of resignations.
我們必須採取行動制止愈演愈烈的辭職潮。
【擴展】
stem from sth 源自；由…造成
Her problems stem from her difficult childhood.
她的問題主要是由艱難的童年生活造成的。