Citizen Lab researchers identified a new spyware strain, called AdFection, that can infect phones and computers simply by displaying an ad, without any click required. The tool was built by Israeli firm Discover-Tech and used to target journalists and staff at Al Jazeera, NATO, the European Commission, NVIDIA and Arm, according to the report. Google has since suspended Discover-Tech from its ad platforms after a joint investigation with Citizen Lab and Confiant.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-15
Push Security reports that a malvertising campaign is routing Google search ads through Bing's trusted click-tracking domain before funneling victims through a hacked WordPress site to a fake Claude download page. The scheme, found after a malicious ad surfaced for searches like "claude mac," uses layered cloaking checks to hide the malicious payload from scanners and direct visitors, ultimately pushing macOS users toward ClickFix-style attacks that trick them into running malicious commands.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-10-09
An Entrepreneur contributor argues marketers should interview customers to understand how buyer mindset changes depending on the channel—Google search, LinkedIn, Reddit, Amazon reviews, newsletters—rather than applying one value proposition everywhere. The piece recommends using these interviews to refine messaging, ad creative, landing pages and nurture sequences based on what buyers need to see or believe at each stage.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-08
Researchers have identified a scam that begins with a sponsored Google ad for ChatGPT, which directs users to a custom GPT hosted on OpenAI's real domain. That custom GPT displays a fake 'Service Availability Notice' urging users to either upgrade to Plus or click a 'backup domain' link, the latter of which leads to malware installation. Because the page sits on the genuine chat.openai.com domain and shows the user's logged-in account, the only visible red flag is an unfamiliar model name like 'Plus 5.6.'
zdnet.com
· 2026-10-02
Security firm Netskope reported a malicious Google Ads campaign that displayed fake security alerts telling Windows and Mac users their computers were locked, urging them to call fraudulent tech-support numbers. The ads appeared on legitimate sites like maps, weather and real estate pages, and used full-screen takeovers, hidden cursors and blocked keyboard shortcuts to simulate a system failure. Netskope says it observed clicks from users at 619 customer organizations between August 31 and September 14, mostly in the US, Japan and Australia, across more than 250 ad campaign IDs and 284 publisher sites.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-28
A brief recap revisits the 2021 incident in which the container ship Ever Given ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal for several days, halting a major global shipping route. The retrospective summarizes the timeline of the grounding and subsequent refloating without providing new details beyond a condensed overview.
cathsenker.co.uk
· 2026-09-27
Security firm Netskope found Google ads pushing a browser-locking scam across hundreds of legitimate websites, including maps, weather and sports sites, from August 31 to September 14. The fake alerts freeze the screen, hide the cursor and disable exit keys to pressure victims into calling a bogus support number, where scammers demand fees, remote access or personal data; Netskope says it blocked the attempts for the 619 client organizations it monitored, over 60 percent of them in the US.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-25
A solo developer running Google Ads for his puzzle app Dayzle discovered that of 56 billed installs over two weeks, only 13 were real users; the rest came from devices sideloading outdated app versions while falsely reporting Google Play as the installer. These fake installs showed zero engagement, spanned dozens of phone models across many states, and appeared to be generated by a bot farm gaming Google's install-based ad optimization.
dayzlegame.com
· 2026-09-11
The developer of RACE, a native macOS terminal multiplexer written in Rust, ran a $500 Google Ads campaign for the app and its companion site race-term.com, only to have the account suspended for 'Malicious software' and 'Compromised Site' violations. Despite the app being signed and notarized and the static site containing no third-party trackers beyond Cloudflare Analytics, an appeal was rejected with no explanation of what was flagged, leaving the developer pointed toward generic account deletion or EU redress options.
xlii.space
· 2026-09-09
GoKawiil