
NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | August 16, 2017 |
Latest Amendment Date: | August 16, 2017 |
Award Number: | 1719147 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Wei-Shinn Ku
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
Start Date: | September 1, 2017 |
End Date: | August 31, 2021 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $250,000.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $250,000.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
200 UNIVERSTY OFC BUILDING RIVERSIDE CA US 92521-0001 (951)827-5535 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
CA US 92521-0001 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | Secure &Trustworthy Cyberspace |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
Online advertising plays a critical role in allowing a vast majority of web content to be offered free of charge to users, with the implicit quid pro quo agreement that users agree to watch targeted ads to support these "free" services. Unfortunately, the economic magnetism of online advertising has made it an attractive target for various types of abuses. For instance, online advertising incentivizes the widespread tracking of users across websites raising privacy and surveillance concerns. Malvertising is another serious security threat to users. As a result, ad-blockers are gaining popularity because they not only provide a clean browsing experience but also protect user security and privacy.
The research is motivated by the observation that websites are now starting an arms race to fight against ad-blockers that cause significant revenue loss to the publishers. Publishers use anti ad-blockers to detect the presence of ad-blockers and react in certain ways (e.g., reminding users to turn off ad-blockers). Specifically, the research will be primarily focused on two fronts: (1) Measuring the arms race between ad-blockers and anti ad-blockers, e.g., developing techniques to detect anti ad-blockers. (2) Understanding the technological means of anti ad-blockers and possible countermeasures that may follow on the ad-blocker side. The proposed research will inform industry stakeholders and policymakers.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
PI Qian and PI Shafiq have completed the project of "The Web Ad Technology Arms Race: Measurement, Analysis, and Countermeasures". During this period, the team has initiated multiple research projects that cover various aspects of the web advertising ecosystem. As the ecosystem is largely self-regulating, online advertising has important implications for security and privacy. With the popularity of adblocking, websites have started to employ anti-adblocking which works by detecting the presence of adblockers and taking subsequent actions such as denying access. The PIs started off the project by understanding the arms race between adblocking and anti-adblocking. Through real-world measurements, they have witnessed a substantial growth of anti-blocking tactics over the years employed by popular websites.
Next, the team has also developed novel adblocking technologies in an attempt to level the plainfield. They aim at being more robust to anti-adblocking, and more automated in recognizing advertisements in a webpage. Finally, they also evaluated possibilities to subvert the adblocking technology they built themselves.
Overall, PI Qian and PI Shafiq have engaged in significant outreach of this line of research to bring awareness of online advertising and its security and privacy implications. This includes active participation in various events beyond academic conferences, e.g., FTC PrivacyCon and Data Transparency Lab (DTL) conferences.
Last Modified: 01/28/2022
Modified by: Zhiyun Qian
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