CIA 1

Ethics in Media
Name - Niharika Singh
SYMBA “B”
1020017
Scenario 1 -

You are the marketing manager of a mid-sized technology company preparing

to launch a new product in a highly competitive market. As part of your
marketing strategy, you're considering leveraging social media to generate
buzz and positive sentiment around the product. However, you're aware of the
ethical concerns surrounding astroturfing and want to ensure that your
marketing efforts maintain integrity and transparency.

Question:

How would you navigate the ethical considerations related to astroturfing

while utilizing social media to promote your company's new product? Provide
a detailed plan outlining the steps you would take to ensure transparency and
authenticity in your marketing campaign, while still maximizing reach and
engagement with your target audience.

Answer
As the marketing manager, I understand the importance of generating positive buzz for our new
product launch. However, maintaining transparency and avoiding astroturfing tactics is crucial.
Here's my plan:

Transparency and Authenticity:

1. Partner with Micro-Influencers: We'll identify genuine micro-influencers in our target

audience who already use similar technology products. We'll provide them with early
access to the new product and encourage them to share their honest opinions and
experiences on their social media channels. Disclose any sponsorships or partnerships
clearly.
2. User-Generated Content Campaigns: We'll launch social media campaigns
encouraging user-generated content (UGC) around the product's features and benefits.
This fosters authenticity as real users showcase how they're utilizing the product. We'll
run contests or giveaways to incentivize participation, but user reviews must remain
unbiased.
3. Transparent Brand Communication: Our social media presence will actively engage
with user comments and questions. We'll be upfront about being the company behind the
product and address any concerns or challenges openly.
Maximizing Reach and Engagement:

1. Targeted Social Media Advertising: We'll use paid advertising platforms to target our
ideal customer demographics and interests. This ensures our message reaches the most
relevant audience, maximizing reach without resorting to deceptive tactics.
2. Compelling Content Strategy: We'll develop engaging social media content that
showcases the product's value proposition. This could include product demos, explainer
videos, user testimonials, and interactive polls to spark conversations and generate
interest.
3. Community Building: We'll focus on building a thriving online community around our
brand. Hosting live Q&A sessions with product experts, running interactive polls, and
responding thoughtfully to comments can cultivate a strong brand image and loyal
following.

By prioritizing transparency and user authenticity, we can establish trust with our audience and
generate genuine buzz for our product launch, all while staying clear of unethical astroturfing
practices.

Scenario 2 -

You are a data analyst working for a small digital marketing agency that
specializes in providing personalized advertising solutions for clients in
various industries. Your agency has recently been approached by a client in
the e-commerce sector who wants to gain insights into competitor pricing
strategies and product offerings. The client is particularly interested in
monitoring changes in pricing, product availability, and customer reviews on
several e-commerce websites to inform their own pricing and marketing
decisions.

Question:

As a data analyst at the small agency, how would you approach the task of
web scraping to gather competitive intelligence for your client? Outline the
steps you would take to conduct web scraping ethically and legally, while also
ensuring the accuracy and relevance of the data collected. Additionally,
discuss any potential challenges or limitations you might encounter during the
web scraping process and how you would address them to deliver valuable
insights to your client.
Answer
As the data analyst, I understand the importance of gathering accurate and insightful data for our
client. Here's how I'd approach ethical web scraping:

Ethical and Legal Considerations:

1. Respecting Robots.txt: I'll always check a website's robots.txt file to identify any
restrictions on data scraping. Respecting these restrictions ensures we stay within legal
boundaries.
2. Rate Limiting and Politeness: Our scraping scripts will be programmed to be polite and
avoid overloading the target websites with excessive requests. We'll implement rate
limiting to ensure a smooth scraping process that doesn't disrupt the target website's
performance.
3. Data Anonymization: When scraping data that might contain personally identifiable
information (PII), we'll anonymize it before providing it to the client. This protects user
privacy while still offering valuable insights.

Ensuring Data Accuracy and Relevance:

1. Data Validation and Cleaning: The scraped data will undergo a rigorous cleaning and
validation process to ensure its accuracy and consistency. This might involve removing
duplicates, correcting formatting errors, and checking for inconsistencies.
2. Dynamic Content Management: We'll develop scraping scripts that can handle dynamic
website content. This could involve using techniques like JavaScript rendering to ensure
we capture the most up-to-date information.
3. Regular Monitoring and Adjustment: We'll constantly monitor the target websites for
any changes in structure or content. Our scraping scripts will be adjusted accordingly to
maintain the accuracy and relevance of the collected data.

Challenges and Solutions:

Challenges like anti-scraping measures and website redesigns are inevitable. We'll address them
by utilizing a combination of techniques, such as rotating scraper IPs and using browser
emulation to bypass basic anti-scraping measures. Maintaining a flexible approach and
continuously adapting our scraping scripts will be key to overcoming these hurdles.

By prioritizing ethical and legal considerations, ensuring data accuracy, and proactively handling
potential challenges, we can deliver valuable competitive intelligence for our client while
maintaining a responsible scraping practice.
Scenario 3

You are the digital marketing manager for a small e-commerce startup that
recently launched an online advertising campaign to promote its products.
The campaign includes pay-per-click (PPC) ads displayed on various
platforms, including search engines and social media networks. However,
you've noticed a sudden increase in the number of clicks on your ads without
a corresponding increase in conversions or sales.

Question:

As the digital marketing manager, how would you investigate and address the
suspected click fraud in your online advertising campaign? Outline the steps
you would take to identify fraudulent clicks, mitigate the impact on your
advertising budget, and prevent future occurrences of click fraud.
Additionally, discuss the potential consequences of click fraud on your
startup's marketing efforts and overall business performance.

Answer
As the digital marketing manager for our e-commerce startup, a sudden rise in ad clicks without
conversions is a red flag for click fraud. Here's how I'd tackle this issue:

Identifying Click Fraud:

1. Analyze Click Data: I'll delve into the click data provided by the PPC platforms we're
using. Key metrics to scrutinize include:
○ Click-Through Rate (CTR) vs. Conversion Rate: A high CTR with a low
conversion rate could indicate fraudulent clicks. Legitimate clicks typically lead
to some form of user engagement or purchase.
○ Location of Clicks: A surge in clicks originating from geographically illogical
locations, especially outside our target market, suggests click fraud.
○ Time of Clicks: Clicks occurring at unusual hours, like the middle of the night,
might be a sign of automated bots clicking ads.
2. IP Tracing: We'll investigate the IP addresses generating the suspicious clicks. Tools
within the PPC platforms can sometimes reveal patterns like a large number of clicks
coming from the same IP address. This is a strong indicator of click fraud.
3. Conversion Tracking: Verifying proper conversion tracking is crucial. This allows us to
measure user actions after clicking our ads, such as adding items to the cart or making a
 purchase. Without proper tracking, it becomes difficult to differentiate legitimate clicks
from fraudulent ones.

Mitigating Click Fraud:

1. Reporting Suspicious Activity: We'll report our findings to the PPC platforms we're
using. These platforms have dedicated teams that investigate click fraud claims.
Additionally, some platforms offer automated click filtering to help mitigate fraudulent
clicks.
2. IP Exclusion: We can utilize the IP exclusion features within the PPC platforms to block
clicks originating from identified fraudulent IP addresses or entire geographical regions.
3. Campaign Optimization: We'll optimize our advertising campaigns to target the right
audience and increase conversion rates. This includes refining keywords, ad copy, and
landing pages to ensure user intent aligns with our products.

Preventing Future Click Fraud:

1. Employ Click Fraud Detection Tools: Several third-party click fraud detection tools can
be integrated with PPC platforms. These tools utilize sophisticated algorithms to identify
and filter out fraudulent clicks in real-time.
2. Utilize Multi-Touch Attribution: Implementing multi-touch attribution allows us to
track a user's journey across different platforms before a conversion happens. This
provides a more holistic view of user engagement and helps identify if click fraud is
impacting specific channels disproportionately.
3. Monitor Performance Regularly: We'll establish a routine for monitoring PPC
campaign performance. Regularly analyzing click data and conversion rates allows for
early detection of suspicious activity.

Consequences of Click Fraud:

Click fraud can have a significant negative impact on our startup's marketing efforts and overall
business performance:

● Wasted Advertising Budget: We'll be paying for fraudulent clicks, depleting our
advertising budget faster and limiting our ability to reach genuine customers.
● Skewed Campaign Performance Data: Fraudulent clicks distort campaign performance
metrics, making it difficult to accurately assess the effectiveness of our advertising
strategies.
● Negative Impact on ROI: Click fraud reduces the return on investment (ROI) on our
advertising campaigns. We'll be spending money on clicks that don't translate into actual
sales.
 ● Tarnished Brand Image: If click fraud goes unchecked for a long time, it can damage
our brand image, as potential customers might perceive our efforts as misleading.

By taking proactive steps to identify, mitigate, and prevent future click fraud, we can safeguard
our advertising budget, optimize campaign performance, and ensure our marketing efforts reach
real customers with a genuine interest in our products.