James Delahunty
15 Aug 2013 16:29
A team of security researchers has highlighted some popular YouTube video download tools that had been placing unauthorized advertisements on the video service.
Spider.io observed two programs - Best Video Downloader and Easy YouTube Downloader - placing ads on the YouTube site in clear violation of YouTube's rules. Even worse, some of the injected advertisements led users to malicious websites.
Some of the ad slots had been sold on through exchanges to the likes of Amazon, Blackberry, Kellogg's and Toyota, but those firms almost certainly weren't aware of the scheme. Unfortunately, malicious advertisers (malvertisers) had also managed to get their ads displayed.
"When a user who has installed these plug-ins visits youtube.com multiple display ad slots are injected across the YouTube homepage, channel pages, video pages and search results pages," Spider.io said.
"One example shows a fake alert, which suggests to the user that a Java update is required. If the user clicks the OK button, then the user is taken to the disreputable site."
The firm responsible has been named as California-based Sambreel. One of its subsidiaries, Yontoo, told Forbes that the two programs in question have been discontinued, but the Financial Times pointed out that this only happened after the researchers pointed out the injected ads.