How the rise and fall of Ozy illustrates what’s wrong with digital media

By the big story

Posted October 8, 2021 5:20 am.

In today’s Big Story podcast, Ozy was a digital publisher that claimed to have an audience of tens of millions. Had you ever heard of them before last week? Me neither. A New York Times expose began a flood of reporting that showed us all just how little most of us understand about ad fraud, digital media and the ecosystem that drives this multi-billion-dollar industry. From absurd claims, to impersonations, paid traffic and more, major brands stuck by Ozy and continued to invest with them. Why?

GUEST: Craig Silverman, ProPublica, formerly of Buzzfeed News

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