Who said anything about passively earning money from illegal activity?
I'll clarify - by "we should hold networks responsible" I mean "we the publishers" - that doesn't absolve our responsibility to the consumer. The fact is, the overwhelming number of ads online are free from malware, to a large number of 9s-decimal places. Still, networks need to vet the ads they serve. That's something they _can_ do that publishers cannot.
The publisher has the same ability to vet the advertisement that a subcontractor delivery, that a company has to vet the construction material when subcontracting the construction of a building. If publisher were held responsible, they would only deal with advertisement network that are held economically responsible if advertisement they deliver breaks the law. That mean higher costs, less revenue, but an end to the wild west we currently have.
If I buy a paper based newspaper, the ads on those follow a very strict set of local laws. Each time an illegal ad is mistakenly printed, its news that other papers just love to write about. If I buy a online subscription, none of this laws are in place, and to the same large number of 9s-decimal places that you talk about, the illegal ads will be on the online version.
This is patently false. We have zero ability to vet ads as a publisher without spinning up an entire as sales department larger than my entire company. The networks we use can and do vet the ads before serving them.
Of course, you're right. It's actually very simple. You as a publisher need to verify ad networks. Ad networks should verify their ads. It's your responsibility as a publisher to find ones that do it properly. Because I, as an user, don't care about the byzantine world of advertising. I deal only with you, and if you serve me crap, I don't care if it's your subcontractor's fault. It's an implementation detail. I blame you, because I interface with you.
And you are absolutely right. We can't pass along responsibility and feign ignorance. It did take a while for us to do it right (whittle down the networks we use to the best and most responsible) and that did take some relationship building - but I'm sure glad we did.
The networks we use can and do vet
the ads before serving them.
You know this for every ad for each network... exactly how?
If they failed in this duty, would you be informed?
Do they have a duty-to-defend clause in your agreement with them such that if you are sued for serving malware in your app, the network will pay all costs for your defense and all necessary restitution?
There's a sour "we were only following orders" flavor to such an indifferent stance.
I'll clarify - by "we should hold networks responsible" I mean "we the publishers" - that doesn't absolve our responsibility to the consumer. The fact is, the overwhelming number of ads online are free from malware, to a large number of 9s-decimal places. Still, networks need to vet the ads they serve. That's something they _can_ do that publishers cannot.