Business Daily

Digital advertising fraud cost companies an estimated $16bn last year. Often the clicks or downloads generated by the ads they paid for came not from people, but robots.Alex Hewson, from mobile advertising firm M &C Saatchi, describes the scale of the problem and the tricks some fraudsters use. And Gary Danks, managing director of Machine Advertising explains how his company is tracking fraudulent app downloads.The gaming of the online advertising system raises an age-old issue in economics - the principal agent problem. Jerry Z Muller, author of The Tyranny of Metrics, explains and also warns of the dangers inherent in setting targets in business and economics.(Picture: A hand touching a screen and icons. Credit: Getty Images)

As Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement and anti-immigration Northern League edge closer to a coalition, we ask whether such a eurosceptic government might scupper plans for further EU integration.Manuela Saragosa is joined by Federico Santi, from Eurasia Group, and Jeremy Cliffe, Berlin bureau chief at The Economist.Plus, what do business schools teach about the art of negotiation? We hear from Heather McGregor, entrepreneur and Dean of Herriot Watt Business School in Edinburgh.(Picture: A mural by artist TVBOY depicting Five Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio kissing Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, seen on a wall in Rome in March 2018. Credit: Tiziana Fabi, Getty Images)

New data protection rules are due to take effect in the European Union on 25 May, and complying with them is proving to be a headache for businesses throughout the world.Manuela Saragosa speaks to two small British businesses struggling to meet the requirements of the new General Data Protection Regulation. Jo Bausor of the Henley Festival of music and arts says she has actually benefited from culling back their database of client contacts. But life coach Clare Josa says it is costing her an arm and a leg to audit all her clients' digital data trails. Meanwhile Wim Remes of data consultants Wire Security explains why the new European rules have led to a flood of enquiries from clients in the US and elsewhere around the globe.(Picture: Man in white shirt buries his face in his hands as digital icons fly around him; Credit: photoschmidt/Getty Images)

Does Netflix threaten to wipe out the traditional cinema in much the same way that it already annihilated video rentals?The online streaming service is spending a lot of money on producing original movies, and its refusal to give them a public screening has led to a bust up with the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. But are these arbiters of the art of the silver screen right to fear Netflix's encroachments?Manuela Saragosa speaks to Hollywood producer Brian Udovich, author Jonathan Taplin and film critic Jason Solomons.(Picture: Empty cinema auditorium with popcorn strewn across the floor; Credit: Ingram Publishing/Getty Images)

Hormonal contraceptives liberated women around the world, and are now proliferating in Africa too.Manuela Saragosa talks to endocrinologist Maralyn Druce about how such a tiny pill can have such a transformative effect on our biology and on our societies. And Faustina Fynn-Nyame of the NGO Population Services International explains why an injectable version of the contraceptive is proving to be a hit in Sub-Saharan Africa.Plus, why is there still no male pill on the market? We ask research head Diana Blithe of the US National Institutes of Health.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Woman holding contraceptive pills; Credit: sam74100/Getty Images)

Africa has about a million prison inmates, many of them jailed without a fair trial or proper legal representation, often because they cannot afford it.The African Prisons Project is working to change that, establishing the world's first prison-based legal college and law firm and working primarily with prisoners in Uganda and Kenya. Susan Kigula, who was put on death row for killing her husband, used the project to overturn her conviction and regain her freedom after 16 years behind bars. She tells us her remarkable story, and we also speak to the project's founder Alexander Maclean.Plus, we hear from Babatunde Ibidapo-Obe, who has launched an app in Nigeria offering free advice and help on legal services.(Picture: Inmates at the Zonderwater prison in South Africa. Credit: Mujahid Safodien, Getty Images)

How can we think differently about some of the most entrenched economic problems facing the poor? Jane Wakefield finds out how tech can cure blindness in Africa from ophthalmologist Dr Andrew Bastawrous, Co-Founder and CEO of Peek. Pediatrician Lucy Marcil from Streetcred tells her why a tax form in a doctors office can help poor families in the US lift their economic prospects, plus DeAnne Salvador from RETI tells her how she helps low income families to access technology to lower their energy costs. And Romain Lacombe, CEO & Co-Founder of Plume Labs says he is dedicated to raising awareness about air pollution and has created a personal electronic pollution tracker.(Picture: A woman being tested with a smartphone visual-test application in her home in Kianjokoma village, near Kenya's lakeside town of Naivasha. Credit: AFP/Getty.)

The economics profession has sought to reinvent itself since the its failure to foresee the 2008 financial crisis.Manuela Saragosa speaks to two economists: Wendy Carlin discusses her efforts to transform the way economics is taught in universities in order to make it more relevant to the real world; and Mariana Mazzucato explains why she thinks one of the biggest problems is false narratives that have been peddled to policy-makers and the public about how the economy works.(Picture: Sad-looking bulldog wearing glasses; Credit: monkeybusinessimages/Getty Images)

Feminist economists argue that GDP statistics need to start taking account of care-giving and housework if we want to start valuing these things as a society. For example author Katrine Marcal points out that Adam Smith claimed that the economy was based on self interest, overlooking the fact that his mother cooked his meals for free. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Hannah Peaker of the UK's Women's Equality political party, and professor Joyce Jacobsen of the Wesleyan University in the US.(Picture: Young mother holds her crying baby while loading the washing machine; Credit: SolStock/Getty Images)

For most people, a traffic violation simply means a fine. But for poorer people in the US, it could mean being imprisoned. Since the global financial crisis, local and state governments have tried to make up for shortfalls in tax revenue by issuing more, and larger, fines. If you can't afford to pay, you may well end up behind bars, as the BBC's Kim Gittleson reports from South Carolina.Presenter Ed Butler talks to Robin Steinberg, CEO of the non-profit Bail Project in Los Angeles, which is aimed at helping accused people stay out of jail while they're awaiting trial. And we hear from Lisa Greybill, deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Centre, and North Louisiana defence attorney Eric Johnson, on the pros and cons of working prisoners.(Picture: Inmates from the Brevard County Jail work to fill sandbags for residents as people in the area prepare ahead of Hurricane Irma on September 07, 2017 in Meritt Island, Florida. Credit:Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made fresh allegations against Iran, adding to mounting pressure on the 2015 nuclear deal. What might be the impact on Iran, and for US and European businesses, if the agreement is ultimately scrapped?We hear from Iran itself and what the threat of fresh sanctions has done to the country's currency, the money in ordinary people's pockets, and their hopes for the future. But is the average Iranian actually better off since the lifting of sanctions three years ago? Ellie Geranmayeh, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, tells us the promised economic progress hasn't really materialised. One reason is that huge pressure is still being put on firms not to do business with Iran. Californian entrepreneur Honor Gunday, CEO and founder of online money transfer platform Paymentwall, says his firm received a surge of interest from the Islamic Republic after sanctions were lifted, but that he was warned off by US lobby organisations. We speak to one of those, Unite

The leaders of more than 40 African countries have signed a deal to create one of the world's largest free trade blocs, promising to bring prosperity to more than 1.2 billion people. But some of the continent's biggest economies, including Nigeria and South Africa, have so far refused to join. And with more than 80% of African trade currently done outside the continent, what impact will the new deal actually have in Africa?Some people on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, tell us they fear increased competition from neighbouring Kenya, and we ask Tonye Cole, billionaire co-founder of power and infrastructure giant Sahara Group, why his native Nigeria has decided not to take part.Plus, we hear words of optimism from Ghana's trade minister, Alan Kyerematen, and Arancha González, executive director of the International Trade Centre. (Picture: Workers at a clothing factory in South Africa. Credit: Rodger Bosch, Getty Images)

With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose more sanctions, Iran remains frozen out of much the international financial system despite the 2015 nuclear weapons deal.Ed Butler speaks to a British businessman who has plenty of would-be Iranian buyers of his oil equipment, but who cannot get paid into his UK bank account. Sanctions lawyer Nigel Kushner explains why most international banks still steer clear of Iran, despite the lifting of sanctions, plus Ellie Geranmayeh of think-tank the European Council on Foreign Relations explains the latest diplomatic rumblings.(Picture: Iranian rial banknotes, alongside US one dollar bills; Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

How do designers and advertisers get people's attention when there is so much competition online? And how do brands get around ad-blocker software?Manuela Saragosa goes to the annual Design and Art Direction festival in London's Shoreditch to find out. She speaks to D&AD's Tim Lindsay, Trevor Eld of the Fader magazine, and photographer Perou. Meanwhile Andrew Geller and Isabella Parish of video production company 1st Avenue Machine take Manuela through a music video packed with optical illusions that they made with the band OK Go, and explain why it is so hard to be original these days. Plus Chris Moody of brand consultants Wolff Olins gives feedback on Business Daily's new logo.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Photographer Perou and his models of being photographed at the D&AD festival; Credit: BBC)

Malaria continues to be one of the world's most destructive and widespread diseases, killing around 500,000 people each year, almost all of them in sub-Saharan Africa.On World Malaria Day we hear how it continues to cripple communities and speak to one Kenyan woman who lost a child to the disease. Ethiopia's former health minister, Dr Kesete Admasu, explains how outbreaks can have far-reaching economic consequences, depriving farms and other businesses of workers at vital times. He also describes his current work at Roll Back Malaria, a foundation aiming to tackle the disease through genetically engineered mosquitoes and new vaccines. Plus, Kenyan infectious disease specialist Dr Faith Osier tells us about another malaria vaccine she's working on, and we hear about the smartphone that could alert people when the breeds of mosquitoes that carry the disease are nearby.(Picture: A mother and her sick child during a malaria outbreak in DR Congo. Credit: John Wessels, Getty Images)

India's women workers have joined the global #MeToo movement, but there are signs it may be backfiring, with some company bosses afraid to hire women, for fear of sexual harassment claims. And that could be one of the reasons why the number of women participating in the workforce in India has fallen from 36% to 24% over the last ten years. Rahul Tandon reports from Kalkota. Deepa Narayan, author of Chup - the Hindi word for quiet - shares insights gained by her team, after speaking to 600 women about their experiences of sexism at work and in wider Indian society. Professor Heather McGregor from Edinburgh Business School talks about office life since #MeToo and says, at the very least, people are more aware of what kind of behaviour is unacceptable and are more confident in reporting incidents of harassment.(Picture: Women sit during a protest highlighting sexual crime in India. Credit: Money Sharma/Getty Images)

Donald Trump says tariffs on Chinese goods are necessary to 'protect American workers'. So who in the US might benefit from this action? Tennessee voted overwhelmingly for Mr Trump in 2016 and does more trade with China than any other US state. We hear from farmers facing Chinese tariffs on soy bean exports and a manufacturer worried about rising US steel prices. We also hear from Shelbyville, once called 'pencil city', where one of the last US pencil factories says its business has been damaged by cheap Chinese imports for decades. But is President Trump pointing the finger in the wrong direction when it comes to job losses? Calum Chace, author of The Economic Singularity and Our Jobless Future: An Essay on Artificial Intelligence and the Economic Singularity, says the decline in manufacturing has much more to do with automation than it does with China.(Picture: US President Donald Trump at the American Farm Bureau Federation's Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Credit: Jim Watson/Getty Images)

How much does your physical attractiveness affect your career prospects? And can the attention it draws be something of a mixed blessing?Vishala Sri-Pathma hears from British barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman about her personal experiences in what is a very male dominated profession. But while good looks may help you land a job, does it make it harder to get on with your colleagues? Vishala speaks to Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at Manchester University, body language expert Judi James, and headhunter John Purcell.(Picture: Attractive businesswoman looks at camera with colleagues in background; Credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images)

What happens if you are carrying out a high profile job, and then go public as transgender - for example switching from a "he" to a "she" or vice versa? Will your employer, colleagues and clients accept your new status? Manuela Saragosa speaks to Claire Birkenshaw, who did exactly that whilst working as a head teacher at a secondary school. She also hears from Beck Bailey of the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBTQ rights, about the surprising progress among big US and multinational corporations in supporting transgender employees. Plus endocrinologist Maralyn Druce explains why, even when it comes to your biological sex, life isn't as binary as we often assume.Producer: Laurence Knight(Picture: Former head teacher Claire Birkenshaw; Credit: Claire Birkenshaw)

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is keen to accelerate its path towards membership of the European Union. But there are obstacles too. Top of the list for the Balkans nation is resolving a dispute with its neighbour Greece over what the country calls itself. Our reporter Tanya Beckett has travelled to the capital Skopje to find out what's at stake. We also hear from the founder and chair of the UK Branding consultancy BrandCap, Rita Clifton, who tells us about some high-profile naming battles to secure corporate names and trademarks, reflecting on the sometimes extraordinarily high price companies will place on defending their named identity. PHOTO: Greeks protesting against Macedonian name. Credit: EPA