EnterprenuerDaniel Yomtobian, CEO of Advertise.com and founder of Bian Capital, illustrates a dramatic shift from retail to tech leadership. His expertise in web technologies and domain trading has propelled him to the forefront of digital advertising and tech investment.
Warning Update: April, 2024
This interview has received numerous comments discussing ad fraud by Daniel Yomtobian in the past decade.
Upon digging deeper, we found an interesting article on BuzzFeed titled ‘Daniel Yomtobian Built an Empire on Dubious Online Advertising Traffic‘ and another on 99Consumer titled ‘Daniel Yomtobian: The Rise and Fall of a Dubious Ads Traffic Empire.’
Summary:
Daniel Yomtobian’s digital marketing empire has faced several controversies, including unethical and fraudulent practices. His company, Advertise.com, was accused of deceptive tactics, such as installing advertising software without user notification.
Additionally, Yomedia, another of Yomtobian’s ventures, was implicated in fraud over generating revenue through fraudulent traffic.
In 2017, Yomtobian settled charges with the FTC for $8.6 million, and in 2021, faced further legal issues regarding a fraudulent weight-loss product scheme.
He changes businesses and business models based on whatever is the hottest thing at the time., added by BuzzFeed’s news reporter Craig Silverman.
In 1996, Daniel Yomtobian was a 17-year-old high school student working at Von’s Supermarket. His initial career path was toward retail management, but an encounter with a web designer inspired him to learn web design.
This new skill set led him to recognize the potential in domain names, where he found success in buying and selling domains. This is how Daniel transitioned from his job at the supermarket and started an entrepreneurial journey.
He leveraged his web design and domain trading skills to establish a business, integrating his aspirations of becoming a family man and engaging in charitable work.
Daniel later founded Bian Capital, an investment firm focusing on technology-based companies. This venture allowed him to apply his accumulated knowledge and experience in a strategic and hands-on manner.
His role as an investor aligns with his creative and entrepreneurial spirit, supporting his ongoing evolution as a business leader and philanthropist.
Today, Daniel Yomtobian operates out of Los Angeles, California. His business and philanthropic endeavors span the United States, reflecting his commitment to professional growth and community involvement.
What inspired the creation of Bian Capital?
When I was a kid, I had a low socio-economic status. There weren’t a lot of choices. I can see that people who have been in a position of weakness don’t get a lot of options.
After I’ve achieved the ability to succeed on my own, I’m determined to assist other people. I look out for organizations with a good purpose that appeals to me. They can help other people. So, I’m supporting them.
One I’d want to mention is PATH. It stands for People Assisting the Homeless. What I love about this charity is that it doesn’t only assist the homeless.
They also have a program that offers temporary housing, food, clothing, and other necessities. This program gives people the time to get up and running and secure employment so that they can sustain themselves without the program. I give them money.
I also contribute towards City Year, which helps kids in schools with better resources to enhance their learning. I am also a member of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and FIDF (Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces.)
What is your typical day, and how do you stay productive?
When I wake up, I am prepared for my day. After waking up, I enjoy playing with my three young children for around 20 minutes before I go to work and hold meetings. Around 1 pm, I hike around my community with my spouse.
At 5 pm, I go to CrossFit, after which I have dinner, and then I enjoy time with my family and friends at night. It’s pretty much what I do. Most of my time is spent at Bian Capital; the other part is dedicated to my various ventures.
How do you turn ideas into reality?
I’m a thinker. If I notice a lot of gaps and potential that I could create a company worth the investment, I write everything that comes to mind on white paper.
After that, I discussed them with my development team to determine the work required to create the product. Then, I started by working with my tech experts and asking them to build the basic version of the application.
Then, I launch the product on a limited scale to see if it is successful in the marketplace and determine if the concept is viable. If it is successful, I set up a company and hire a team to help me grow it.
What excites you the most?
I know COVID-19 is a devastating disease, and I am committed to its eradication. However, I am excited about the surge in e-commerce during the pandemic. This growth allows people to stay safely in their homes while having access to the products and services they need.
E-commerce has shown remarkable adaptability and growth during these challenging times. It’s been essential for people seeking to reduce their exposure to the virus by minimizing outside interactions.
What tool or habit makes you more efficient as a businessman?
When an issue catches my attention, I don’t abandon my efforts to solve it. I continue to work on figuring it out until I’ve resolved it.
I’m always trying to figure things out faster than most individuals I’ve encountered. My focus will never stop in the business.
What advice would you give to an aspiring young entrepreneur?
Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.
What is a truth you believe in that most people disagree with?
It’s so inefficient on the part of advertising technology that there are no opportunities for businesses that aren’t Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon.
They’ve got a massive portion of its market. It will be difficult to remain on the right track in the next few years unless your company is one of these four. Many might disagree with me and argue that there’s plenty of space; however, I do not think that’s the case.
As an entrepreneur, what daily practice do you recommend to others?
I habitually see the glass being half full instead of half empty. I urge others to follow my example.
What strategy do you use to grow your business?
The right employees are essential since they matter the most to any business.
What was your biggest mistake as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
In the beginning, I was not a good hirer. Finding the best people to join my team was not an easy task. After some time, I realized I had to contract out that as you cannot be excellent in everything.
I hired a COO to assist in running the company, and he was well-equipped with the skill of hiring the best employees, which transformed the company in a significant way.
What is your top business idea you would share with readers?
Another idea is to create a peer-to-peer network that charges a cost for expertise or the experience of experts in a subject.
If you’re in the industry of food, Let’s say you’re a seasoned expert with a wealth of expertise; rather than offering advice for free in case they want to contact you because you are an expert in the sector, you could become an element of a platform which charges a fee for a chat in which you share your knowledge.
There isn’t any platform that charges a fee for the knowledge you have. My clients are constantly contacting me seeking advice or information which I’m offering at no cost, however should there be a platform that charged fees, I believe that people would want to make a payment.
What was the most impactful $100 you recently spent and why?
The most money I’ve ever used to purchase additional bitcoin. It’s unclear if this would be an investment for the future; however, I think it’s an excellent short-term investment.
The price recently increased from $3500 bitcoins to $40,000, a ten-fold rise. This means that if you purchased $100 just a few months ago, you’d have the value of one thousand dollars in today’s money.
What is the best software or online service for improving efficiency?
Slack. We use Slack to facilitate interoffice communications, and since everyone’s remote due to COVID, we are using it more.
We count on it often. It allows communication between companies to flow seamlessly and is more quickly than emails. Our obligation says we’re prohibited from sending internal emails to each other within our organizations.
The platform allows everyone on the team to understand all individual communications. Instead of talking to the same person about something, I can share what I need to say in the channel.
Anyone subscribing to that channel can view the message, take it in, and reply. This prevents me from having repeated conversations over and over. Anyone can keep track of the current situation concerning their job.
What is a must-read book you recommend and why?
From Good to Great by James C. Collins. The book discusses how you can transform from a decent company to an outstanding business. There’s a significant distinction between these two.
What is your favorite quote?
Warren Buffett said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” Buffett spoke about the best way to approach the markets.
When investors are purchasing with a bang, you need to be concerned and likely be cautious because of a potential problem that could be afoot. If others seem hesitant, it is possible to find excellent buying opportunities.
TL;DR by Daniel Yomtobian:
- Donate to Reputable Charities:
- Always choose reputable charitable organizations for donations.
- Personal knowledge isn’t the primary factor; the organization’s credibility is crucial.
- Stay Positive for Success:
- Maintain a positive mindset in all endeavors.
- Understand that negativity hinders success and avoid it.
Daniel Yomtobian
Daniel Yomtobian has faced several controversies, including unethical and fraudulent practices. Advertise.com was accused of deceptive tactics, such as installing advertising software without user notification.
1
Pros
- Goal Oriented
- Entrepreneur
Cons
- Charged by SEC
- Click Fraud
- Exposed by BuzzFeed News
Why you guys are glorifying this man, he is scam and dont you know BuzzFeed story on Daniel Yomtobian has sparked quite the conversation. It looks into how he got big in online ads, mostly by using shady browser add-ons to mess with ad views and clicks.
The whole thing shows just how hard it is to keep digital marketing clean. Tricks like what Yomtobian allegedly pulled can really hurt regular users and companies. His situation makes it clear we need tighter rules and oversight so online ads stay fair and
It’s a messy industry. Yomtobian took advantage, and his case proves that we gotta make sure digital advertising stays legit. No more letting folks get away with tricks that cheat businesses and customers. Time to grow up.
I just came across this piece that Craig Silverman wrote for BuzzFeed News about Daniel Yomtobian and his click fraud company, Advertise.com Inc. It was pretty eye-opening, laying out how they got tangled up in shady malvertising stuff through those browser add-on things, which opened the floodgates to you know, bogus web traffic.
Made me think, man, how much of digital advertising is actually above board? And how these kinds of games can totally manipulate how many eyeballs land on sites and ads.
Just goes to show the pitfalls out there – you gotta wonder about the ethics sometimes. It’s like the Wild West with all this web traffic mumbo jumbo.
Daniel Yomtobian has been a major player in the L.A. business for a while now. He’s run some companies that make good money off adware and figuring out ways around digital advertising systems. So yeah, he got active once again after Google’s March 2024 algo update and spamming the internet. He’s made some decent cash, and he says everything he does follows Google’s rules and is out in the open, but some investigating has found otherwise. Turns out his browser add-ons generated tens of millions of site visits every day, leading to hundreds of millions of ad views. Some of those even wound up on big sites like Elle. com where they didnt belong.
This is pretty troubling for the whole digital advertising biz which spends over $300 billion globally every year. About $40 billion of that gets lost to ad fraud yearly. This type of cheating messes with the money flow in digital ads and makes people trust it less, impacting everyone from publishers to advertisers to regular users.
He should be put behind the bar. We lost a lot of money at the time.