Advertising Click Fraud Rampant Online?

"Pay-per-click," by far the most popular form of online advertising, recently came under fire as charges of rampant "click fraud" gather steam on the Web.

Google and Yahoo! earn the majority of their money through sales of advertising to tens-of-thousands of online merchants, companies, and professional.

In fact, some estimate that 99% of all Google's revenue comes from advertising sales. Unfortunately, allegations of click fraud may well rain on Google's otherwise sunny parade and cause a whole scale revamping of current online advertising practices.

Pay-per-click advertising does exactly what it sounds: advertisers pay for each click on their ad, usually mixed in among search engine results or displayed on relevant websites.

"Click fraud" occurs when, for whatever reason, an ad gets clicked by someone or something (usually an automated "bot" that simulates clicks) with no intention of ever buying anything from the advertiser.

The sole intention of click fraud is to simply drain an advertiser's budget and leave them with nothing to show but an empty wallet.

Who commits click fraud?

Usually an unscrupulous competitor who wants to break a rival's bank, online "vandals" who get their kicks causing other people grief, or search engine advertising affiliates who want to earn fat commissions by racking up piles of bogus clicks.

Regardless of who does it or why, click fraud appears to be a growing problem search engines hope stays under their advertising clients' radar.

This problem isn't exactly news to the search engine giants.

In fact, on page 60 of their 3rd quarter Report for 2004, Google admits that they have "regularly refunded revenue" to advertisers that was "attributed to click-through fraud."

Google further states that if they don't find a way to deal with this problem "these types of fraudulent activities could hurt our brand."

Bottom line for Google and Yahoo! (which owns Overture, the Web's largest pay-per-click search engine): as word of click fraud spreads across the Web, they must act quickly to calm the nerves of advertisers who could well abandon them over doubts about the veracity of their advertising charges.

The search engines all claim to carry measures that identify and detect click fraud, but details about how they do it and to what extent remain sketchy.

They claim revealing details about security would compromise their efforts and give the perpetrators a leg up on circumventing their defenses.

This sounds good, but affords little comfort to advertisers who feel caught between losing out on their best traffic sources and paying for advertising that won't result in revenue.

One way to protect your business against click fraud is to closely monitor your website statistics.

Look for an unusually high number or regular pattern of clicks from the same IP address.

If you need help, enlist the aid of your hosting provider to aid you in spotting suspicious trends in your website traffic.

Also, a number of services such as ClickSentinel.com have sprung up online to help advertisers spot and quickly analyze and compile the data necessary to effectively dispute fraudulent click charges with the search engines.

About the Author:

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...

Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to your website for weeks, even months... without spending a dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com

---

Google Adwords ? Online Riches Without Owning A Website Or Product!

Did you know that you can make money from Google... Read More

How Do You Make Money From Google Adwords?

Can you really make money from this?Late 2003, I think... Read More

What is Google AdSense?

In the mid 1990's websites used to earn income by... Read More

A Smart Trick for Attracting Higher Paying AdSense Ads

There are no guarantees in life, so I don't guarantee... Read More

Adsense ? When Should You Use It?

Well I have several sites, some of them I apply... Read More

Affiliate Strategies Of Pay Per Click Search Engines

Where are your ads being displayed?The Untold Secret Of Pay... Read More

Are Small PPC Search Engines Really Worth The Effort?

Are Small PPC Search Engines Really Worth The Effort? The... Read More

Pay Per Click Advertising Can Be Very Risky Business

Click fraud is an unfortunate byproduct of the pay per... Read More

How You Can Make Serious Money Self-publishing With Adsense

Some folks may think that self-publishing began with the invention... Read More

Google Adsense: What You Need to Know!

We read about how to develop a Google AdWord campaign,... Read More

Google AdWords: Like Playing The Lottery

A "dollar and a dream," is all you need said... Read More

Sell Multiple Products Through a Single ClickBank Account

A ClickBank merchant account allows you to define and sell... Read More

The Basics Of Pay Per Click Search Engine Advertising

Not long ago, Forbes magazine has reported that pay per... Read More

How to Save Money on the Adwords Network

Over the years I have had many accounts with Adwords,... Read More

How Much Should You Pay for a Click

You have a web site ready for action. Your product... Read More

How To Find Your Own Valuable Adsense Keywords For Free

There's tons of money to be made from the Google... Read More

Wimpy Google and Michael Jackson: Birds Of A Feather

Google Inc. is suing a Houston-based company for allegedly clicking... Read More

Can I Make Money Online with the Adsense Program?

Sure you can. If you will learn how many other... Read More

AdWords Work: They Really Do!

In 2003 I was accepted by Google into their AdSense... Read More

Local Business Advertising & Google Adwords

"I don't need the Internet to advertise - I'm a... Read More

Tips for Maximizing AdSense Revenue

Google's AdSense program is probably the best affiliate program on... Read More

Keywords, How to Find Them, and Use Them Effectively

To be a successful affiliate marketer takes a ton of... Read More

Pay-Per-Click Search Engines: A Really Bad Investment

What was once such a good thing is now a... Read More

Pay Per Click Advertising - How To Uncover Profit-Pulling Keywords And Make Your Sales Soar

Choosing to bid on the right keywords can be key... Read More

4 Ways To Get Relevant Adsense Ads On Your Site

If you're an active Adsense publisher, I'm sure you have... Read More

How to Double Your AdSense Income Instantly

As you probably already know, AdSense is revolutionizing the way... Read More

10 Inside Secrets to Google Adwords - Part 1

Let's face it... Google Adwords is not the only source... Read More

Creating Revenue Without Much Effort, Set It And Forget It Online

Earning more revenue from your website is the goal of... Read More

You Wont Make Dollars If You Dont use AdSense

As the dust settles and the excitement caused by Google's... Read More

Free Pay Per Click-PPC Search Engine Advertising

Did you know that there are actually pay per click... Read More

PPC ClickFraud: Its a Bigger Problem then You Think

Pay per click search engine advertising is one of the... Read More

Preliminary Survival Steps for Adwords Success

What I find is a lot of marketers do have... Read More

Google for Resellers: Leveling the Resell Playing Field

With so many people trying to make money on the... Read More