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BizReport : Research : April 29, 2008
Click fraud rate up year on year
The top ad networks have been taking the issue of click fraud seriously, but year on year the rate continues to rise, reports Click Forensics.
To start on a more positive note, the number of fraudulent online ad clicks decreased slightly from 16.6% in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 16.3% in Q1 2008, according to recent data released by Click Forensics for its annual Click Fraud Index.
“Over the past six months or so we’ve seen Google and Yahoo in particular take the issue of click fraud much more seriously,” said Tom Cuthbert, Click Forensics' president. “They want advertisers and retailers to be comfortable when spending money with them that they get what they pay for.”
However, 16.3% is still a rise on the first quarter of 2007 at which time click fraud stood at 14.8%. The fraud rate on third-party sites, such as ads placed through AdSense on non-Google websites, also rose from 21.9% in Q1 2007 to 27.8% in the first quarter of 2008.
When it comes to click fraud methods, botnet activity was up in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the end of last year as their operators constantly find new ways to evade online fraud detection tools.
Cuthbert believes that Q1 2007’s drop in click fraud could be the start of a downward trend “if advertisers, publishers and ad networks continue to take proactive steps to filter out this lower quality traffic”.
Tags: botnets, click fraud, online advertising
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Comments
Click fraud continues to disbarage the keyword search medium. The major search engines need to protect their lifeline. Short term monetary gains cannot compensate for lack of vision. Someone needs to step to the plate and elimnate click fraud soon.
Posted by: Jack Roberts on April 30, 2008 07:38
Anything goes when it comes to money. Many at my company have gotten mixed up with a pay for click publicher of a website. These are guys who make big bucks but run home to sit in front of their computers for 15 min. and click on ads. They are elated the original money they were asked to invest has doubled in a short time. They think I'm crazy for not getting involved. But it's a crime, right?
Posted by: Sam on May 4, 2008 15:29