Suite of tools released to fight fraudsters

E.J. Hilbert, President of Online Intelligence said, "The platform tells marketers what clicks are real, what traffic is real and who is 'sitting on' keywords, potentially hurting campaign ROI. These issues can be dealt with in real time, so you have people on your side who can deal with negative keywords, keyword sitting, etc., in a matter of minutes."

By scanning multiple webpages and creating screen shots, the platform helps to show marketers where ads are being displayed; this in turn helps marketers better understand what happens with their ads in the space. Also, because the system pulls ads from both paid and organic listings, marketers have a better idea of how campaigns are working.

According to a recent ClickForensics report about 42% of click fraud traffic is originating from botnets. This is an increase over previous months and should serve as a warning to marketers to watch PPC campaigns and website traffic. Year over year, the report shows click fraud increasing by 16% with botnet traffic increasing 25% over the past two years.

"To a brand, click fraud does two things: gives a false sense of security by making the brand feel bigger than it actually is. And, if you have click fraud imbedded with something else - a malware item, cookie stuffing or back end clicks - the problem can then associate the brand with the fraudulent activity. [This means] consumers who click on the ads and whose computers are affected will trust the brand less."

Tags: botnets, click fraud, ClickForensics, Epic Advertising, fraud rings, online advertising, Online Intelligence, pay per click, ppc campaign, search marketing