Brett_Tabke - 1:39 pm on Mar 1, 2007 (gmt 0)

> What they are saying is that maybe 0.02% of those clicks are invalid *and* charged to advertisers.

Not the way I read it - nor the way Market Watch or Reuters do either. They are saying advertisers only ask for .02% back as bad clicks. That's not a click fraud rate - that is just the rate that advertisers find it in cases where google doesn't. Google says they identify 10% as bogus clicks in one form or another. They are admitting that click fraud is potentially 10%, but advertisers are so blind to the situation, that they only ask for .02% back.

It is a fine line for Google to walk. They are making the case that it is only fraud if they don't catch it and the advertiser reports it. eg: that they find 98.8% of it an only .02% is found by the advertiser.

What this article does is send a signal to the investment community that Googles exposure to future liablity is minimal.