europeforvisitors - 10:24 pm on Nov 6, 2003 (gmt 0)

Several members have suggested here and elsewhere that "click fraud is part of the cost of running CPC campaigns." If that's true, it would tend to support my belief that the long-term market for contextual "content ads" (and perhaps for PPC campaigns, period) is among mainstream advertisers rather than the affiliate-site owners and other calculator-wielding Webmasters who, to use Cornwall's phrase, "make their money on the turn." Why? A couple of reasons:

1) A mainstream advertiser that considers PPC-generated leads to be a bargain (compared to other media) won't feel the same pinch from undetected click fraud as an affiliate or other "money on the turn" entrepreneur will.

2) Mainstream advertisers are less likely to play dirty tricks on their competitors than small entrepreneurs are. (Does anyone here seriously believe that L.L. Bean is going to launch "clickbot wars" against REI or Eddie Bauer, or that British Airways will try to drain Virgin Atlantic's daily budget? Just think of the PR fallout and career consequences if the perpetrators got caught.)