In the last month or two I've seen a real upsurge in what I consider suspect clicks from the search network.
It used to be that most of the search network clicks came from AOL, Netscape, AskJeeves, and other reputable places. Now, more than half (no exaggeration) of my non-Google clicks come from places that show up as "custom" search in my tracking system.
As near as I can tell, these are AdSense sites which use the Google search function. Although I have opted out of content match, my ads appear on searches from these sites, and the publishers get a cut of the money. That's my understanding of how it works, anyway.
I've complained to Google about several sites, and although Google rarely admits any problems with their system, the sites seem to have been kicked out of AdSense (whether my complaints played any part, I can't be sure).
But more and more of thse sites keep appearing in my logs. It's like the mythical hydra: cut off one head and two grow in its place.
It's taking me too much time to play detective, and even so, I'm sure I catch only a portion of the worst players. The clever ones probably click much less often and escape notice.
I'm just thinking of opting out of the search network. I would hate to lose access to those AOL and Netscape search users, but it might be worth the sacrifice.
