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A report by Click Forensics has claimed that so-called click fraud is on the rise, potentially undermining the way many free sites are supported.Click Forensics claimed that more than one in 10 responses to online advertising is not authentic, and the number is growing.
Research claims that advertising fraud is on the rise [pcw.co.uk]
It's a scary thought if you look at the figures indicated: Estimated cost to industry is $1.3 billion a year and $500 million was lost business.
Estimated cost to industry is $1.3 billion a year
To play Devil's advocate - how much of that 1.3 billion went to G$$gle?
In other, unrelated topic, "G$$gle's quarterly profit jumps 110%"
A report by Click Forensics has claimed that so-called click fraud is on the rise
Right, and a recent press release by "Antivirus Software Ltd" indicates that the threat of viruses is greater than ever.
[edited by: martinibuster at 5:13 pm (utc) on July 21, 2006]
Estimated cost to industry is $1.3 billion a year
That should be estimated cost to advertisers, the SE industry actually benefits from click fraud.
[edited by: TypicalSurfer at 5:10 pm (utc) on July 21, 2006]
Right, and a recent press release by "Antivirus Software Ltd" indicates that the threat of viruses is greater than ever.
spot on. I think this report is nonsense really - how on earth could they possibly have separated the fraud from the network issues/fickleness that prevents all paid for clicks from actually getting anywhere? And anyway so what? Most advertisers know their max price per lead/max budget so all click fraud does is change who gets that money. If click fraud was abolished tomorrow prices would only rise to compensate - it just means that some cretins are earning some cash. why is it such a big deal?
$13 billion? Wow. PPC must work, eh?
spot on. I think this report is nonsense really - how on earth could they possibly have separated the fraud from the network issues/fickleness that prevents all paid for clicks from actually getting anywhere?
This is a good point. There is fraud that can't be separated out from nonconverting clicks.
And anyway so what? Most advertisers know their max price per lead/max budget so all click fraud does is change who gets that money. If click fraud was abolished tomorrow prices would only rise to compensate - it just means that some cretins are earning some cash. why is it such a big deal?
It's still a crime. We don't refuse to prosecute burglars just because doors are unlocked.
[webmasterworld.com...]
That thread was also a "Featured Home Page Discussion."
What implication does this "fluctuation" have on us?
Well, if click fraud were to go away tomorrow, then advertisers would be wiling to pay that much more for their customer. They would suddenly see a higher ROI and thus be encouraged to bid more. So, the way I see it there is really no long term gain from combatting (or not combatting) click-fraud in especially tight industries.
But i'm just looking at from the standpoint of the publisher. There is a much bigger picture--the end-consumer--which could be looked at if one wanted to make the case as to why we should combat click-fraud.
Their conclusions of click fraud are reported to be consistently higher than other reports. The independence of their conclusions are probably compromised by the fact that they're behind it.
The thing with click fraud is that it is obvious, those who cheat, cheat in a clear cut manner increasing their immpresions and clicks by the likes of 1000% in a couple of days.
[edited by: Dzordz at 4:50 pm (utc) on July 22, 2006]
The thing with click fraud is that it is obvious, those who cheat, cheat in a clear cut manner increasing their immpresions and clicks by the likes of 1000% in a couple of days
A Webmaster World member once referred to a British study of prisoners in the UK that showed an average IQ of 80. The average person doing click fraud may not be much brighter, if we're to judge from some of the "I've been banned" threads in the AdSense forum. (One guy was dumb enough to protest his innocence using the same member name he'd used to start another thread where he'd bragged about his fraud activities.)
