On June 24, 2005, a lawsuit was filed against Google for alleged click fraud on the Adwords pay-per-click program. The Plaintiff, Click Defense, claims Google failed to enact appropriate measures to guard against fraudulent clicks resulting in unwarranted marketing fees. Click Defense claims it has lost over $5 million to click fraud.
Click Fraud
"Click fraud" is a term with a unique meaning on the Internet. It refers to the deliberate clicking of pay-per-click advertisements by users that have no intent of actually making a purchase. It is common knowledge that unethical companies will set up click centers oversees where individuals are paid nominal wages to click on certain ads. Alternatively, companies will use programs called "click bots" that automatically search out ads and do the same thing. The end result, of course, is a bevy of clicks that drain advertising budgets.
Google claims it takes appropriate precautionary measures. This claim, however, is often met with a snicker since the sole source of revenues for Google is advertising. This causes an inherent conflict of interest since Google needs to maximize clicks to generate revenues. As a publicly traded company, Google is under pressure to continually show increased profits. Taking all of this into account, one must wonder how hard Google works to limit fraudulent clicks. If you have used the "content search" aspect of Google Adwords, the incredible poor conversion rates certainly must raise doubts in your mind.
Click Fraud Percentages
Neither Google, Overture nor any other search engine has been willing to publish click fraud rates for their paid advertising program. Hints have been provided regarding a rate of 20 percent. Active advertisers know, however, the percentages can be much higher depending on the competitiveness of the keywords in question. Click Defense, the Plaintiff in the lawsuit, is claiming a click fraud rate of 38 percent.
Will This Impact PPC?
The lawsuit against Google was inevitable. Every site using Adwords is aware of the problem with click fraud. Frankly, it is a problem with every pay-per-click search engine although our experience has been better with Overture.
So, will this lawsuit force the search engines to clean up their act? It's hard to say, but there should be one definite benefit. As part of the lawsuit, Google may be forced to reveal the true click fraud percentages occurring in Adwords. If Google moves to quickly settle the case, you should take it as an indication it wants to keep the rates confidential. This, of course, will mean the click fraud percentages are high.
You should watch the progress of this lawsuit if you use pay-per-click search engines to promote your site. Some very interesting information should be revealed. Regardless of the outcome, click fraud is just another reason to pursue search engine optimization strategies.
Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.



Pst! Wanna know some Adsense secrets? The only secret is... Read More
Google developed a prime product, Adsense. Marketing your website through... Read More
Not getting the satisfaction you want from your AdWords account?... Read More
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to... Read More
As the dust settles and the excitement caused by Google's... Read More
No matter how hard you work to optimize your page,... Read More
Why do people search on search engines? Let's confess this... Read More
What are pay per click engines?Pay per click engines as... Read More
A ClickBank merchant account allows you to define and sell... Read More
Have you heard the saying, "planning is everything?" Perhaps there... Read More
An analysis of web's most popular 20,000 keywords by TopPayingKeywords.com,... Read More
Advertising on the Internet has always been a bit of... Read More
Google AdWords is a great tool for driving traffic to... Read More
On Friday, July 15th all Google advertisers got the email... Read More
An unfortunate byproduct of the pay per click advertising business... Read More
Choosing the right price for your digital products is one... Read More
Choosing to bid on the right keywords can be key... Read More
My first real foray into Internet Marketing was a Pay... Read More
Dear friends,Google AdSense has rapidly gained a status of an... Read More
Working in research and development for a large infomercial company,... Read More
The cycle of affiliate programs and money making ventures goes... Read More
"Pay-per-click," by far the most popular form of online advertising,... Read More
Search engine optimization can take a long time to show... Read More
If you ever used Google AdWords to advertise your product... Read More
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a good supplement to natural search... Read More
There are millions of web sites trying to get listed... Read More
Adwords PPC Management Tip No. 1Setting up an accountIf you... Read More
As you probably know, Google Adwords is a pay-per-click solution... Read More
If you have multiple sites or multiple directories in your... Read More
Lots of people would like to get their Web site... Read More
Google AdWords is a great tool for driving traffic to... Read More
Are pay-per-click ads the best method of getting customers to... Read More
Do you know what is the most important question among... Read More
Did you know that you can make money from Google... Read More
Do you want to get paid for posting ads on... Read More
Introduction:Of all the important decisions that go into a successful... Read More
When running ads on the AdWords network, one of the... Read More
If you ever used Google AdWords to advertise your product... Read More
Pay per click (PPC) advertising can be a dream come... Read More
These are simply advertisements related, in theory and often practice,... Read More
The other day I was talking to one of my... Read More
No doubt you've heard the phrase "pay per click" before.... Read More
If you are using pay per click advertising, I don't... Read More
MSN PPC Advertising Long-Awaited Debut Announced You probably already know... Read More
Most pay per click ads draw amazingly low click through... Read More
Have you heard the saying, "planning is everything?" Perhaps there... Read More
The beauty of Google Adwords set up is its simplicity.... Read More
Are Small PPC Search Engines Really Worth The Effort? The... Read More
If you haven't yet got a Google AdSense account for... Read More
Ready for more tips on how to make your AdWords... Read More
Pay-Per-Click Advertising Pay-Per-Click Advertising |