Click Fraud Rates Less Than 0.02%

Google reported that the rate of click fraud for which advertisers seek a refund represents less than 0.02% of all clicks. The company reported "every percentage point of invalid clicks we throw out represents over $100 million/year in potential revenue foregone", thus is in the interest of Google to reduce this rate.

On the other hand ClickForensics puts the click fraud rate at 14.2%. However ClickForensics' rate is an overall average of click fraud across the search industry. The rate of click fraud across different ad industry sectors and different search providers varies widely. Those buying expensive keywords as triggers for their search ads, for example, are more likely to be targeted by click fraudsters than other advertisers. Also the second and third tier search engines with do not have Google's technology to detect nor correct these problems.


Also, ClickForensics and others that build their business model around this issue are not about to say that they are in a small and declining market. Then, there are others with inferior technology that are utilizing this issue as part of their marketing strategy.

The bottom line is search marketing is the most effective medium to reach customers and even if the rate of errors is 14% it is better than displace where there is little relevance and metrics.

Advanced Search Marketing

At WebGuild's Advanced Search Marketing yesterday Barbara Coll, Jessie Stricchiola andMassimo Burgio shared their thoughts on a range of topics such as landing page optimization, organic search, paid listings, a little bit on click, web analytics and tools. The event was filled with very rich and practical learning tips and advice. Please listen to the podcast to learn more.

Here are 7 top takes away that I picked up on;
1. Make use of your title tag
2. Get a good web analytics tool that integrates with your content management system
3. Move offline content online
4. Pay the $300 and get into Yahoo directory
5. Use the Google Webmaster SEO tips
6. Have realistic goals for measuring your success
7. Add contact info on homepage

Also, Jessie shared some interesting tools and plugins for Firefox.

One of Firefox plugins "SEOpen" enables you to view some very useful and frequented sites with a single click. Here are some site that are expressed linked.
Yahoo Backlinks
Pages in Yahoo Index

Google Backlinks
Google Cache
Pages in Google index
Google Translate to English
Google Related
PageRank Check
MSN Backlinks
Pages in MSN Index
Alexa Overview
Alexa Traffic
Alexa Related

Alexa Backlinks
"Mass Check" multiple sources at once
Check DMOZ Inclusion
Keyword Density
Page Size Checker
HTML Validator
Server Header Viewer
Wayback Machine
Check robots.txt
Whois Info

Report on Click Fraud

According to the AAAA Click Fraud is estimated to cost U.S. businesses in excess of $1 billion each year. Click fraud is the intentionally clicking an ad with no intention of converting from browser to buyer. The AAAA defines click fraud as “a person, automated script or computer program clicking on a paid search ad, adversely affecting the advertiser who received the click, often to the benefit of the publisher."

Others contend that even publishers derive a certain amount of revenue from click fraud when users click on ads with out intending to buy.

For more information about the report contact AAAA