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Pay per click (PPC) advertising
continues to gain popularity in the online marketing world
as an effective and inexpensive way to drive targeted
visitors to web sites. Research firm eMarketer reported
that between 2002 and 2003 the paid search listing market
grew 175 percent. Major trusted search properties such as
Google, Overture, FindWhat.com, and Kanoodle, all offer
PPC campaigns in which you pay only when someone clicks
through your banner ad or link. But PPC also has an
enemy--click fraud--and understanding what it is and what
to do about it should also be a key part of your PPC
campaign.
What is Click Fraud?
Click fraud is when someone or something generates
illegitimate hits on your banner or text advertisement
causing you to pay for worthless clicks. AS PPC campaigns
have grown in popularity and keyword prices and bidding
have become more competitive, click fraud is on the rise.
Online marketers are becoming increasingly worried about
the prospect of click fraud. According to CNET News, some
marketing executives estimate that "up to 20 percent
of fees in certain advertising categories continue to be
based on nonexistent consumers in today's search
industry."
This estimate is certainly unsettling for advertisers who,
recently, have been paying hefty amounts bidding on
desirable search terms. Financial analysts report that in
the year 2004 advertisers are paying an average of 45
cents per click. Compare this to 40 cents in 2003 and 30
cents in 2002; the bidding wars continue to rise.
Who's Doing it and Why?
Click fraud perpetrators are most often motivated by
trying to increase revenues from affiliate networks or
attempting to damage competitors' revenues by forcing them
to pay for worthless clicks. The Google Adsense program,
in which affiliates receive payment for clicks whether
they are real or not, has caused great concern for Google
and has intensified its focus on click fraud.
Those engaged in click fraud use a variety of techniques
to generate false clicks. Low cost international workers
from all over the world are hired to locate and click on
ads. The Times of India provided investigative reporting
on payment for manual click fraud happening in India.
Unethical companies may pay their own employees to click
on competitor ads. Last but not least, click fraud can be
generated by online robots programmed to click on
advertiser or affiliate ads. Some companies go to great
lengths creating intricate software that allows for this
to happen.
How Can You Deter It?
Many advertisers know about the possibility of click fraud
but generally haven't done much in the past to prevent it.
Some feel that if they complain to any of the search
conglomerates, it could ruin their free listings. Others
feel like the problem is beyond them.
"It is a bigger problem, but folks just don't want to
take the time to track it down because it's a complex
problem," stated John Squire, of web analytics firm
Coremetrics, to CNET. "Given that some of the largest
marketers manage up to 1 million keywords in a campaign
the data can be difficult to crunch."
Companies who do understand and report click fraud to
search engine properties have had success receiving
refunds for fraudulent clicks. For those advertisers who
want to address the possibility of click fraud in PPC
campaigns, good option do exists. At the most basic level,
advertisers can use general auditing; many have been known
to compile lists of sites that generate high numbers of
clicks but not sales. This will indeed put up a red flag.
On the other hand, because click fraud is advancing at
such frequency, click fraud detection companies and
software have been popping up all over the country. Let's
take a look at some of the options:
ClickDetective
- ClickDetective allows you to track return visitors to
your site and alerts you if there is evidence that your
site may be under attack. Its reports show you every click
in real time rather than a summary hours later.
Who'sClickingWho.com
- This fraud detector tracks all PPC search engines,
detects multiple IP's, and even pops up a "ClickMinder"
after a potential abuser clicks repeatedly over five
times.
BogusClick -
BogusClick can help advertisers determine competitor IP
addresses, originating PPC search engines and/or partner
sites involved, as well as keywords used.
Clicklab - Clicklab
employs a score-based click fraud detection system that
applies a series of tests to each visitor session and
assigns scores. Calculations are made to indicate bad/good
sessions to show an advertiser the quality of traffic.
Click fraud is a big problem in search engine marketing
that's only going to get bigger in the future. It is wise
for any online advertiser to implement some auditing
system. Why continue to waste precious campaign money?!
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