Click Fraud and The Rise of SEM

Since the launch of Googles pay per click model 5 years ago, Google has transformed for a search engine underdog to the “holy grail” of search engines holding almost 40% of the U.S search market¹ and as much as 52% of the overall search market². With this Google’s Pay per click (PPC) user base has grown to unprecedented proportions, taking the costs with it, with some markets paying more than £10 per click.

But with the rise of new technologies comes the introduction of new threats, and one of the biggest threats to the Pay per Click market is click fraud, or invalid clicks. There are 3 main types of click fraud,

Malicious Click Fraud – ones competitors clicking on there adverts to try and expend there daily budget (a limit set on the SEM account)

Non-malicious Click Fraud – a “customer” clicking your advert more than once, while they are “window shopping”.

Automated Click Fraud – a variation of “Malicious Click Fraud” where computer robots are set to systematically click your adverts, again to try and expend your daily budget.

This threat is considered to be huge, with some people reporting as much as 40% of clicks on there account are potential click fraud, while CNN reports that as much as 20%³ of all clicks on Google could be click fraud. Google had admitted that “this may be a bigger problem than we had anticipated4” and since then have made a valid attempt to combat this with advanced click analysis software as well as a devoted team that analyzes suspected invalid clicks, that said Google Inc was just ordered by a US judge to pay $90 Million5 to advertisers to settle a dispute dating back over nearly 3 years.

But none of this seems to be halting the rise of the new internet super power, Google are moving from strength to strength, with new advertising systems in the pipe line, such as Pay per Call, and a host of other Google services, all designed to further Google’s sole mission “To organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful6”.

In short this internet juggernaut has catapulted its self from almost total obscurity to one of the most recognizable brands on the internet in just 7 years and they show no sign of slowing down.

Sources

1. Search Engine Watch - August 23, 2005
2. Search Engine Watch - August 23, 2005
3. CNN - December 2, 2004
4. CNN - December 2, 2004
5. Web Master World - March 8, 2006
6. Google