In a rather scathing article, Ben Edelman reckons Google is, at best, turning a blind eye to massive click fraud and, at worst, inflating click rates and tricking advertisers into overpaying for advertising on Google Adwords.

In his article, Edelman shares the results of tests indicating the instance of click fraud. Previously, Edelman had reported on Google Adwords pay-per-click (PPC) ads improperly appearing in spyware popups, typosquatting sites and improperly-installed and/or deceptive toolbars. This time Edelman makes the case that advertisers are getting charged for clicks THAT DON’T EVEN HAPPEN.

Apparently, spyware that fakes a click is to blame.

On December 31, 2009, Ben Edelman deployed his Automatic Spyware Advertising Tester on a virtual computer infected with the Trafficsolar spyware (which Edelman says is customarily downloaded through security exploits, without a PC user’s consent). When he browsed online shoe store, Finishline.com, Trafficsolar opened a full-screen unlabeled popup, which redirected him back to the Finish Line website via a fake Google PPC click (i.e. click fraud).

As Edelman points out, this is BAD news for Finish Line. Not only is the online shoe retailer paying Google a fee for displaying an ad to someone who is already at the Finish Line website, but it’s paying for a click that doesn’t even happen!

How does Trafficsolar manage to cause the appearance of a popup that redirects the web user back to the Finish Line site?

My reading of Edelman’s explanation is that the web user (i.e. their web browser) is effectively handled by – and redirected through – no less than seven intermediaries, starting with the Trafficsolar spyware and ending with the victim Google advertiser (in this case, Finish Line).

One intermediary, in particular – InfoSpace – is responsible for redirecting the web user to Google (which records the ‘non-click’) which in turn redirects the web user to the advertiser’s website. Edelman indicates that if Google severed its relationship with InfoSpace, the search engine giant would essentially remove the problem, since InfoSpace is the company that is responsible for allowing the web user to be handled by so many dubious sources.

Read Ben Edelman’s article for a detailed explanation of the ‘no click fraud’ and its alleged perpetrators. Edelman’s case study is eye opening to say the least, and certainly justifies carefully planning, managing and monitoring your Google Adwords campaigns…

Source: Ben Edelman, “Google Click Fraud Inflates Conversion Rates and Tricks Advertisers into Overpaying,” Ben Edelman, January 12, 2010

Related Posts

• Click Fraud Rate Grows To 17 Percent
• 3 Tips To Avoid Click-Fraud
• Microsoft Sues Three For Click Fraud
• Facebook Accused of Allowing Click Fraud
• Microsoft Sues Two For ‘Click Laundering’ – New Kind of Click Fraud

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Feature, Law, Search Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.