MarketingVOX: When last month Google began providing data on “invalid clicks,” some advertisers had their fears of click fraud confirmed – nevertheless they remain unfazed, writes MarketWatch, based on an informal survey it conducted of Google advertisers.
Like spam and viruses, click fraud may be irritating, but it’s part of the current ecosystem of online marketing, advertisers seem to be thinking. The story quotes Frank Watson of Forex Capital Markets asking rhetorically: “A certain amount of mail goes missing – are you not going to write letters? Airlines occasionally crash, are you going to stop flying?”
“Click fraud is like any other business risk; you should take appropriate steps to reduce the risk and gather firm data of any fraud,” Duncan Perry, a click fraud expert and U.K.-based consultant is quoted as saying.
The scope of the controversial problem is itself an issue of controversy. Some say up to half of clicks are fraudulent, whereas several studies place the figure around 15 percent.
Related stories:
- Google Again Confronts Click-Fraud Class Action Suit
- Google Challenges Click-Fraud Data, Auditing Firms
- IAB Developing Click Measurement Guidelines
- Google Click-Fraud Settlement Approved
- Google Reveals ‘Invalid Click’ Stats to Advertisers
- Click Forensics: Click Fraud Up from Last Quarter
- Outsell: Advertisers Lost $800MM to Click Fraud in ‘05
- Yahoo Settles Click Fraud Suit
- Click Fraud Index: Fraud Less Than Expected
- Google to Settle Click Fraud Suit with $90 Million Settlement Fund
- Google, Yahoo Pummeled by Click Fraud Panel
- Click Fraud Doesn’t Grow, but Marketers’ Concern Does
- Anti-Click Fraud Firm Alleges Google Abets Click Fraud
- Scope of Click Fraud Still Cloudy, Gaining Attention
