MarketingVOX: Jim Hedger of Webmaster Radio has made public a report that ads served by Google on the sites of Google AdSense publishers who are connected with Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups are benefiting those groups, which are resorting to click fraud to derive revenue from Google advertisers, reports Search Engine
Insurgent-based networks are using clickbots, automated programs that click on Google advertisements, to click on the PPC ads on terrorist-affiliated publishers’ sites. The terrorist cyber-hustle works like this:
- Groups set up blogs and sites that serve Google AdSense ads
- Commit click fraud on those sites
- Collect revenue from Google
- Donate revenue to “charities” that funnel funds to terror groups
The properties serving Google’s PPC ads are housed on Google’s Orkut social network. Orkut pages have been set up by Hezbollah, Iraqi insurgent and other terror-oriented groups and number in the hundreds, according to Hedger.
Related stories:
- Hitwise: One in 20 Web Visits Go to Social-Networking Sites
- Advertisers Seek Accurate Online Measurement, Less Click Fraud
- Click Fraud a Tad Lower in Q3
- Three Admit AOL Phishing-Scam Guilt
- Investigation: Click Fraud Growing, Advertisers Irritated
- Google Concedes to Brazil’s Demand for User Data
- Brazil Prosecutors Go after Google’s Orkut
- Advertisers: Pesky Click Fraud Is Cost of Doing Business
- Google Again Confronts Click-Fraud Class Action Suit
- Google Click-Fraud Settlement Approved
- Google Reveals ‘Invalid Click’ Stats to Advertisers
- Google Click-Fraud Hearing Today; Report: Google Efforts ‘Reasonable’
- Orkut Used as Brazilian Drug Network
- Click Forensics: Click Fraud Up from Last Quarter
- Outsell: Advertisers Lost $800MM to Click Fraud in ‘05
- Yahoo Settles Click Fraud Suit
