Lost Per Click: Search Advertising & Click Fraud

In general, this article is about the auditing of Cost Per Click internet campaigns. Click frauds is not a new thing in the internet environment. This term was created after CPC pricing model had become popular.

"Click fraud – the practice of clicking on a text advertisement served by a search engine for the sole purpose of forcing the advertiser to pay for the click – is emerging as an important concern for search engine markets."

Moreover,

"Click fraud refers to any kind of click received from a CPC search engine that is generated artificially through human or technological means with the sole purpose of creating a debiting click, resulting in zero possibility for a conversion to occur."

To prevent this phenomenon, companies like Overture are trying to protect the industry by identifying and filtering these types of clicks. Despite the activities against “click fraud” taken by companies like Overture, the problem still exists.

"If you’re running a CPC campaign with the search engines, it behooves you to audit your logs for suspicious activity, and contact the search engine if you suspect foul play from your competitors."