Is Click Fraud and Traffic Fraud a growing problem

[mole]

Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Doomsday Scenario

Hitbots????

Different types of undetectable attacks can be carried out against internet companies that bill advertising clients using logfile statistics. These attacks usually rely on IP masking, IP masquerading and fake referrals. IP masking is accomplished by having a web robot accessing web pages through several hundreds of anonymous proxy servers.
In another scenario, trojans are uploaded on popular shareware sites. Once downloaded by a user, these trojans perform the useful tasks they are supposed to do (e.g. hard drive cleaning, virus scanning etc.) but in addition, they randomly "click" on target links, writing fake information in target logfiles using web robot technology.

Competing advertisers, affiliates or partners in a pay-per-click program might want to kill each other to gain market share, using click spam. Target links could consist of paid links associated with selected advertising clients (e.g. perpetrator's competitors) or expensive paid keywords (e.g. "bulk Email" or "online casino") on pay-per-click search engines. Another version of this attack could rely on a virus with an embedded web robot instead of a trojan. The resulting fake information in the target logfiles can not be distinguished from legitimate clicks from real users. The fake clicks have a 0% click-to-sale ratio, driving the advertiser's ROI into negative territory. We have computed that it is possible to generate $200 million in illegitimate charges with a click spam program running non-stop over a 12 month time period on one server.

Hithumans???

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-654822,curpg-1.cms

 

[A D]

Excellent article mole, thanks for that!

this will lead to everyone switching to pay-per-sale only.

-=DCG=-

 

[David G]

Excellent article mole, thanks for that! this will lead to everyone switching to pay-per-sale only. -=DCG=-

But the problem is with many products/services it is quite unlikely for someone who first clicks to actually make an online purchase right away. Often times the sale process involved many visits to the site and phone calls too. Average number of contacts needed before a buying decision is made averages 7 contacts (especially so on some products and services) from what I understand.

For example, say I am offering a commodity brokerage. Most traders will visit the site many times and then call the firms toll-free number with a few questions before deciding to open an account. Once they call, the broker usually will FedEx the needed account forms which require original signatures. You wouod have to rely on the brokers honesty and also hope he remembers to give you credit for the sale - slim chance, IMO.

It would be very unlikely to get credit for that type of sale and many other transactions. How could pay per order programs possibly work for everyone? I don't see a way they could replace PPC. Is it possible?

 

[NameTower]

I think its also the fact that some people don't like to buy online, but get to research products thoroughly and efficiently online.

I remember reading something about new car buyers and that a large percentage of the buyers have researched the car online before they purchased it..

Pay per sale would be terrible for such things like that, as there is no way you would get credit..

 

[mole]

How could pay per order programs possibly work for everyone? I don't see a way they could replace PPC. Is it possible?

Yes, it is. It's really nothing new. The issue really is whether digital fairy dust is becoming a risk too great to take, and what options do we have to deal with this.

http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/searchinsider/wpn-49-20040505ClickFraudTheGoogleKiller.html

 

[mike031]

There is always a few flaws and serious issues that have to be dealt with but rarely get taken care of... Similar problems exist in various other e-commerce sectors of the internet... Just give it sometime and when things get really hot expect for something to be done only then... When of course everybody has already gone bankrupt or gone through hell

 

[mole]

Just give it sometime and when things get really hot expect for something to be done only then...

What is really scary, is that site traffic stats can be manipulated at will if you are really serious about it by digital fairy dust. What is value then?

 

[mike031]

...for giant companies like yahoo, ebay, etc. i doubt this issue is one of their main concerns, they have much bigger problems then ppc conversions... however the small companies that operate on day-to-day budgets and are pretty much getting "ripped off" are the ones getting hurt really bad and eventually drop out or stop doing business on the net because they cannot afford to or do not have enough knowledge and experience to actually survive in this modern but rather harsh internet enviornment that we have all contributed to

 

[pleasedelete]

I found it very interesting to read these articles. I like to use conversion tracking with Adwords campaigns. That way I know the traffic is real. If I saw a conversion rate of zero, I would pull the plug real fast. I'm scared of purchasing popup traffic (targeted traffic) and dealing with smaller PPC companies although I have done some testing with SearchFeed. I can't understand why people would steal from others (sit at home and click all day on ads they aren't even interested in). It's sad for the PPC Industry, and I'm glad that Commission Junction exists as a backup plan. If PPC goes downhill, many domain owners with mediocre collections may not be able to finance renewals.

 

[hiOsilver]

Click revenue is Google's golden goose. They will have to work to protect their goose, and they will spend what it takes to do so. They will also go after any competitors trying to sabotage them. Clearly there is some risk, but I am not going to lose much sleep over it. Any competitor stupid enough to sobotage the big players will also be killing their own goose. PPC is a great deal for advertisers. I know, because I used it first as an advertiser, before I started earning $ feeding traffic into the system. It should be obvious to most people that everyone benefits when there is integrity in any economic system. One of the reasons that it is tough to make a living in so many 3rd world countries is because of corruption. Everyone making $ off of PPC should be doing what they can to make sure that the system is honest.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

Proxy bot dilution of PPC traffic has been a problem for a LONG time.

Most of the fraud comes out of Eastern Europe.

It's why I stopped using Overture --years ago..

 

[clemzonguy]

I only accept bids in adwords on United States traffic and edit out keywords like "FREE" or "DOWNLOAD". I no longer use overture because I got very little results from them and I was paying TWICE as much at .10 per click. You have to opt out of affiliate sites or else they will try and increase the traffic and thus their potential revenue by sending you crap traffic. The place where money will be is type-in domain sites where the hits are real and highly targeted. Automated bots already exist for many people who are smart enough to use them for ill-gotten gains. All one would have to do is use some kind of anonymous proxy system and lots of drone computers. THe only windfall of such a system would be more secure online systems which take away more of our privacy. It's all a means to an end.

 

[Digital Address]

I only accept bids in adwords on United States traffic and edit out keywords like "FREE" or "DOWNLOAD". I no longer use overture because I got very little results from them and I was paying TWICE as much at .10 per click. You have to opt out of affiliate sites or else they will try and increase the traffic and thus their potential revenue by sending you crap traffic. The place where money will be is type-in domain sites where the hits are real and highly targeted. Automated bots already exist for many people who are smart enough to use them for ill-gotten gains. All one would have to do is use some kind of anonymous proxy system and lots of drone computers. THe only windfall of such a system would be more secure online systems which take away more of our privacy. It's all a means to an end.

Want to see "it" at work just take a look at the keyword "FREE" in Overture!! "Free Internet" hit rate is totally bogus!! And then check out where it redirects!? (If the numbers were "right," these people would be looking for FREEBIES anyway!) :laugh: