PPC Theft…What not to do
PPC (Pay Per Click) fraud has been the headlines lately with many advertisers unsure as to whether all the clicks they are receiving are genuine.
Both Google and Yahoo are working furiously to try and eliminate click fraud, but is it a battle they will win?
Its anyones guess but recent action by Google may at least be a step in the right direction.
David A. Vise, Washington Post Staff Writer updates us on the story…
To Texas-based Auctions Expert International LLC, it was an easy way to make money on the Internet. Sign up with Google, which functions as a kind of online ad agency, and agree to let the online giant place ads on your Web site. Then, every time someone clicks on one of the ads, the advertiser pays a fee, and Google shares that fee with Auctions Expert.
The problem, according to a lawsuit filed last year by Google, is that Auctions Expert began clicking on the ads itself, artificially inflating the number of clicks and driving up the bills sent to advertisers.
Auctions Expert allegedly recruited as many as 50 people to click on online advertising, generating about $50,000 in ad revenue. The self-clicking was worthless to advertisers, but generated significant and unjust revenue for defendants, the Google lawsuit said.
