Click Fraud Identification Steps - WebmasterWorld
Click Fraud Identification Steps
WebmasterWorld.com is featureing a post by 'BakedJake' on how he identified and corrected an amazingly blatant instance of click-fraud. He outlines the steps he took to identify the fraud and the process he went through with Google to get reimbursed (4 days from first call to reimbursement!)
The process and resolution are very informative and even though this won't identify more subtle click fraud, all PPC advertisers should be able to do this basic click analysis.
I was more intrigued by the 5 (and growing) pages of discussion about this post. Many people were grateful for Jake's information, but it is amazing how the discussion quickly grows into conspiracy theories.
quotes:
"...conversion system is entirely in house. My biggest fear as an advertiser is Google raising keyword costs per vertical, and by advertisers using [Google's] conversion system, Google's now got the data to say 'ok, we know how much you make, this is how much we can charge and you'll still advertise'."
"I also have stated that anyone that gives Overture their conversion data, is only opening the door to minimum bid increases for specific vertical markets in the future."
Far be it from me to discount these possibilities on any sort of evidential grounds, but I just don't see this happening. As I stated in an earlier post, I'm not sure that Google and Overture will take strong proactive measures to solve the click fraud problem, but at the same time why would they need to go to these extreme measures to artificially jack up bidding.
The nature of internet bidding is that advertisers will bid as much as necessary to obtain the ranking they need provided they continue to make money (and unfortunately sometimes more than that). Ultimately, the bidding process will drive prices up to the same total they could get with 'your' conversion data. Why would the search engines ruin their reputation (further) by trying to manipulate the system?
As an internet advertiser, you should be prepared for bid prices to continue to climb and the only way you can survive is to lower your costs so that you can continue to make money when your competitors start losing.
If you don't manage your site to maximize your conversions and manage your business to minimize expenses you're not going to survive.
It's the 21st century and the internet is a wonderful new medium that requires new techniques and skills for marketers but the business premises still need to be solid.
WebmasterWorld.com is featureing a post by 'BakedJake' on how he identified and corrected an amazingly blatant instance of click-fraud. He outlines the steps he took to identify the fraud and the process he went through with Google to get reimbursed (4 days from first call to reimbursement!)
The process and resolution are very informative and even though this won't identify more subtle click fraud, all PPC advertisers should be able to do this basic click analysis.
I was more intrigued by the 5 (and growing) pages of discussion about this post. Many people were grateful for Jake's information, but it is amazing how the discussion quickly grows into conspiracy theories.
quotes:
"...conversion system is entirely in house. My biggest fear as an advertiser is Google raising keyword costs per vertical, and by advertisers using [Google's] conversion system, Google's now got the data to say 'ok, we know how much you make, this is how much we can charge and you'll still advertise'."
"I also have stated that anyone that gives Overture their conversion data, is only opening the door to minimum bid increases for specific vertical markets in the future."
Far be it from me to discount these possibilities on any sort of evidential grounds, but I just don't see this happening. As I stated in an earlier post, I'm not sure that Google and Overture will take strong proactive measures to solve the click fraud problem, but at the same time why would they need to go to these extreme measures to artificially jack up bidding.
The nature of internet bidding is that advertisers will bid as much as necessary to obtain the ranking they need provided they continue to make money (and unfortunately sometimes more than that). Ultimately, the bidding process will drive prices up to the same total they could get with 'your' conversion data. Why would the search engines ruin their reputation (further) by trying to manipulate the system?
As an internet advertiser, you should be prepared for bid prices to continue to climb and the only way you can survive is to lower your costs so that you can continue to make money when your competitors start losing.
If you don't manage your site to maximize your conversions and manage your business to minimize expenses you're not going to survive.
It's the 21st century and the internet is a wonderful new medium that requires new techniques and skills for marketers but the business premises still need to be solid.
posted by Jeffrey at 2:15 PM
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