In the aftermath of a $90 million proposed settlement by Google
with a group of its own advertisers, Google has joined with Yahoo!,
MSN Search and Ask.com to attempt to work out a way of measuring
fraud levels.
Websites charge advertising fees based on the number of site
users who click on adverts. Click fraud happens when individuals or
software programs click on adverts to falsely increase the amount
which advertisers pay.
The practice is allegedly most commonly carried out by site
operators themselves to increase advertising income or by
competitors attempting to use up a company's advertising
budget.
The new research will be co-ordinated by the Interactive
Advertising Bureau (IAB), which has set up a Click Measurement
Working Group.
"The IAB is steadfast in its commitment to the principles of
transparency and industry oversight for the measurement of any
aspect of interactive media," said a statement from the IAB. "The
Click Measurement Guidelines will also outline an industry driven
auditing and certification recommendation for any organization
involved in performance based marketing like search engines, ad
networks, third party ad servers or any company that counts clicks
as a part of the media currency."
Advertisers sued Google over alleged click fraud and the company
last week agreed a $90 million settlement which was recommended by
a court. Though most of the advertisers who were party to the class
action law suit accepted the deal, it is believed that some parties
have not accepted that settlement. It did not involve cash, but
sums redeemable against future Google advertising spending.
Yahoo! recently also settled a case with advertisers, paying out
$5m for fraudulent clicks paid for.
The IAB's Working Group will define what a click is and what
constitutes a fraudulent click. Though it has been impossible to
calculate reliable figures, some industry estimates claim that
fraud rates account for between 15% and 20% of all clicks on
advertisements.
