Google’s click fraud estimates have been getting quite a bit of press lately. A guy who some of you will know, Joe Holcomb, wrote about this back in December. “Google Click Fraud Less than 2%? BULL“. Joe has a unique perspective since he has seen the fraud from the inside with companies such as Kanoodle and Blowsearch. He is now on the outside trying to build his own search engine that will virtually eliminate click fraud (the big claim).
Obviously, click fraud exists but the definitions will vary from source to source. What is the true definition? What is your definition?
- Some feel that the user who clicks forward and back within 2 seconds indicate a fraudulent click. Have you ever done that? I have. Not click fraud.
- Some feel that a user who clicks your ad ever day clearly represents fraud. This could very likely be a competitor. Is this fraud? Not click fraud. They are free to order your free fabric samples or take all of your flyers from your mall kiosk, do you think the mall refunded the merchant? No, it isn’t fraud. It is an underhanded competitor, but not fraud.
- Some feel that a user that clicks on all paid listings within a result set is committing fraud. You could argue that this could just be someone who hates the ‘meso’ or ‘P.I.’ lawyers and wants to stick it to them. Fraud? Not click fraud.
How does Google define fraud?