Interesting development, suprised google settled. http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=OBR&Date=20060308&ID=5566916
I just saw this story come across on AP. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GOOGLE_CLICK_FRAUD?SITE=MSJAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT What do you think will be the ramifications of this settlement? I'm not sure what to think or whether it's good or bad for users of AdWords and AdSense.
not disclosing how their click fraud system works is probably more important to them than 90million dollars.
Hopefully, they'll do better at weeding out MFAs. I was looking for something earlier and the top 3 bidders on adwords were MFA sites, no content, just pictures and adsense ads
It shocks me the google allows MFA's into there adwords program, this is obviously ripping off the advertiser, as it recycles less valuable traffic into more valuable clicks. Not too mention MFA's by nature provide a raw deal for the advertiser. Google has 2 chances to get rid of these guys with adsense and adwords review and yet still do nothing about it. Poor form. No wonder they settled this case. They are doing a terrible job of preventing click fraud.
Made For Adsense sites. If you see a site with nothing but Google ads and maybe a few pictures or words it's MFA. If you see a site with nothing but ads and some search results it's called Google.
Without touching the MFA issue, it seems to me that any advertisers who really complain about click fraud are gold-digging. There is so much information about click-fraud on the internet and in forums like this, that anyone who is considering using Adwords *must* come across it. I mean, when researching any new marketing practice, you really have to research right? And they signed up to this program with the knowledge that click-fraud happens. I don't really feel sorry for these people. I definately wouldn't have awarded them $90,000,000.
yeah but what other options do they have? of the ad neworks google is (supposedly) the biggest reaching the most publishers. do you really except them to do their own contextual advertising? google takes all the work out of it, as well as a huge cut.
They don't have any other options. Regardless, when they signed up, people knew about click fraud. It is something that any competent marketing person should have taken into account. That is one of the first things you do when marketing - determine the shortcomings of each method you use. While I give them alot of credit for sticking up to Google and prodding them into more action preventing click fraud, I think they are getting waaaayyyy more than they deserve.