http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/03/google_adwords_attack/ Dubbed...ouch. I haven't seen any issues with any of my clients, but this article seriously has my ears perked.
I agree MP. Wish there was more information or an official Google response somewhere. Seeing this newsbit mainstream in CNN, NYP or WSJ would be nice, heh, even better if MSN or Y! news picked it up.
this will be a tough one for google to crack, fighting against a legion of open proxies is no easy matter especially as large lists are freely available on the internet in many places
Interesting article. I guess advertisers need to pay more attention to their keywords/CTR, maybe have some software to alert them if something like that happens.
i hope that my site is not being effected.... :-( sounds really bad... i wonder what their motive is... since 2005 i have seen an increase in ctr but a decrease in conversions... :-(
most advertisers check their adwords frequently that they should notice drops. We check daily but haven't noticed any problems yet. We are on the lookout now, I don't forsee too many problems and I'm sure goolg will implement some sort of check and balance to prevent this from occurring too frequently.
It is a well known risk and should be priced into the adwords max CPC. Adwords is a numbers game, that is to be played with large numbers. If you're noticed a high CTR and low conversions, then you've got the adjust your Max CPC. But the trouble comes when a competitor is generating the fake clicks giving him an advantage since your costs go up but his stay the same.