They got real issues with defining click fraud for starters. And if you can’t really measure it properly how can you label some countries more click fraud prone than others.

I also find it suspicious that the U.S. seems like a greenish color, which would give an impression that there is less click fraud coming from that area, which is blatant BS.

Which all confirms that any data coming about click issues coming from companies other than Google or Yahoo is not worth the paper it is written on.

They only work for things that people buy the first time they see it. If people go away from a site and come back later the publisher won’t get credit. (That could be partially solved by cookies) What if they just end up buying from a separate computer?

That example also highlights a problem with Click Forensics. Google employs a multi-tiered click fraud detection system which allows them to identify a large portion of fraudulent clicks which advertisers are never charged for (or if they are charged, they are later refunded). Like if you click an ad, load the page, hit the back button and then click the ad again, Google would not charge the advertiser for the second click. So, while CF can do a decent job of detecting fraud, they have no clue whether that fraud matters (i.e. you actually got charged for it).

Cheers - Eric

The whole thing is for advertisers to get exposure for their websites, blogs and message boards. The ads to me are invisible. Click and keep on clicking. Fraud is everywhere.

There are plenty of agencies and hireforwork companies out there that will conduct “market research” for a small hourly fee as to where your “competitors” clicks go.

In fact it’s $1100 a month to hire a junior in singapore that will do this for you and run it through various proxies to keep it looking clean.

I’ve got a $24k/month adword campaign running and a weak person would surely fall for ways to cut that bill by a third. (or reach more customers in fact).

In fact click fraud is one of those so apparent and obvious ways to short out a competitor it’s a wonder it’s not rampant.

Secondly, it’s sad to see TechCrunch just regurgitating these numbers when there’s nothing to back them up.

Lastly, yes, Google does provide refunds for clicks it suspects are invalid.