Google has finally responded to industry pundits who say click fraud is out of control. In an area I've covered many times before, my opinion here is that Google's communication to its all-important advertising customers was virtually nil regarding click fraud. It's a bad move, obviously, for Google to go into the specifics of how it monitors and catches click fraud (which would encourage more of it), but it has to figure out a way to calm the masses who may fear that they are losing millions of dollars to fraudulent clicks.Well, Google has said now that click fraud is an largely-exaggerated problem that continues to get press and continues to fan the flames of a problem that Google says is way overblown. I guess we'll have to put 100% belief and faith in Google for that statement since it obviously cannot be proven. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but I'm wary of trusting, without proof, 100% of anything any company says. If you have that level of trust I hope you escaped the Enron scandal intact. Now, I'm not saying Google is not trustworthy -- far from it. I'm saying that turning over 100% trust *can* be a mistake. I, myself, require proof beyond the shadow of a doubt if my investing dollars are involved. Unfortunately, that is incredibly hard to find.
Which brings me back to Google. After reviewing Google's lengthy and in-depth report that battles the the actual definitions of what click fraud really is, and what some people and companies say it is, I am leaning more and more on Google's side. All it took was the Google folks to respond in a detailed and logical way, which it has, and the flames can settle down now as customers start understanding how a real definition of click fraud is calculated. Major kudos to Google here on announcing and publicizing the click fraud tracking methodology it has. As I've said before, communication is the key. Keeping quiet with pleasantries is not the best course of action.
Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-09-2006 @ 12:24PM
H Klasson said...
You better check again Brian. Google is FAR from controlling click fraud, less their own advertisers who use Google adsense to make a few dollars. We used Google advertising for over 1 year, we made a big $129.00 in 3 months - just before they where to cut the check they suspended us claiming we clicked the ads on our own site to increase our income revenue from the ads. With no proof, other then a form letter we where pulled from that program. You should know we have and still are advertising on Google with a daily budget of $50.00. If Google needed the $128.00 (which judging from the past months of stock reports ; they do) I guess they can have the money. In the meantime I joined a class law suit against them. This is far from over.
8-09-2006 @ 2:57PM
Brian said...
I agree that click fraud is still an issue -- my post was not denying that. However, it is good to see that Google has increased its communication on the issue -- that was the point of my post. I've covered Google's click fraud many times before and I believe, as you do, that it is still a problem -- I am just glad Google is responding to concerns from customers. That is huge in my opinion.