Click fraud occurs in pay per click online advertising when a person, automated script or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an ad, for the purpose of generating an improper charge per click. Click fraud is the subject of some controversy and increasing litigation due to the advertising networks being a key beneficiary of the fraud whether they like it or not.
Use of a computer to commit this type of fraud is a felony in many jurisdictions, for example as covered by Penal code 502 in California and the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the United Kingdom. There have been arrests relating to click fraud with regard to malicious clicking in order to deplete a competitor’s advertising budget.
In 2004, a California man created a software program that he claimed could let spammers defraud Google out of millions of dollars in fraudulent clicks. Authorities said he was arrested while trying to blackmail Google for $150,000 to hand over the program.
Links
- “Web start-ups vie to detect ‘click fraud’.” Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved June 10, 2005.
- “Vendors release click-fraud detection tools.” eWeek. Retrieved March 4, 2005.
- “Click fraud roils search advertisers.” C|Net News.com. Retrieved March 4, 2005.
- “Mice Attack: Internet scammers steal money with ‘click fraud’.” Newsweek. Retrieved January 18, 2005.
- “Google CFO: Fraud a Big Threat.” CNN Money. Retrieved December 2, 2004.
- “Click fraud threatens web.” Wired News. Retrieved October 13, 2004.
- “How Click Fraud Could Swallow the Internet.” Wired Magazine, issue 14.01 (January 2006). Retrieved December 29, 2005.
- “Click fraud fears growing for online advertisers.” Times Online. Retrieved February 2006
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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