Click Fraud Case Study – Facebook

Online advertising is continually changing as the internet evolves, but the fraudsters are adapting to it quickly. A perfect example of this is Facebook. Everyone knows about the internet phenomenon that is Facebook, the biggest of a new wave of social networking sites. They have been a success story since the start in terms of traffic and popularity, but they have only recently started to monetize the site, by using pay per click adverts. The advantage of a Facebook ad is clear - because they have so much information about the end users, adverts can be perfectly targeted to your choice of demographic. The disadvantage is the rampant click fraud, as should become clear during this article.

Facebook's Problem

Soon after the adverts started appearing on the site, it became clear that Facebook had a massive problem. Several companies were complaining that Facebook was charging them for more visitors than were actually turning up on their site! This is, of course, a very unsubtle click fraud method. The fraudsters were using software that clicked links and then moved on so quickly that the servers they clicked through to didn't even have time to register them. Facebook registered the click, but no traffic was coming through the links. This type of click fraud is obviously very easy to spot, but not so easy to combat. Facebook, as a newcomer to pay per click advertising, didn't have the techniques and knowledge in place to act as quickly as experienced advertising networks could have done, and as a result, advertising on social networking sites was written off by many as not viable. At one point, the ad trackers registered the percentage of fake clicks coming through this method as 100%.

How The Fraudsters Were Doing It

The method used was very simple. Workers on low wages in third world countries were being paid to register Facebook accounts in a variety of different demographics. Each account cost approximately ten cents - enough to make it well worth your time if you live in a poor country. The fraudsters would buy these accounts, and run software that would log in to each account in turn, click on all the adverts available, and then move on to the next account.

This type of click fraud does not directly benefit the fraudsters, but indirectly it gives them a massive advantage. By spending all of the money in their competitors' advertising budgets, they were then able to advertise themselves with no competition. The problem with this model is that click fraud was so widespread on Facebook that no one was getting valid clicks, and all the money was being wasted. This type of situation is bad for everyone involved - even Facebook, who profited from the adverts, had to give money back, and worst of all, they lost their credibility.

Facebook have now taken steps to combat click fraud, flagging up accounts that click too many adverts and disallowing their clicks. Unfortunately, the reality is that you cannot rely on companies like Facebook to stop the problem. Using ad trackers with proven click fraud protection is the only way to be sure that you are protected against click fraud.

AdWatcher	9.3
HitsLink	6.4
HyperTracker	6.4
WhosClickingWho	6.4
DynaTracker	6.2
ConversionRuler	6.3
AdTrackz	5.9
AdMinder	5.1
ROIWiz	5
ClickAlyzer	1.6
ProAnalyzer	0