Click Fraud In The Future

Based on all of the trend information available, it seems that pay per click advertising is here to stay – as a market it just seems to get bigger and bigger. The sad fact is that if PPC stays then click fraud will stay. It just isn't possible to eradicate click fraud completely. The best that we can hope for is to manage the problem so that it is a difficult crime to commit, and one that carries serious consequences and penalties. So how will click fraud change in the future?

The Actions Of The Search Engines

The search engines and other advertising networks are starting to work more closely with the advertisers themselves, which can only profit the advertising industry as a whole. What we need is a standard format for the data that can be used to identify suspicious or potentially invalid clicks. This allows for much more transparency between the two parties, so that advertisers can understand the actions that the search engines are taking and why. The search engines will never publicly reveal the exact algorithms that they are using to stop click fraud, because it gives the criminals the opportunity to study the system for loopholes. However, they can respond to pressure to co-operate and communicate more with their advertising partners.

Ad Trackers

Ad trackers are the most sensible party to police the system, and they will surely become even more widespread than they currently are. They will become, as they should be, the industry standard, and any PPC advertiser will be expected to use ad tracking software. The bulk of the work undertaken to combat click fraud is now starting to come from the ad trackers rather than the search engines, and there is no reason why this trend shouldn't continue. PPC tracking software is trusted by the advertising community, and in the future all ad tracking software should use click fraud protection.

Legal Issues

The problem with bringing large numbers of fraudsters to justice is that there is no clear and well thought out definition of click fraud. The definitions used are simply working definitions – they are not airtight enough to be used in a court of law. If we truly want to penalize these criminals to the full extent of the law, then we need, as an industry, to find a definition that covers everything. Once a good definition has been found, the next step is to draw lines of responsibility.

The search engines and other advertising networks are clearly responsible for taking some action against click fraud, but are they responsible for any type of click fraud that is committed through their adverts? Search engines cannot always be one step ahead of the criminals, so what actions should they take when they have been caught out?

All of these questions need to be answered clearly, so that we can establish a legal framework to work within. Once that is in place, click fraud can be heavily penalized as a deterrent to others. This is the most effective way to cut down the number of fraudsters.

We know that PPC will change again in the future, as it always has in the past, and we know that click fraud will adapt to that. By taking the right steps now, we can protect ourselves in the future.

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