CheatingCulture

Recent Statistics Concerning Click Fraud

• Given its clandestine nature, click fraud is difficult to track, so statics must be taken with a grain of salt. Click Forensics claimed in 2009 that the rate was 12.7%, while, in the first three months of 2010 USA Today stated that anywhere from 17% to 29% of all online clicks were fraudulent. 

• Given time, intelligent criminals will only make their old tactics more efficient and lucrative. While ad companies are cracking down on basic forms of click fraud, Click Forensics reports that "public collusion fraud," a new, more sophisticated method, is slowly taking over for the old schemes. PCF occurs when online publishers use rotating IP-addresses or computer systems to click ads on their own sites in order to earn a profit from the advertiser, thus making it difficult for the advertising company to track who is clicking on the ads.

• Yahoo, the second largest player in the online ad revenue business world next to Google, teamed up with Click Forensics in 2008 in order to take on the single biggest problem facing the industry today.