GOOGLE'S COMING CLEAN OVER CLICKS

 

By HOLLY M. SANDERS

July 27, 2006 -- Google wants to come clean on click fraud.

For the first time, the Internet search giant is disclosing to advertisers
the number of bogus clicks it detects but doesn't charge for.

Google hopes the disclosure will ease advertisers' concerns and blunt critics
who say the company isn't doing enough to address the problem. Advertisers have
sued the company, which is awaiting approval for a $90 million click-fraud
settlement that opponents say lets the company off too easy.

Click fraud poses a big risk to Google's $6 billion-a-year advertising
business, because advertisers can't be sure that someone is looking at their ad.

A company that buys an ad on Google or its partner sites pays each time
someone clicks on their advertised link.

Fraudsters undermine this system by repeatedly clicking on an ad or using a
computer program to do it. The fake clicks create bogus traffic and burn through
ad budgets.

Some analysts and critics believe click fraud is rampant - a recent report
said it accounts for more than 14 percent of all clicks - and that Google and
other search engines downplay the problem.

Google contends it does a good job of detecting fake clicks and that fears
are overblown. The company blames inflated estimates on firms that promise to
root out the problem and get refunds for advertisers.

"These reports have flawed methodologies," said Shuman Ghosemajumder,
Google's business product manager for trust and safety. "They also have a
financial incentive."

Whatever the reality, Google added to the debate by refusing to provide its
own figures, with the excuse that fraudsters could use the information to mount
further attacks.

Google said the new information it is releasing to advertisers will break out
the number of clicks it deems "invalid" on their regular statements. This
includes clicks that are accidents or arise from a few situations other than
fraud.

Because Google automatically excludes these clicks, many advertisers had
little or no idea how many bogus clicks the company was filtering out - until
now.

"Google and the other engines will need to build that trust back up," said
Kevin Lee, chief executive of search-marketing firm Did-It.com. "This is a step
in that direction." holly.sanders@nypost.com