Click Forensics today released industry pay-per-click (PPC) fraud figures for the second quarter 2008 from its independent click fraud reporting service, the Click Fraud Index. According to data reported for Q2 2008, the overall industry average click fraud rate was 16.2%. That’s down slightly from the 16.3% rate reported for Q1 2008 and up from the 15.8% click fraud rate reported for Q2 2007. The average click fraud rate of PPC advertisements appearing on search engine content networks, including Google AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, was 27.6%. That’s down from the 27.8% rate reported for Q1 2008 and up from the 25.6% average click fraud rate reported for Q1 2007.
For the first time, traffic from botnets was responsible for more than 25% of all click fraud traffic in Q2 2008. In Q2 2008, the greatest percentage of click fraud originating from countries outside North America came from China (4.3%), Russia (3.5%), and France (3.2%).
Click Forensics found that the methods used to commit click fraud have become increasingly more sophisticated and difficult to detect. The threat from botnets is the biggest concern as they have grown to cause over one quarter of all click fraud. Online advertisers should be extra vigilant in watching for traffic from botnets in their search marketing campaigns.
From BIOSmagazine
