Q4 2009 Click Fraud Rate is Down. Or up. Depends.
Today we released our quarterly statistics regarding the rate of click fraud for Q4 2009, which came in at 15.3%. We first began publishing industry data over four years ago, in 2006, which means we can now look at the trend for the same quarter over the past four years. The fourth calendar quarter has traditionally been the annual high, and this year is no different. 15.3% is higher than any of the three previous quarters. Like Willie Sutton who robbed banks because “that’s where the money is,” fraudsters find the increased search traffic during the Q4 holiday season to be a prime opportunity for illicit gain.
What’s different this year is that the trend of click fraud increasing annually, which we’ve observed for the past three years, has stopped. For the first time, the Q4 click fraud rate has declined from 2008 to 2009. Given that Q4 2008 was the highest click fraud rate we’ve ever reported, this isn’t too surprising. But it’s still good news for the industry. Even as fraud schemes become increasingly sophisticated with the advent of spyware, malware, adware, and botnets, the industry’s efforts to thwart fraud and protect advertisers seem to be working. By the way, when I say “the industry,” I’m including the major search engines themselves. Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft all have active traffic quality programs in place to keep one step ahead of these new sources and methods of fraud.
Unfortunately, not every ad network, publisher, and advertiser can afford to build a team of PhD’s to constantly monitor and fight the problem. That’s why we’re here.
Tags: Click Fraud