WebProNews

Click Fraud Rate Declines In Q1

Click fraud declined in the first quarter of 2009 to 13.8 percent, according to Click Forensics' Click Fraud Index. That's down from the all-time high of 17.1 percent reported for the fourth quarter of 2008 and from the 16.3 percent rate reported for the first quarter of 2008.

Click Fraud Reaches Record Level

Click Forensics has released its latest figures on click fraud for the fourth quarter and says it has jumped to the highest level since 2006.The overall industry average click fraud rate grew 17.1 percent for the fourth quarter of 2008. That's up from 16.0 percent in Q3 2008 and from 16.6 percent for Q4 2007.The average click fraud rate of PPC ads appearing on search engine content networks, including Google AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, was 28.2 percent. That's up from 27.1 percent rate reported for Q3 2008 and down slightly from 28.3 percent for Q4 2007.

Yahoo Acknowledges Illicit Clicks Exist

The company has made its first ever disclosure on the clicks it discards, numbering between 12 and 15 percent of the ones it receives as either "invalid or of inferior quality.