WebProNews

The lively and attention-getting click fraud session at SES San Jose has been split in half, as the four major search engines will not share a stage with third-party marketers and click analysis firms. Perhaps Yahoo's click fraud czar Reggie Davis felt The Fear after hearing about previous click fraud sessions at the Search Engine Strategies conferences. Or maybe Microsoft is shielding David Jakubowski in a motherly embrace.

Or could Shuman Ghosemajumder be choosing not to throw down with the tag team of Click Forensics president Tom Cuthbert and Alchemist Media's Jessie Stricchiola as he did in a memorable SES San Jose 2006 session on click fraud.

Shuman impresses me as a bare-knuckles kind of brawler; I can't see him backing down. I'd be very disappointed in our friends at Ask if they're keeping search marketing director of product management Paul Vallez away from the scrappy third-party folks.

Whatever the reason, (Chris Sherman, feel free to comment), there will be two separate click fraud sessions on day two of SES San Jose. They occur consecutively, so people can attend both.

I worry that attendees won't get a first-hand look at the dynamic between the two sides, the search engines and the companies that try to divine their real operations on behalf of search advertising customers.

Both market segments will be able to present their views, but without the sizzling interplay of last year's edition. It's a disappointing change, but I expect the marketers and analysis presenters will prep their attendees with questions to ask of the search engine pros coming on in the session following theirs.