The 11/25-12/1 edition of The Economist has a brief piece of click fraud. Some of their points:

• Internet advertising is a $27 billion business today and it should be $61 billion by 2010.  In 2001, it was just $9 billion.
• Click fraud comes up from two areas. First, advertising affiliates (read: the Google content network) create bogus clicks. Second, competitors click on your ads to exhaust your budget.
• What percentages of clicks are fraudulent? 10-50%, with an emphasis on the 10% range.
• Google and Yahoo are now taking the problem more seriously and both expect to have an independent auditing system by the middle of next year.
• One alternative to pay per click is pay per action.  The advertiser only pays on conversion.  This idea doesn’t have a lot of traction yet and, in fact, may be a non starter since it would link search engine compensation to factors outside of their control.

Great. So what can you do in the mean time?

My own strategy is simple. I never advertise on the content network (it never resulted in new customers for me, anyway) and, while my advertising is on I have a high enough daily budget that I’m sure I’m not going to run out. Oh, and I also track the IP addresses of visitors and complain loudly if I think someone is scamming me. Finally, I do some common sense things like add negative keywords for searches that Google sent my way even though they aren’t particularly useful.

Interestingly, having just done a search on Google, I can’t find anything which specifically says “Report Click Fraud” so I sent them a note asking how to do it. I’ll post their reply.

And, note to anyone from the Economist reading this: your leader on page 13 and your article on page 65 are so similar they’re practically redundant.  I expect better from you.

Here’s the latest in the Domain Registration / Search Engine Registration scams I’ve seen.  It comes from the Domain Listing Center in a Toronto, CA, suburb, with a terrifying subject line:

“Domain Notification: Your Name - YOURDOMAIN.COM This is your Final Notice of Domain Listing” 

Oh no!  My final notice?  No other chance?  C’mon.  Give me a break.

What you’re apparently buying is:

“ANNUAL WEBSlTE SEARCH ENGlNE SUBMISSlON
FROM  DECEMBER 1,2006 THRU DECEMBER 1,2007″

THIS IS A COMPLETELY POINTLESS SERVICE. DO NOT SIGN UP.
And, if you read the email, you’re agreeing to two things:

• an annual subscription
• “By accepting this offer, you agree not to hold DLC liable in any part.”

Here’s another for the scam department: a fax titled “URGENT NOTICE OF DOMAIN EXTENSION” that does it’s best to look official and legit. This one is trying to get me to register “FastWebUpdates.us” to go with my “FastWebUpdates.com”. I’m not really interested in doing that, thanks.

Short version: it’s safe for you to ignore this.

Longer version: some variant of this has been circulating around since at least 2004. The basic goal is just to scare you into registering the domain name. They are sometimes known as “Domain Registry Group” and “Domain Registry Support”. This particular fax I received this am invokes the name of Network Solutions as well.

Update: November 14, 2006

Recv’d another fax from them this AM title “FINAL NOTICE OF DOMAIN EXTENSION” with a reply deadline of today.

Still, nothing to worry about.  This is just fear marketing or, if I may be so bold, “fearketing“.

Just got a fax today from the Official Internet Registry & Optimazation Bureau touting their SEO services.  Now, the company may in fact provide SEO services, but there are several factors that lead me to believe they are just a scam.

1. Their name.  There is no official Internet website registration or oprtimation bureau.

2. They’re faxing blind, which I never trust in businesses, politicians or charities.

3. They offer no specific statement about what they provide.

4. They operate from a Panamanian registered website (.com.pa) and offer only a Private Mailbox Style address.

5. They offer a once annually service.  SEO is a constant requirement, not a once a year event.

The sad part is that someone out there will probably sign up for the service hoping for a magic cure to their Internet woes.  When they do, they’ll be out $600+.  A quick search around the web will find multiple reports of these shysters.

If you’re looking for SEO, talk to your web developer first.  Chances are they can help.