Google's Click Fraud Rate Under 2%

I just finished reading an interesting article at Marketing Pilgrim that discussed Google, click fraud, and the company becoming more transparent. The article was very in depth and went as far as to break down the click fraud filters, and a diagram of how much click fraud makes it through to advertisers.

The is no standardized definition of a valid or invalid click but Google's definition is that a valid click is one an advertiser pays for and an invalid click, through deduction, is not. Google has further broken down invalid clicks into invalid clicks and click fraud. Invalid clicks occur when a reader clicks an ad more than once unintentionally. Click fraud is the intentional clicking of an add to profit from the clicks.

Google has stated that the number of invalid clicks is consistently in the single digits which likely means that the percentage of click fraud may reside around 1% or lower. Google utilizes 4 layers of Adsense filters, 2 automatic and 2 manual. The end result, after filtration, is a manually detected click fraud rate of a fraction of a percent. Google's system appears to finally be making its way "into the press" as much of the information about the program and click fraud has remained secret for some time.

Below is adiagram borrowed from Marketing Pilgrim used to outline Click Fraud filters used by Google.
Tags: blog, blogger, Google, Adsense, Adwords, Click fraud, fraud, advertising, online