Attempted Click Fraud Rates of 23% in Q2 of 2009
Anchor Intelligence, the leading provider of traffic quality solutions, today released its first report chronicling traffic quality across the Anchor Intelligence network of search engines, ad networks, publishers, and advertisers. In the first and second quarters of 2009, the Anchor Intelligence network saw 21.7% and 22.9% average attempted click fraud rates respectively, demonstrating that click fraud remains a serious concern for the online advertising industry. Anchor customers using theClearMark system are able to identify these fraudulent clicks as they happen and prevent them from impacting spend.
ClearMark, Anchor’s real-time traffic scoring system, classifies traffic according to quality, differentiating invalid traffic from valid traffic. Additionally, ClearMark distinguishes between attempted click fraud – clicks or impressions generated with malicious intent, for which advertisers have not necessarily been billed – and other invalid traffic, such as double clicks, traffic from self-identified robots, and internal clicks. Based on Anchor’s analysis of data from customers, the average invalid rate for Anchor customers fell slightly from 27.9% in Q1 to 27.1% in Q2. The Q1 invalid rate was comprised of a 21.7% average attempted click fraud rate and a 6.2% other invalid rate. In Q2, the average attempted click fraud rate increased to 22.9% and the other invalid rate declined to 4.2%.
“As we demonstrated in our ‘Click Fraud Glossary,’ Anchor Intelligence makes a clear distinction between invalid traffic and attempted click fraud to help drive clarity to these often misused terms,” said Ken Miller, CEO of Anchor Intelligence. “Moreover, we hope to help advertisers understand the importance of advertising with ad networks and search engines that partner with third-parties to certify their traffic quality. By scoring all inbound ad traffic for our customers in real-time, we ensure that the online advertising channel performs better for all parties involved.”
In addition to the network-level rates, Anchor Intelligence also reported traffic quality rates for the top 30 countries by traffic volume. The countries with the highest attempted click fraud rates were Vietnam (48.3%), Canada (27.7%), and the U.S. (25.6%). Many lower volume countries experienced much higher attempted click fraud rates.
Anchor Intelligence works with companies such as Ask.com, Burst Media, and LookSmart to manage traffic quality and optimize advertiser ROI. Anchor collects ROI information and uses best-of-breed network security intelligence from across the web, including a private network of spam traps, honeypots, and stealth servers. The ClearMark traffic quality system leverages this diverse intelligence to identify traffic with a high propensity to convert and catch traffic from suspicious entities. Armed with this information, online ad providers can protect advertisers and partners from click fraud, align the right traffic with the right advertisers, and ultimately improve advertiser ROI through improved performance.
“Anchor has scored traffic quality for some of the most successful companies on the web, and has established a track record for rigorous analytics,” said Eric Peterson, CEO at Web Analytics Demystified, Inc.
The “Anchor Intelligence Traffic Quality Report” builds on the “Anchor Intelligence Click Fraud Glossary,” which was recently released as a cross-industry effort to establish standards and facilitate constructive dialogue around issues of click fraud and traffic quality. The first “Anchor Intelligence Traffic Quality Report” installment is available to qualified ad networks and members of the online advertising industry. For more information, click here: http://www.anchorintelligence.com/anchor/resources/category/traffic_quality_report/.
Tags: adsense, fraud, google_adsense, pay per click, PPC
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