TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: PPC Advertising, Click Fraud, and Its Effect on Search Engines

Re: PPC Advertising, Click Fraud, and Its Effect on Search Engines

Wesrock@aol.com
Sun, 17 Apr 2005 20:11:06 EDT

In a message dated Sat, 16 Apr 2005 21:18:34 +0000, Greg Skinner <
gds@best.com> writes:

> By now, many if not most of you have probably read, or at least heard,
> about the lawsuit filed against several search engines, accusing them
> of conspiring to overcharge for advertisements. More information
> here:

> http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?cat=USMARKET&src=704&feed=dji&
> section=news&news_id=dji-00001320050405&date=20050405&alias=/alias/money/cm/nw

> The WSJ recently featured a front-page story on the issue of click
> fraud as well.

> I have always been skeptical of the pay-per-click (PPC) method of
> charging for advertisements. I have always felt it was a poor
> business model, because of its susceptibility to fraud. I have never
> understood the search industry's fascination with PPC, especially
> since there are other methods of selling advertising, such as fixed
> fees, which provide no means (and thus, no incentive) to game the
> system by merely clicking on ads. Furthermore, the money that is
> spent both by the advertisers and publishers.

Per-inquiry advertising, that is, advertising that is charged for at a
rate per inquiry, goes back to the 18th century in newspapers and
magazines.

It migrated to radio when that medium became commercially viable, and
then to television.

Its further migration to the internet seems inevitable and
predictable.

Wes Leatherock
wesrock@aol.com
wleathus@yahoo.com

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