.... Thisled companies to develop policing technologies touted asantidotes to the problem. But some marketing executives estimatethat up to 50 percent of fees in certain advertising categoriescontinue to be based on non-existent consumers in today's searchindustry. Sam Fritsberg of ArticleDash.com states that the fraudhas reached proportions that would shatter Googles stock inhalf, overnight, were they more widely known."We continue to detect click fraud, especially with Google'...

...sAdwords and Adsense programs, and the numbers grow each andevery month." says Sam. "I wouldn't be suprised if many of theadvertiser horror stories are in fact true and there are peoplewho make thousands a week commiting pay per click fraud byclicking on the ads served on their own website for commission."adds Sam Fritsburg. In one recent example of the problem, law enforcement officialssay a California man created a software program that he claimedcould let spammers bilk Google out of millions of dollars infraudulent clicks. Authorities said he was arrested while tryingto blackmail Google for US$150,000 to hand over the program. Hewas indicted by a California jury in June. Matt Parrella, chief of the San Jose branch of the US Attorney'sOffice in Northern California, said that case was "not unique."The problem "is certainly not shrinking, and we're ready toprosecute people," said Parrella, whose office handled theGoogle case. Click fraud is perpetrated in both automated and human ways. Themost common method is the use of online robots, or "bots,"programmed to click on advertisers' links that are displayed onWeb sites or listed in search queries. A growing alternativeemploys low-cost workers who are hired in China, India and othercountries to click on text links and other ads. A third form offraud takes place when employees of companies click on rivals'ads to deplete their marketing budgets and skew search results."Click fraud not only is used to attack competition, but as arip off by publishers who click on their own ads, the ones beingserved up on their own websites, in an effort to stealadvertising dollars by the click", says Sam of ArticleDash.com."Our solution to this model is to offer webmasters free organicsearch engine optimization, but in a way that helps the netrather than promoting the current fraud Google is makingbillions from."Although the extent of click fraud is impossible to measure withany certainty, its persistence has exposed a fundamentalweakness in the promising business of Internet search marketing.Google is tight lipped and has declined to comment."It's hard to tell how big the problem is, but people arelooking at it closer and closer as the cost of searchadvertising goes up," said John Squire, vice president ofbusiness development of Coremetrics, a Web analytics firm."Click fraud is a fin sticking out of the water: You're not sureif it's a great white shark or a dolphin." Maybe ArticleDash ison to something here. Maybe organic is the way to go afterall.Unlike advertising in traditional media such as billboards andprint publications, "cost per click" Internet ads displayed withspecific keyword searches have been promoted as a definitive wayfor companies to gauge their exposure to potential customers. Asa result, US sales from advertiser-paid search results areexpected to grow 25 percent this year to $3.2 billion, up from$2.5 billion in 2003, according to research firm eMarketer. From2002 to 2003, the market rose by 175 percent. "As more advertisers have competed for desirable keywords intheir industries, the cost for clicks has risen too." Sam ofArticleDash.com continues, "On average, advertisers are paying45 cents per click this year, according to financial analysts,up from 40 cents in 2003 and 30 cents in the second quarter of2002. In certain sectors, such as travel, legal advice andgaming, the cost can reach several dollars per click." Theimplications are indeed disturbing. But marketing executives say click fraud is pervasive amongaffiliates of search leaders Google, Yahoo-owned OvertureServices and FindWhat.com. In a typical affiliation, any Webpublisher can become a partner of these large networks bydisplaying their paid links on a Web page or within its ownsearch results and then share in the profits with every click."A common practice is the use of proxies, where by trickingGoogle into thinking the click is originating from anothercomputer, possibly in another country, and the click fraudartist... more webmasters than you think.. walks away with ahandsome undeserved profit." says Sam. "There's a fatal flaw in the cost-per-click model because a tonof marketing dollars can be depleted in a fraction of a second,"said Jessie Stricchiola, president of Alchemist Media, asearch-engine marketing firm based in Los Angeles thatspecialises in fraud protection. "Technology is continuing to bedeveloped that can exploit this pricing model at incredibly highvolumes." Google's Answer Google declined an interview for this report,but the company said in a statement that it has been "the targetof individuals and entities using some of the most advanced spamtechniques for years. We have applied what we have learned withsearch to the click fraud problem and employ a dedicated teamand proprietary technology to analyse clicks." Many disagree,however, and claim that the pay per click indestry is doomed.Organic Optimization a la ArticleDash.com seems to be the nextbig thing, and at least this time the risk is limited and thefree upside results seems unlimited.