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If you have not yet discovered Craigslist dot org, then you may be missing out on one of the best, free advertising resources out there.

Craigslist is ranked the 41st largest in the world by Alexa. This means that millions of people visit this website every month. Classifieds stay posted on Craigslist for 45 days, plus these classified ads sometimes find their way into Google search results!

Posting ads on Craigslist regularly can be a great help in getting your website indexed and drive traffic to your website.

Follow these simple rules and you can drive traffic to your site regularly.

1. Do not post multiple times in the same category or the wrong category.

2. Do not post to multiple cites.

3. Do not post too many ads too quickly.

4. If you post multiple ads, use different titles for each ad and modify the body. If possible try and change any links to your site within the ads.

5. Opportunity type ads are only accepted under small business services.

6. Another suggestion is to use different email addresses for each ad. If you have your own domain this should not be a problem. Just use different prefixes for your domain and you will then be able to approve each posting confirmation email.

7. Post only a few ads a day, then wait a few more days to continue. This will drive traffic to your site and prevent you from getting banned. I am Not suggesting that you spam Craigslist. They have many safeguards in place to prevent spamming, but why not take advantage of what they do allow?

If you follow these tips your website will get indexed quickly which could help it move up in the rankings. Just remember that your IP address can be blocked by Craigslist if you do not follow the rules.

What is the best way to use Craigslist effectively?

1. Target your audience.

Know who you are trying to attract to your business! Once you do know your target audience you can then aim to reach that audience by posting in the correct advertising category on Craigslist. Even though Craigslist claims to have over 4 billion hits a month, what really matters is that your business is in the right place to be found by the right people.

Reaching your target audience is much more important then reaching a large audience. Craigslist offers advertisers the opportunity to promote their business through a number of different sections and categories. This makes it easier for people to find the information they need, which should be your information!

2. Marketing strategy.

Not only can you drive traffic to your website by placing ads in Craigslist but you can also participate in the discussion forums. Just make sure you provide useful information and accurate answers to questions relating to your business. Do not forget to place a link to your website in your signature and be careful when posting that your messages are not mistaken for spam.

Creating a successful online business costs money and advertising it does not have to cost you more. Take advantage of Craigslist and other similar websites that are free for you to use.

Here are some other free advertising resources that can be used to promote your online business.

- Trade-pals dot com is a directory of business professionals that provides leads to its members.

- MySpace dot com can be used to join in on business group discussions.

- Ziggs dot com gives you a detailed profile that is placed into categories that can be searched on by people seeking your services.

- Pr dot com is a press release website.

- Linkedin dot com is a business networking site.

It is worth your time to take advantage of these free services.

Why not let them provide free advertising for your business 24 hours a day?

Author:  Joe Rispoli has been gathering free online marketing resources for over 10 years. They can be found at his website UcanTo.com where you can also subscribe to his Free Advertising Resources Ezine which includes Free Email Marketing Software.

Imagine you had to describe your company in just three words. Now write those three words down and ask your clients the same question. The likelihood is that the words and phrases used will be different.

An existing or potential client will get straight to the point, keeping phrasing simple and using popular brand names rather than trade monikers or actual product descriptions. As an expert in the field, technical terms and trade references will feature heavily in the company list. Choosing appropriate keywords for your pay per click campaign should be a seamless blend of these two points of view.
Along with good advert text, keyword selection is the cornerstone of any successful online advertising campaign. As a rule of thumb, keywords contained with the account should be revisited on a regular basis. Afterall, what is popular one week may not be popular the next. Seasonal changes, market saturation and competitor activities will all take their toll. When this happens, keywords will need to be paused, added to or amended depending on client and sales figure feedback.
The first step towards a concise collection of words and phrases is to review web site content and draw up a list of words and phrases which best describe the business. Include products, services and any brand names which you supply. This brainstorming process can be complemented by a customer survey. How do they describe their recent purchases?
Unfortunately, most of these hard won phrases should be disregarded as you proceed to step two. Why waste valuable pay per click pennies on phrases that don’t do your web site justice? Being ruthless and activating only the most relevant keywords will help to prolong a small pay per click budget and is an important traffic targeting technique.
Once satisfied with the list, group the words and phrases into small collections. Not only does this make it easier to monitor performance and quickly see which keywords aren’t pulling their weight, it contributes towards a strong Google quality score.

If the search portal sees large groups of unrelated offerings, some of which perform well and others poorly, it will penalise the campaign as a whole. Get it right and you’ll get Google quality score points, leading to a lower cost per click and a better search position.
Having created a slew of words and phrases most relevant to the site being advertised, play around with the category of keyword. Google allows you to use either broad, exact, phrase or negative matches.

When your keyword is broad-matched, it will trigger your ad whenever that keyword or similar term appears in a user’s query. This means that your ad will still appear even if other words are included in the query. Broad matched keywords also don’t distinguish between plural and singular search terms so your ad will be shown regardless of the syntax used by the searcher. If for example your broad match keyword is book, users typing in terms such as used book or latest books will be shown your advert.

For precise keyword targeting, it’s worth using an exact match or phrase match. Use exact matches when you want your ad to appear only on a query that precisely matches the keyword you have chosen. With an exact match, your ad won’t appear for search queries that include extra words or letters or for queries that don’t match the sequence of terms specified in your campaign.

A phrase match works in a similar vein, triggering your ad for any search query that includes your keyword or phrase in the exact sequence and form that you specify.

Even after you’ve selected your keywords, set up ad groups and introduced keyword matching, the job still isn’t done. Good pay per click campaigns need constant care and attention to perform at their best. That means assessing keyword performance and acting accordingly at regular intervals. If time constraints rear their head but you still want to have a pay per click presence, consider enlisting professional help or downsizing the campaign until more man power is available.

Author:  Daniel Jupp is the founder and managing director of pay per click consultancy, Top Position. For more information and to request a free 30 day management trial, visit www.topposition.co.uk

Advertising is all about telling your marketing story: a story that your audience can relate to, so that it builds confidence and credibility in your ability to deliver your product or service.

A well-crafted business story invites your audience to open a dialogue with you, a line of communication that will ultimately lead to a customer and sale for you, and a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment for your new client.

Effective marketing stories are about universal truths and primal needs; they provide a cathartic emotional experience for your audience. There is no point in spending a lot of monëy on advertising until you have identified that fundamental change your product or service provides to your audience.

Once you have isolated that hidden quality in what you do, you can then develop a video, audio, or print campaign that delivers your message in a memorable, meaningful manner that audiences will respond to.

There are only so many stories you can tell and the art of advertising, or corporate storytelling, is the ability to present that story in fresh new ways.

How Many Marketing Stories Are There?

An acquaintance of mine once pitched a Hollywood studio executive on a movie idea and was turned down flat. The executive told this fellow, “there are only seven movies and yours isn’t one of them.” When I first heard this I was appalled at the lack of imagination from someone in a creative business, but when you think about it, what financial backer is going to invest tens of millions of dollars in something that nobody knows anything about, certainly not the people financing movies. And when it comes to advertising the circumstances are the same; if you’re paying the shot, you at least want a fighting change at success.

Where’s Your Product On The Hierarchy of Needs

There are some disagreements as to what these seven stories are, and if there are really only seven. This magic number seven is interesting as it coincides with noted psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow identified seven basic human motivations that guide peoples’ conduct: physical needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and self-actualization needs.

Develop a marketing campaign consisting of stories that satisfy one of these motivational triggers and you have a campaign that your audience will respond to and consider relevant.

Blake Snyder’s Ten Story Scenarios

Not everyone limits the number of prime stories to seven, Blake Snyder, professional screenwriter and author of “Save The Cat,’ says there are ten. Snyder approaches the problem with a more flamboyant flair than Maslow, but still based on fundamental emotional and psychological criteria.

Snyder’s ten basic story scenarios are: Monster In the House, Dude With a Problem, Fool Triumphant, Superhero, Buddy Love, Out Of a Bottle, Institution, Golden Fleece, Rights-of-Passage, and Whydunit. This is all very interesting but does it help you develop an advertising campaign that delivers your marketing message?

If we look at Snyder’s list of ten story scenarios and relate them to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs we can see how you can develop a marketing story that can be delivered on a website with a Web-video marketing campaign that will be remembered by your audience, and will likely generate an increased interest in your company.

Physical Needs - “Dude With a Problem”

Before people can concern themselves with intellectual or spiritual matters, they must first satisfy their physical needs: water, food, shelter, and procreation. If individuals cannot satisfy these basic needs they have a problem, hence your marketing story can be delivered using the tried and true “Dude With A Problem” scenario.

If you are in the business of selling bottled water, packaged food, physical fitness, real estate, or vitamins you are supplying your audience with a solution to one of life’s most basic needs.

Safety Needs - “Monster In The House”

The need to be safe, to protect your family and yourself from harm, is fundamental to how people behave and what they deem important. The marketing of products and services that fulfill safety needs requires the audience understand the dangers that your product or service is designed to eliminate.

The “Monster In The House” scenario is your standard monster movie featuring some scary, frightening entity. This kind of scenario is based on our need to secure a safe and secure environment and life-style.

From a marketing perspective this approach is how you sell insurance, tires, health care products, alarm systems, or anything that protects you and yours from harm. Instead of some imaginary boogeyman or alien, your monster is disease, fire, accidents and crime.

If your product protects, then it can be sold by showing how it safeguards your audience from the “Monster In The House.”

Social Needs - “Buddy Love” & “Rights-of-Passage”

We are social animals, we live in communities, we förm family units, and we crave meaningful relationships with others. These types of basic needs are played out in scenarios that are commonly referred to as buddy and rights-of-passage movies.

If you run a dating service, nightclub, restaurant, or bar, or if you sell products like beer or wine that involve social gatherings and interaction, then you can use the buddy movie scenario to tell your story.

If you sell products that clear-up acne or solve other kinds of teen related problems relating to becoming an adult, then perhaps the rights-of-passage scenario is the story to tell.

Self-esteem Needs - “Fool Triumphant” & “Superhero”

We all need to feel good about ourselves. If you sell a product that allows people to overcome some insecurity then you have a sure-fire hit if you tell your story in a convincing, compelling fashion.

The “Fool Triumphant” scenario delivers the message that no matter what your short-comings you to can be a wínner. The “Superhero” tale tells the story of ordinary people who have been transformed into extraordinary achievers through some incident or action. In either case, if your product or service supplies that conversion from loser to wínner then that’s the story you want to tell.

Prime examples of businesses that could use these storytelling scenarios are exercise equipment suppliers, nutritional supplement companies, and self-help and motivational product and service businesses.

Cognitive Needs - Institution

The “Institution” scenario is the story of ‘Everyman’ versus ‘Big Brother:’ how we cope, or don’t cope, with the demands of a complex society where we are worn down by bureaucracy, incompetence, and arbitrary rules and red tape.

Dealing with Big Brother, the government, or large oligopoly businesses can be traumatic and in some cases seemingly impossible. Telling this story is the bread and butter issue for companies that provide solutions to dealing with ‘The Institution.’

Whatever the rules were yesterday you can be sure that they’ll be different tomorrow. The skills you learned in school or on the job are no longer in demand, no longer relevant, and no longer work. Whether you’re a homemaker, entrepreneur, accountant, or doctor, you have to keep pace with changing technology, and an ever increasing demand to know just about everything.

Knowing what you need to know in order to compete, comply, and to accomplish in a world dominated by remote, faceless institutions governed and managed by petty officials is a significant impediment to success.

As a result, products and services like private schools, self-help programs, and books and DVDs for self-confessed nincompoops can be sold by delivering a message that solves the “Institution” scenario.

Aesthetic Needs - “Out Of A Bottle”

Once we have satisfied our more basic needs, our desires move on to more aesthetic concerns. We all want to feel good and one of the best ways to feel good is to look good.

The “Out Of A Bottle” scenario provides the marketing message for cosmetic, beauty and health care products and services, weíght loss and exercise products and programs, or any aesthetic issue that can be resolved with a pill, potion, or patch.

Self-actualization - “Golden Fleece” & “WhyDunit”

In an affluent society the basic needs of most people are for the most part available, but affluence doesn’t mean happy. People need more than food, shelter, companionship, and a small waistline. They need to be the best they can be and they need to find some meaning in their lives.

The “Golden Fleece” scenario is about the search for personal recovery, while the “WhyDunit” story is about the search for insight and meaning. These approaches are similar, but one deals with personal salvation, while the other deals with more metaphysical concerns.

Self help and motivational businesses can deliver their messages using the “Golden Fleece” perspective, while religious and charitable institutions can deliver their message through the “WhyDunit” approach.

Conclusion

There is more money wasted on bad advertising than on any other business function. The reason is we try to apply rational, factual, and statistical criteria to a fundamentally emotional and psychological hierarchy of needs. Determine the appropriate need your product or services fulfills, apply a suitable storyline to its presentation, and your audience will sit-up and take notice.

Author:  Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, www.136words.com and www.sonicpersonality.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.

David Gent queries the hype surrounding the advance of online advertising in the UK

Advertising spend on the internet has now overtaken that on radio, we are told, and it won’t be long before it leaves behind national press, then television as the nation’s favourite marketing medium. If we are to believe the hype, and hype there certainly is, we’ll soon be spending more time online than watching TV, ‘silver surfers’ are eschewing traditional retirement activities like gardening for the web, and the only media predicted to grow their audiences in the near future are the internet and, somewhat unaccountably, radio.
When you realise that last finding comes from an online poll amongst heavy internet users and radio listeners by advertising bodies with vested interests, that the Office of National Statistics reports this month that there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm amongst the over 65’s for internet usage (just 15%), and that reliable sources such as the Government, BARB, the BBC and the IPA all report that TV is still our most popular leisure pursuit, watching an average 4 hours per day, then you might conclude these flattering online figures are somewhat skewed. As one American pundit observes ‘People don’t believe all the hype, they just go home and watch television, as always’.
Nevertheless, the national press, busily polishing up their online versions, and the broadcast news seem willing to accept such statistics without applying normal journalistic standards, reporting excitedly on the next advance of the internet and recording that ‘millions of people’ are watching a webcam of cheeses ripening online (as if). Frightened of missing out on ‘the next big thing’ and searching as always for a marketing magic bullet, many board directors are investing heavily in their internet presence, transferring budgets from offline to online without necessarily applying the same rigorous ROI measures and neglecting proven media channels in favour of sexy new technology.
Then when the web doesn’t prove as self-sustaining and business-building as hoped, they blame this on their own lack of technical knowledge, feeling that if everyone else makes it work, why can’t they? They overlook, perhaps, the fact that there are already more than 110 million websites in the UK alone, with a further 10 million going online annually, and that the average well-travelled web page looks like a racing driver’s overalls, with its confusing mix of pop-ups, banner ads and video streams. So you have to accept this is an extremely competitive channel of communication, where you cannot simply ‘set out your stall’, pay for some click-through advertising and wait for the world to beat a path to your electronic doorway. You need to throw something else into the media mix to make your online investment work. Why else, despite their ubiquitous web presence, would Google and eBay choose to advertise on TV, if not to drive traffic that they cannot generate solely online?
A central shortcoming of online marketing is the lack of agreed, universal and independently- audited web traffic measures. With direct mail you have postcode data and CPR metrics, with press and radio there are regularly-updated circulation and listenership figures, whilst the independent BARB TV panel not only provides reliable ratings for programming, it also measures viewers for every single advertising spot, a unique capability. On the other hand, take website ‘hits’, the term universally used by the popular press and web amateurs everywhere. For years, I suspect web designers, engineers and masters have been sniggering behind our backs, because they know a web ‘hit’ simply describes a single request for a server to send a file and that every element on a web page (text, graphics, images, sound) generates yet another hit. Which means that your newly redeveloped home page, with its extra content and features, will instantly trigger ten or twenty times more hits, without necessarily attracting a single extra visitor (although your web designer probably won’t reveal that).
The number of unique site visitors and page impressions are more useful measures, although these can be exaggerated by search engine robots checking out your site (there are hundreds apparently), users who land on a page then leave immediately, as well as people and computers that generate fraudulent and invalid clicks for various nefarious reasons. In fact, ‘click fraud’ is already such a concern in the States, reportedly costing online advertisers up to $800 million annually, that almost a third have already decreased their online spend, with a further ten per cent planning to do so unless search-ad publishers can arrive at a proper solution. Moreover, at a recent search engine strategy conference, participants reported experiencing fraudulent click rates of 20-40%, threatening the entire paid search industry, although Google insists invalid clicks remain below 10 per cent. The obvious solution is for independent auditors, with no motif for under or over valuing click fraud rates, to provide an audience measurement system, just like BARB, RAJAR and ABC in fact.

That aside, the £2 billion online adspend attributed to the UK market seems, to an old marketing man like me, to be predominantly below-the-line, much like direct mail and sales promotions, with search advertising accounting for a massive 58%, three quarters of that on Google. Nielsen research suggests the top 100 online advertisers actually spent some £260 million on display ads only, excluding search and affiliate marketing and website building costs, although the IAB puts this higher at £450 million. Whatever, it is salutary to note that the internet’s biggest presence, YouTube, which attracts 133.5 million visitors worldwide, only sold around $15 million of advertising last year, putting ITV’s UK-only ad revenue of £1.3 billion into some context.

Then there is the question of whether the internet is a marketing medium at all, but an enabling technology, like printing, broadcasting or telephony. Just as you wouldn’t attribute every telephone call your business receives to the Yellow Pages, it’s shortsighted to allocate every website hit to your online marketing strategy. Every marketing tool you use, be it sales leaflets, PR, e-shots, press ads or TV commercials, will undoubtedly feature your corporate web address for channelling further enquiries and it’s vital to set up systems for identifying the source of online traffic, to determine whether it’s click-through activity, brand name searching, online magazines and directories, or just keying in your url. Otherwise, the online cost-per-response metrics are going to be unduly favourable, just like bus backs are often disproportionately mentioned in customer surveys, simply because they were the last ads seen on the journey to the shops. Using coded ‘landing page’ domains like .com/tv or .co.uk/radio is one solution, although human nature being what it is, most people will just enter the standard web address and not the all-important suffix; there are, however, tracking systems that provide more sophisticated web visitor data than your standard server log, which means the tools are available for more rigorous ROI analysis, should you choose.
If all this suggests that I am something of a techno-luddite, trying to hold back the inevitable online tide, then I’m not. We have had a web presence since the earliest days, when newcomers to the net used to wave to each other, and since then have invested, with a greater or lesser degree of success, in trickier graphics, new websites, search engine optimisation, online directories (don’t ask), paid search, a blog site, e-shots, even banner ads, but not yet pop-ups or video streaming (perhaps a bit too much for B2B). It’s just that I find the unremitting hype and hoopla surrounding the online advertising industry a little too self-serving; if you don’t believe me, search for ‘online adspend’ (Did you mean online ad spend?) on Google and you’ll find pages and pages of the stuff.

There’s no doubt, the internet is a valuable marketing channel, among its many other attributes, but building a brand, even an online-only brand, on the web alone is a costly and I suspect frustrating experience, because so often it doesn’t work. The golden rule is to ensure consumers or trade customers will recognise your brand name from the offline world, so that you have standout from the competition, which means paying equal attention to less glamorous, yet well-honed marketing techniques, be they trade PR and press ads, direct marketing, radio and TV advertising, even good old exhibitions. Get the offline and online marketing mix right and you’re talking! (Postscript: Google has just announced a deal in the US, designed to encourage its online clients to advertise on radio as well. Great minds eh?)
Author:  David Gent is MD of advertising agency David Gent Creative, telephone 01706 220388, www.davidgent.com

The controversy surrounding click fraud comes up every year, but it reached a fever pitch during December’s Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago when participants voiced concerns over experiencing fraudulent click rates ranging from 20 to 40 percent, threatening the entire paid search industry.

At the time, Google’s Business Product Manager for Trust and Safety Shuman Ghosemajumder tried to calm advertisers’ fears explaining that Google was currently “…examining ways to make its fraud-fighting efforts more transparent without revealing crucial information that might help swindlers elude detection.” Ghosemajumder did, however, express concerns over revealing too much information, fearful it would give away algorithm secrets to competitors.

Paid Search Revenues Continue to Rise

While the major search providers have always insisted the clíck fraud rate is a gross overestimation, a 2005 Outsell survey found that clíck fraud was a $1.3 billion problem for publishers. At the time, many advertiser respondents (27 percent) said they planned to cut back and/or eliminate paid search campaigns in 2006.

Outsell respondents may have intended to cut down on paid search, but they certainly didn’t follow through. SEMPO’s year-end search marketing report showed that North American advertisers spent $8 billion on paid placement programs in 2006, amounting to 86 percent of 2006’s total search spend ($9.4 billion). Seventy-one percent of SEMPO respondents said they used paid search campaigns, illustrating that there were not many defectors.

Despite advertisers’ insistent claims that the search engines don’t do enough to eliminate clíck fraud, paid search revenues continue to fill the coffers of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and many second and third tier search engines. Additionally, there is a huge gap in the professed prevalence of clíck fraud between the search providers and the advertisers and clíck fraud advocates.

Google Click Fraud Estimates

The rate of clíck fraud changes depending on whose numbers you believe. Clíck fraud detection agencies put the clíck fraud rate hovering around 14 percent, while others believe at least 20 percent of all clicks are fraudulent.

Late last month, Google issued a statement on the Inside AdWords blog that insisted invalid clicks consistently remain under 10, typically in the single-digits, and that virtually all malicious activity is found by Google’s filter. Ghosemajumder claimed the percentage of clicks found by advertiser-initiated investigations account for just .02 percent of clicks. All other accounts, he said, are grossly overestimated.

Alchemist Media President Jessie Stricchiola takes issue with Google’s assertion that it refunds advertisers promptly for fraudulent clicks, stating that “Google has been the most stubborn and the least willing to cooperate with advertisers”.

Google Click Fraud Filters

In February, Google outlined the three-layer filtration process it uses to combat and eliminate clíck fraud. They described the system which uses both proactive and reactive filters as follows:

1. Proactive Filters: Automated algorithms analyze and filter out invalid clicks in real-time without billing advertisers for these false clicks. This accounts for the vast majority of invalid click detection.

2. Proactive Offline Analysis: Post billing, Google uses automated and manual analysis to identify fraudulent clicks that somehow made it through the first layer of filtration. Special attention is paid to clicks occurring on the AdSense network. This is done pro-actively and without any involvement from advertisers. When false clicks are found, advertisers’ accounts are immediately credited via Clíck Quality Adjustments.

3. Reactive Investigations: Investigations take place when an advertiser approaches Google concerned about suspicious activity on their account. Each complaint is investigated, though Google says refunds are relatively rare. Google claims that the vast majority of fraudulent clicks, more than 99 percent, are found and thrown out within the first two stages of filtration. The third stage only includes the .02 percent of clicks where advertisers are affected by undetected cases of clíck fraud.Click Fraud Detection Agency Estimates

In April 2006, The Click Fraud Index reported an industry-wide average clíck fraud rate of 13.7 percent. The clíck fraud rate was broken down as follows:

• Tier 1 search providers — 12.1 percent
• Tier 2 search providers — 21.3 percent
• Tier 3 search providers — 29.8 percent

Some of the newer click fraud prevention firms like Click Assurance and ClickLab offër algorithm-based programs to limit bad clicks. These programs estimate the statistical likelihood of a clíck being fraudulent based on behavioral variables and IP address.

Gap in Prevalence of Click Fraud

As noted above, Google admits to a less than 10 percent click fraud rate, while advertisers and clíck fraud detection agencies believe it is more like 14 to 20 percent. Ghosemajumder explained this gap saying that many advertisers and clíck fraud detection agencies are looking at the wrong signals, mistakenly classifying valid clicks as fraudulent. Additionally, he believes many advertisers request refunds for clicks already thrown out during the first two layers of the filtration system.

For example, misclassification might occur when counting reloads of an advertiser’s landing page. Say the customer clicks through to the landing page, views a product page, and then hits the back button, returning to the same landing page. Without proper tagging, that one clíck and five page re-loads could be misclassified as 6 clicks from the same visitor. Google argues that there are hundreds of different signals that must be monitored to detect clíck fraud, signals that are a closely guarded company secrët and known only to the Google clíck quality team.

A Solution for Click Fraud

Like other experts, we believe the only solution to clíck fraud is for independent auditors to evaluate the system using accurate data provided by the search engines and advertisers themselves. It is the only way to get a neutral calculation — the current clíck fraud detection agencies may not be entirely neutral, and certainly the search providers are not neutral. We need an independent agency that has no incentive to íncrease or decrease the clíck fraud rate. One solution could be to use a technology firm like Fair Isaac, which is currently conducting clíck fraud research for SEMPO.

One thing is certain, until advertisers are willing to provide campaign info, and the search engines are willing to share clíck fraud data, we’ll nevër know the actual prevalence of clíck fraud or how much advertisers are losing as a result.

Author:  Nick Guastella, SEM Analyst and PPC expert at Bruce Clay, Inc., has been active in search engine marketing for the past six years. Nick has worked both sides of the PPC fence. He has insider knowledge gained from a stint starting in 2000 at GoTo/Overture, the original Pay Per Clíck advertising pioneer. He then crossed over as Account manager for ValueClick.com.