That some people resort to fraudulent clicks on websites is a known fact. Google runs the biggest ads program, AdSense, for running ads on the websites and PPC (pay per click) is the biggest constituent of AdSense. It is widely believed that Google has sophisticated techniques to detect a click fraud. But, sometimes, the fraudsters can outsmart such sophisticated techniques too. In the latest incident, it is reported that Anchor Intelligence has identified a click fraud ring being run out of China which involved 200,000 different IP addresses and racked up more than $3 million worth of fraudulent clicks across 2,000 advertisers in a two-week period. The fraud was detected before the said money was paid out, but one doesn’t know how long the ring was in operation before the said fraud was detected. It is not clear whether the said fraud involved Google AdSense or some other ad network.
Whenever there are reports of such frauds getting detected, voices are raised for alternative methods. In this case also, there are some voices raised about the said PPC model not being a perfect model. My take is that no system is ever perfect. Frauds will always take place in every walk of life, even in religion and there are always some people who will commit frauds against the God too. But that does not mean that people will shun everything including religion. You cannot throw everything into recycle-bin or dust-bin just because a fraud has been detected. In a similar manner, detection of a fraud will not mean death of the PPC model, even if the fraud has been a well-organized fraud. Of course, it does raise a need to be cautious.
Once has to consider two issues here:
(1) How to improve the fraud-detection techniques further?
(2) Is there a better model available to replace PPC?
Whatever other models of advertising on the Internet are available, have similar potential for frauds or in some other ways those models are not effective either for the publishers (website owners) or the advertisers or for both. So, there is no chance for replacement of the PPC model for the time being at least, until some alternative system could be invented which is better or which is fully reliable.
It is also worth mentioning that Internet as a media is developing really fast, and it may even be at the cost of other media such as newspapers. Moreover, you cannot wish away advertising, though the methods of placing ads will change from time to time. Therefore, ads on the web will keep appearing, the only question is in what form. PPC may not be the perfect model, but other models such as PPA (pay per action) or CPM (cost per 1000 impressions), etc., also have their own problems. Therefore, until some better model is found, the need perhaps is to improve fraud-detection techniques and also the penalize the persons committing such frauds.
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