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The Wall Street Journal ran an article today on pay-per-click fraud. The article estimates click-fraud to account for 5% of all the clicks. Many experts will disagree on the figure tough. Some, like Mark Cuban (owner of NBA Dallas Maverick) thinks “click fraud FAR exceeds what is being published by search companies.”

For the record, few days before the post, Mark posted another article on his blog, stating how expensive it is to advertise on traditional media like newspaper and magazines.

Last week, CNBC clickfraud video showed on Friday and over the weekend. They’re accusing Google of profiting from clickfraud to the tune of billions of dollars. The tagline? “70% of Annual Online Ad Spending Is Wasted Because of Click Fraud”. You can watch the video here.

The video is centred around Google’s click-fraud settlement next Monday. The settlement will see Google pay US$ 90 million to advertisers in form of AdWords credit. Google doesn’t admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.

From another perspective, ZDNet blogger Richard Stiennon finds it ironic that advertisers are bitter about hackers’ use of advertisement clickbots, while said nothing about spammers promoted their products via mass mailings to millions of totally un-targeted consumers, or about Claria, WhenU, 180 Solutions, Hotbar, and DirectRevenue popping-up unwanted ads to the innocent computer users.

Donna Bogatin, another ZDNet blogger, discussed about the click fraud problem, suggesting a number of questions to ask Google – the leader in paid-per-click advertising – for the Google Q & A. The event came and passed, but it seems that Donna doesn’t get the answer to her questions yet.

On the web:

Mark Cuban is a Hypocrite
…who the hell is he to complain about splogs and scraper sites anyway? He owns Icerocket, one of the largest scraper sites on the Net!

Mark Cuban vs. Don Dodge on Click Fraud – round 2
…there is simply no proof that Click Fraud is a big problem, or “greater than I imagined”.

Digital Brands
…MSM really going after Google and clickfraud in a meaningful way….

Mark Cuban Worrying about ClickFraud
As a publisher, I am a bit concern about the future. While I believe being honest and focusing on long term goals is the right way to go, the rise of clickfraud activities will just threatens us.

Click fraud: the perils of the robot shopper
This has all the appearance of a problem that the industry needs to fix now, without any excuses.

Clickfraud and Customer Service
I’m less concerned about clickfraud. Ultimately if its a real issue, advertisers will decrease their focus on Adwords and similar tools.

Some thoughts on click fraud
…I see it as the old scenario of the fox (Google) guarding the hen house (all that ad revenue). From a financial standpoint it is not in Google’s best interest to get rid of click fraud….

Mark Cuban on click fraud
I’ll be interested to see when “normal people” realize that Google has built its business on a pack of lies…

The Entire advertising model is under siege
One of the things I’ve brought up a few times is the problems with the current advertising models – and I mean all of them…

Google Responds to Last Week’s Column, but Fails to Appreciate the Difference Between Home Run Hitters and Hot Dog Vendors
…When Mario saw that his monthly AdWord cost had more than tripled from January to February, but his number of visitor sessions had actually DECLINED, he suspected click fraud…

What Cuban thinks of ClickFraud
I think Mark under-estimates just how much effort Google is piling into preventing click-fraud. If Mark can think of ways hackers can make money with click-fraud, then surely the specialists at Google can think of ways to prevent it…

The Lack of Intention Economy
Reminds me of an interesting bit about Google’s AdSense program. If what they owe an ad publisher less than $10, Google sits on the money…

AdWords vs. AdSense Click Fraud — Why Do So Few Get It?
…But not enough folks emphasize the key distinction: search click fraud vs. content click fraud. Follow the money. Content click fraud is the key issue…

Why Click Fraud is an A-List Priority
Estimates of click fraud run from 14% to 30% and higher, depending on whom you talk to…

We Told You Click Fraud Wasn’t That Bad
…Any way you dice it, it proves that click fraud is a manageable issue.

The Answer to Click Fraud?
Everyone – the search engines and advertisers – should embrace the idea of an independent audit of click activity…

Mark Cuban cuts to the chase on Google’s nemesis, click fraud
I’ve touched on the click fraud subject before, and how this wary scenario could damage Google and the Google brand by un-fostering trust in internet search over the long-term.

Click Fraud: Overstated
… Yes, click fraud is a problem, but a “huge problem”? While the ROI is there, advertisers will continue to advertise.

Cuban on Click Fraud
If you think about it, click fraud is simply an outgrowth of the ad market the search engines have created…

Mark Cuban as Chicken Little
…there are a number of reasons why I’m skeptical about how much attention people pay to scare mongering about click fraud and it’s effects on companies like Google when ‘the market corrects’.