Are Yahoo! Search Marketing advertisers getting fleeced by phantom clicks? That’s the assertion made by spyware watchdog Ben Edelman today. He accuses three companies – 180solutions, Nbcsearch and Look2me/Ad-w-a-r-e – of perpetrating click fraud via Yahoo!’s Overture pay-per-click (PPC) service.
Edelman’s thoroughly documented examples (he has packet logs, screen shots and video of each) outline a worrying process by which adware, often installed on computers without users’ consent, launches unwanted Overture pop-up or pop-under ads during browser sessions that redirect automatically to the advertised site, faking a click. Since Yahoo’s system records the operation as an “affirmative click” (a legitimate attempt by an interested user to reach an advertised site), the advertiser pays for it – and Yahoo! splits the revenue with the adware provider.
Since the the ads are shown to users with no confirmed interest in the products or services advertised, and users are redirected without their consent, Edelman writes that the practice “violates the core premise of pay-per-click advertising, i.e. that advertisers only pay if a user affirmatively shows interest in their ad.” He suggests that Yahoo! should more thoroughly vet and oversee its partners as well as more aggressively police its own networks. Sounds like a lot of work, but as Edelman points out, “merely ignoring the issue is not a reasonable option; Yahoo’s advertisers pay top dollar for Yahoo PPC ads, and they deserve better.”
