If you buy PPC advertising, it's imperative that you track conversions somehow.

If you know your average conversion rate, and you have enough volume, then changes in the conversion rate can be a strong tip-off of possible click fraud.

However, if you are letting Google and Overture track conversions, and they are crediting you automatically for what they identify as fraudulent clicks, then you won't really be able to see what's happening - they are tweaking the data before you see it. Another good reason to track your own clicks and conversions outside of what Google and Overture do for you.

¶ 2/18/2005