SEMPO releases the results of a survey done in 2004. Click fraud is seen as a minor problem currently.
In your experience, how much of a problem is "Click fraud" with regard to paid placement?
| Statement | All Advertisers | Advertisers of < 500 Employees | Advertisers of 500+ Employees | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This is a significant problem we have tracked | 6% | 10% | 0% | 4% |
| It is a moderate problem we have tracked | 19% | 21% | 15% | 30% |
| We have not tracked it much, but we are worried about it | 45% | 36% | 58% | 43% |
| It is not a significant concern | 26% | 28% | 23% | 23% |
| Never heard of it before | 5% | 5% | 4% | 0% |
Interestingly, the survey summary claims that advertisers and agencies are currently more concerned about manipulation of search engine results, with repondents averaging a 2.0 on a scale of 1 - 5, agreeing with the statement: "Abuse of search engine optimization practices is a major problem".
My take would be that things change fast in the search world, and it's not surprising that SEO manipulation had more awareness than click-fraud. But I think SEO manipulation is the past trend. There is room for surprise on the click-fraud front since concern about click fraud hasn't reached critical mass in the marketplace. If it does, it is going to have a lot of room to run, since most market participants weren't worrying about click fraud at the time of this survey. Of course, I could be wrong, and click fraud is really nothing to worry about...
¶ 2/27/2005
