While online advertising continues to stack up huge gains, there’s a rat hiding in the woodpile: click fraud.
According to the latest Click Fraud Index (CFI), from Click Forensics, which monitors over 1,300 online advertisers and their agencies, the overall industry average click fraud rate for Q2 was 14.1%.
The figure is particularly troubling because it represents a slight over the Q1 average of 13.7%. One thing is certain, according to the CFI, the click fraud rate is not declining.
Adding weight to this conclusion is the fact that the Click Forensics numbers correspond closely with advertiser estimates of click fraud, published earlier this month by Outsell. These put the rate at 14.6%.
In another worrying development, Click Forensics found that the average click fraud rate for high-priced search terms (costing over $2.00 per click) was well above the general average at 20.2%. Higher priced terms often make up the majority of an advertiser’s total spend.
"For the first time, we have industry data that clearly shows what many have expected," said Tom Cuthbert, CEO of Click Forensics, "organizations purchasing higher-priced search terms are significantly more vulnerable to click fraud."
Perhaps reflecting fear of click fraud, the average price for the key search terms used by the five biggest search advertising industries — Retail, Financial Services, Health & Fitness, Technology, and Entertainment — was $4.51 in Q2, down from $4.75 in Q1.
