... and more about click fraud ...

Is Click Fraud A Big Deal?
by: TheLilCrusader

You've probably seen a lot of PTR sites spring up over the last several months that pretty much offer nothing but search ads. Maybe you've joined some because of their high link values and fast payouts. If you've done enough searches at any one program, you may find yourself in the position of receiving up to 50 of these emails per day from that one program....Wow - kewl beanz, right? Wrong.

Sure, you're earning money quickly and likely receiving it quickly too - but is that all that matters - I mean really matters? Does it bother you that the only reason you've gotten these extra emails is because you've shown the PO of that program that you're more than willing to commit click fraud?

I know, I know...you're thinking, "I didn't do anything wrong" and on the surface maybe it seems that way. But the reality is, every time you click a keyword on a search portal page and then go to a website based on that keyword, just to keep your number of valids up so the big number of daily emails will continue and the pennies will keep rolling in, you're stealing from someone else. Did you know that?

Admit it - nobody really has to search for anything hundreds of times a day so you usually just pick a keyword - right? Where do you think the list you get from picking that keyword came from? That list of sites is only there because somebody paid to be listed. And the reason they did that is in hopes of generating traffic to their website - traffic that might result in a sale, which would help offset the cost of being listed on that search engine and maybe give them a profit. Those businesses didn't pay to be there to help you earn a penny....they paid to be there to earn money for themselves - that's called business!

So every time you click a keyword and go to a website because you've been told that's what you need to do to earn your penny, without having any actual interest in the site at all - you're stealing from the person who paid for that listing to be there because you've become "bad traffic" - something the advertiser did NOT pay for.

That, my friend, is click fraud and yes, it is a very BIG deal...maybe not to you or to the owner of the program, but that doesn't matter. The most important person in this equation is the SE advertiser and they don't appreciate having their advertising dollars stolen by you in exchange for a penny. When an advertiser realizes his money is being thrown away, he's not going to keep advertising with that SE, and if this happens enough times to enough businesses, eventually the SE will have nothing left.

Yes, click fraud is a very big deal, and if you're part of it, it's time to stop.
TheLilCrusader's recommended site: OurPtr2.com

what is considered click fraud ... ?

Is Clicking A Search Result Considered Click Fraud?

by: Rod Baker

There has been much debate over this question. Many think clicking a
search result is the honest thing to do for the advertiser that paid
the Paid To Read site money, while others say you are helping that
advertiser commit click fraud.

Who is right in this debate?

Good or bad, right or wrong, there is one easy way to determine this
(and you will need to ask yourself this each time you are ready to
click on a search result):

Am I truly interested in learning more about this advertisement?


If you click on a search result for Viagra, are you sincerely
interested in learning about that product?

How about attorney at law? Are you, or someone you are researching
for, needing to find a good attorney?

Car Insurance ... Is it fair to say that if you click on one of these
results and don't own a car or happy with your current car insurance
and won't be persuaded to change your current car insurance, that you
are an uninterested viewer and are not of any value to this advertiser?

This is where the whole notion of click fraud comes into play. Where
do you think the money comes from to pay you to click on that search
result?

From the advertiser/member who pays the PTR webmaster cash to run
their campaign? Technically, the answer would be yes, that is where
the money comes from to pay you.

That sounds like a legitimate and fair money making venture right? If
it were that simple, the answer would be yes.

Unfortunately, its not that simple. We must now think a little deeper.
Who paid that search portal advertiser for those valid searches?
Correct, a search engine. Many times, these search engines feed off of
other search engines that are larger or higher up the advertiser food
chain. Eventually, they all lead to one place:

...the actual advertiser that inserted the link that you just clicked
on: car insurance quote, medicines, webhosting, etc. and those
advertisers were led to believe that any viewer who actually clicked
on their link was at the very least, somewhat interested in their
advertisement (this is the selling pitch of the search engines).

The PTR sites who beg, demand, coerce, threaten or even say they'll
stop sending you search mails if you don't perform valid searches, are
forcing you, the member, in making uninterested searches ... searches
you would never have made under normal circumstances.


That is what click fraud is all about. Ignore the demands and coercion
tactics from these webmasters and truly ask yourself ONE question:

Is this search ad something I may be interested in?
If so, perform the search.
If not, DON'T!

If the masses could hold true to this one question, not only would
click fraud be virtually eliminated, but those advertisers that are
paying you to view their ad would have a much higher conversion ratio
due to the fact that only interested viewers are viewing their ads and
absorbing the ad budget.

Logically, these advertisers could then afford to pay more for their
search position and each of you could actually earn more per click at
your favorite PTR site.

Think about it ... less work, more pay if everyone played honestly by
the rules.

We ALL must do our part and start somewhere. Can you proudly say you
did YOUR part to improve our situation? 

death throes of a payment processor ...

StormPay sent an interesting message to all members today:

StormPay announces no registration necessary!

June 27, 2006

" Sellers - no longer do your customers need to register for a StormPay account to purchase your product! Now your buyers can click your “Buy Now” button, fill in their information, and submit their payment to you!

You asked for this feature, we listened, you got it!!

No more frustrating registration for buyers...

No more waiting to validate account info…

No more missing spontaneous purchases..

This new feature should easily allow you to convert shoppers into buyers! Because this new feature allows your customers to make purchases without registering, all payments received by you, from a NON registered StormPay account holder, will go to a “Pending” status. Payments will remain pending for a period of 7 days at which time payments received will convert to a “Complete” status. Once the payment status is “Complete”, you may withdraw or send funds as normal. Payments received by you from senders who ARE registered account holders instantly go to a completed status.

Special note: All customers wishing to use StormPay Auctions, StormClix, or register a subscription will be required to register a FREE StormPay.com account. "

StormPay.com
_______

Now why would I be so desperate to wait 7 days to be paid by a customer who is most likely one of the many thousands who was ripped off by SP in February of this year, and therefore will not trust SP enough to register ...

There are plenty of other processors I can use to be paid "instantly"

... and then again, why would I "value" my own business so highly as to have a StormPay button anywhere on the site anyway ? If potential customers think anything like I do, I would just be driving them away.

I predict StormPay will finally close up shop before September, 2006.

What do you think ... ?