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?