Google and the 'Click Fraud' Menace

Details

Case Code : CLMM054
Publication date : 2009
Subject : Marketing Management
Industry : Internet & e-Commerce
Length : 05 Pages
Price : Rs. 100

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Key words:

Google, click, fraud, google inc., blog, Nicole Wong, Associate General Counsel at Google Inc., out-of-court, settlement, out-of-court settlement, class action lawsuit, lawsuit, Lane's Gifts & Collectibles, plaintiff, online retail store, retails, online, February 2005, Arkansas state court, Google, Yahoo, Time Warner, America Online, Netscape, subsidiaries, Lycos, Ask Jeeves Inc., FindWhat.com Inc., Buena Vista Internet Group, LookSmart Ltd., web search companies, plaintiff's online advertisements, online advertisements, cost per click advertising program, cost per click, advertising program, legal fees, credits, search engines, spokesperson, legal battle, proprietary click protection system, investors, analysts, advertisers, Internet search giant's business, internet, search, Jim Friedland, SG Cowen, stock

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Abstract:

This article discusses the threat of click fraud to search engine website companies like Google, Yahoo!, Overture, MSN Messenger Search, America Online, and Lycos. Google announced a US$ 90 million settlement to settle the class action lawsuit led by Lane's Gifts & Collectibles. Google was the most popular search engine and revolutionized the online advertising industry through its pay per click AdWords and AdSense text based advertising model. But click fraud was a major problem and advertisers felt cheated. Many internet marketing and search engine optimization firms offer consulting services and software products that help detect and prevent click fraud.

Introduction On March 08, 2006, a post on Google Inc.'s official blog by Nicole Wong, Associate General Counsel at Google Inc. (Google), said that the company was close to an out-of-court settlement of a class action lawsuit led by Lane's Gifts & Collectibles (plaintiff), an online retail store. This lawsuit was filed in February 2005 in an Arkansas state court against Google, Yahoo!, Time Warner and its America Online and Netscape subsidiaries, Lycos, Ask Jeeves Inc., FindWhat.com Inc., Buena Vista Internet Group, and LookSmart Ltd. The plaintiff had accused the web search companies of overcharging, by charging them for invalid clicks on the plaintiff's online advertisements.

Google’s blogpost further mentioned that the settlement agreement would cover all advertisers who were charged and not reimbursed for invalid clicks from 2002 onwards, as this was when Google had launched its "cost per click" advertising program...

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