Now some like to mislead advertisers and say that click fraud is an issue that is under control, that it really doesn’t affect their business or that the end is near for click fraud.

All of the above in my opinion is untrue. Click fraud affects all sizes of business, any ad budget and will probably never stop. I like to think of click fraud in the same way as viruses. Every day we find ways to stop viruses, however the virus creators always find a way around. It’s the same with Click fraud, We might stop one method but the people doing it will find a way to keep it going.

Another thing to think about is, What sort of resources are really put into stopping click fraud at the search networks? At the end of the day how much money does a search network make from click fraud? As long as someones clicking, the networks profit. So if we stop click fraud 100% and ads become more effective would ad network revenues drop by 10 – 20%? More than likely, cause if there is no click fraud advertisers would be able to spend less and get more.

Anyways that is my thought of the day. It’s an opinion that I know is shared by others. If you want to talk click fraud contact me. If your looking for a great solution to monitor your advertising I would recommend Click Forensics.

It will be nice when the new mobile companies get up and running here in Canada and hopefully make the mobile market somewhat competitive. Eventually North America as a whole will catch up to the current state of Europe, but by the time that happens we will be a decade behind them again.

On another note, I was also reading the “Google to count clicks” and wondering about the implications to businesses. At first glance this looks like it could be a helpful service, however at the same time the increased collection and use of data by Google could possibly cause higher advertising costs to businesses. I have to agree with some people and the concerns they are voicing. Tom Cuthbert said “ Watching Google Analytics, inviting advertisers to give them conversion data to “Optimize” (meaning increase) bid prices, sharing is risky”.

And last but not least… The power of Social Networks on business and more. Just reading “Visa, Facebook swing ad deal”. Slowly more companies are recognizing the value of social media and it will continue to grow as more recognized brands jump on board. This Visa deal on face book will offer “Visa is giving a $100 advertising credit on Facebook to each of the first 20,000 U.S. businesses that download the Web application needed to join the network, which debuts Tuesday. About 80,000 small businesses already have profiles on Facebook.”

I’ll have to follow this and see if this program expands outside of the US.

Anyways thats all for my random ramblings for today.