Research

Numbers | Botnets Account for 25% of Click Fraud

Click fraud rates hold steady, but the way it's perpetrated is evolving, according to the ClickFraudNetwork.

By Derek Slater

July 23, 2008 — More than 16 percent of all clicks on online advertisements are fraudulent—a rate that's holding roughly steady. However, botnets now account for fully a quarter of all fraudlent clicks.

That's according to consultancy Click Forensics and the ClickFraudNetwork, a collection of advertisers, agencies and search engine companies aimed at reducing click fraud. (The Click Fraud Index is compiled from data gathered by users of Click Forensics' free introductory service.)

The latest Index data indicate that the rate of fraud is higher on the major search engines' pay-per-click advertising networks—27 percent. The biggest sources of click fraud outside of the US are China, Russia and France.

For more on click fraud, see CSO's article 5 Ways Google is Shaking the Security World. For more on botnets, see What a Botnet Looks Like.

Other stories by Derek Slater

click fraud

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