Front Page Article about Click Fraud

[Chriss]

A highly-popular business publication here in Detroit (Crain's Detroit Business) had a front page article yesterday on the risks associated with running a PPC campaign.

It upset me a little bit because there is such a lack of coverage about the positive aspects of web marketing, and yet click fraud makes the front page. It's even more upsetting because the company that is referenced in the article is more the victim of a mis-configured Yahoo campaign, then actual click-fraud.

I emailed the author of the article to get more info, and he was pretty helpful. If you have a chance, read the full article here, and my blog post, including the email exchange with the author.

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive. I hope I wasn't too hard on him.

[Mel66]

Hey Chris from a fellow Michigander.

Interesting article, but, as you point out, quite one-sided. Here is the quote that really floored me:

"Melih Oztalay, CEO of Bloomfield Hills-based SmartFinds, an Internet marketing firm, steers his clients away from such forms of advertising and toward stand-alone sites."

Huh? That statement alone is enough to convince me never to hire this firm. First off, it tells me they don't know how to manage PPC and in fact, probably don't even understand how it works. Yes, click fraud is an issue and can be very costly, but those costs can be minimized if you structure your PPC accounts carefully, and monitor them DAILY (not monthly, as someone else in the article stated) for unusual activity. Secondly, "away from PPC and toward stand-alone sites"? What does that even mean? Where do your PPC links GO if not to a stand-alone site?!?

I agree with you - we haven't had enough snow in MI this winter and the reporters are hurting for something newsworthy.

Melissa

PS, I grew up in Brighton, so it was interesting to see so many Brighton businesses interviewed for the article. When I lived there, it was a much smaller town - we didn't have 20 huge auto dealers and a bunch of high-tech consultants! LOL

[Chriss]

Hi Melissa!

It does make me wonder if by "stand-alone," Melih means "without traffic." I have a feeling it was probably just a butchered quote though.

But you're right, if you're doing PPC correctly, saying something like "I steer my clients away from it," is a pretty broad statement. Maybe he has Google Alerts configured, and we'll get to find out what he really meant.

On the side note: I haven't spent too much time in Brighton, but I have heard that it's blown up a lot recently. I do remember skiing there once though!

[Mel66]

Originally Posted by Chriss

On the side note: I haven't spent too much time in Brighton, but I have heard that it's blown up a lot recently. I do remember skiing there once though!

Ah yes, the landfill - er, ski area. I spent much of my adolescence on that hill!

We didn't have a Meijer in Brighton till I was a junior in high school. Now there is Meijer, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City....... it's just crazy. It was a big deal when we got 3 screens at the local cinema - which was where Best Buy is now. I think they have 9 or 12 or 50 screens now...

[andrewgoodman]

Originally Posted by Chriss

A highly-popular business publication here in Detroit (Crain's Detroit Business) had a front page article yesterday on the risks associated with running a PPC campaign.

It upset me a little bit because there is such a lack of coverage about the positive aspects of web marketing, and yet click fraud makes the front page. It's even more upsetting because the company that is referenced in the article is more the victim of a mis-configured Yahoo campaign, then actual click-fraud.

I emailed the author of the article to get more info, and he was pretty helpful. If you have a chance, read the full article here, and my blog post, including the email exchange with the author.

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive. I hope I wasn't too hard on him.

This is a long-standing problem with print media diehards reporting on online media. Some otherwise very good reporters have given in to the pressure to whip up hysteria about the online companies. Yep, there's click fraud. How bout a top reporter calling you and trying like heck to get you to say something inflammatory about it, and you don't, so they just hang up and move on, until they can find the quote they want?

Now, a great number of fledgling companies are tapping into forms of user community, online collaboration, consumer reviews, and user-generated content.

What would you know? The main angle on some stories is how "fake reviews" can hurt someone's business. Well, yes, but then again, the New York Times has been running restaurant reviews since the 1950's.

What we need is coverage that points to the potential as well as the risks...

[Chriss]

Originally Posted by andrewgoodman

What we need is coverage that points to the potential as well as the risks...

I think we're going to continue to be hard pressed to find it.

I replied to the author once again, and challenged him to write about the extremely positive impact that PPC is having on some businesses. I have a fairly large michigan home builder that we manage PPC for (as part of an overall web marketing strategy), that has sold a number of homes as a result of their website and PPC campaign.

The fact that technology, especially in marketing, is almost unheard of in the building industry (for the most part), and the fact that we're selling houses with PPC, seems like it would be newsworthy.

I got the obligatory, "I'll keep that in mind" response.

The thought process almost seems like: "I don't understand the technology enough to be able to identify the newsworthy points of the success stories, but I should write about technology, and 'click fraud' has the word 'fraud' in it, so I can't miss."