Click-fraud settlement
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SCOTT JAGOW: Advertisers on Google have to pay every time someone clicks on their ads. But some of those clicks are phony. Lisa Napoli tell us Google’s remedy.
LISA NAPOLI: Google offered to pay the $90 million to settle a class-action suit for what’s known in the industry as click fraud.
Fraudulent clicks on ads cost advertisers big bucks and Google is accused of not doing enough to stop it.
A judge in Arkansas said the settlement was fair even though detractors say it’s a puny sum for the super-rich Silicon Valley darling.
Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineWatch wonders what will happen now:
DANNY SULLIVAN: “What will really be interesting to see is if they can come up with ways to make advertisers feel more secure so they don’t have another click-fraud case for activity happening beyond the settlement.”
One way to avoid that: Google unveiled a measurement tool this week, that lets advertisers see when bad clicks have been sleuthed out.
I’m Lisa Napoli for Marketplace.
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