Online Advertising Survival: Combating Click Fraud - University of ...

The problem facing the plaintiffs is determining what a “fraudulent click” is. Google’scontracts with the advertisers do not define an invalid click. Google contends that theyonly charge for valid clicks and that is difficult for plaintiffs to dispute if they cannoteven define what an invalid click is.Regardless, all the settlements combined are a drop in the bucket compared to theadvertising revenues generated by the search engines. With Google’s advertising revenueestimated in the $10 billions and click fraud estimated conservatively in the range of 10%of all clicks, a $90 million settlement is not even close to what the advertisers claim to belost as a result of click fraud.11.3 Perpetrator Lawsuits11.3.1 “Google Clique”Google filed a lawsuit in 2004 against Michael Anthony Bradley, a programmer accusedof developing an auto click program called “Google Clique”. The programmer was notarrested for click fraud, but rather extortion and mail fraud for demanding $100,000otherwise, he would widely distribute his spammer software over the internet whichwould cost Google millions. The charges were dismissed and the lawsuit did not proceedas Google was unwilling to cooperate with prosecutors because they did not want todivulge any trade secrets. Legal experts say that Google’s silence will make prosecutors’45