Google to Pay $90MM Click Fraud Suit

Google to Pay $90MM Click Fraud Suit
; |+ n( y/ k- z+ H' PGoogle Inc. has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company, along with other web search companies, billed advertisers for false customer leads.

5 @/ |! o- N/ j4 H+ i/ K  EAlso named in the original lawsuit were the search businesses of Yahoo! Inc., Walt Disney Co., Lycos Inc., LookSmart Ltd. and Findwhat.com Inc., which is now known as MIVA Inc.
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6 O; R  N$ W- j2 \7 K! ^Click fraud involves a malicious party repeatedly clicking on an ad link to generate a commission payment with each click. Google's revenues, which are around 97 percent, are the result of pay-per-click ads, reported Reuters.
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5 n( r$ f; _" i4 k"In the beginning days, we called this click fraud black magic. We didn't know what it was. We'd argue about the surge in numbers. Where was this coming from? And then it dawned on me: click fraud. It opens up the eyes that it exists in the Google Ad Words system. It's the publishers, advertisers and clients that share the responsibility for catching click fraud and it's a bigger concern that advertisers and publishers want to admit," Micheal Caruso, founder and CEO of Clickfacts, told iMedia.
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Nicole Wong, associate general counsel, Google says "We are proposing a settlement with the plaintiffs in this case. The proposal would allow advertisers to apply for credits for clicks they believe were not valid. Specific details of the settlement will remain confidential until it is presented to the judge. We do not know how many advertisers will apply and receive credits, but the total amount, including the legal fees determined by the judge, will not exceed $90 million."

　Google Inc.宣佈，公司已同意支付最高9,000萬美元的法律費用和廣告費抵用補償，就去年對該公司和其他互聯網公司的指控達成和解。這項指控稱，這些公司故意超額收取網絡廣告費用，並彼此心照不宣地繼續如此行事。

5 w7 S! d7 h$ z7 x8 g　　原告之一、阿肯色州零售商Lane's Gifts & Collectibles LLC的一位代理律師和佛羅里達州私人偵探麥克斯?考菲爾德(Max Caulfield)表示，他們已請求主審法官批准這項和解方案。和解方案沒有批駁Google為點擊欺詐所做的辯護，而且由此Google也將無需在法庭上進一步披露其廣告系統和反欺詐措施的細節。
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　　原告指控這些互聯網公司就欺詐性點擊收取了費用，這是不合理的。惡意點擊網上廣告就屬於點擊欺詐。廣告客戶一般是根據人們點擊隨著網頁搜索結果或其他網上內容出現的廣告的數量向Google和其他互聯網公司付費。通過點擊這些廣告或通過軟件自動進行點擊，欺詐者就能提高競爭對手的廣告支出，有時還會獲得經濟利益。
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: ~2 N* x0 K4 A& w$ R$ C" J　　根據和解方案，Google將向宣稱是點擊欺詐受害者的Google廣告客戶提供一定數量的廣告費抵用補償。具體的索賠額、補償流程以及擬定的不同受害者的補償數額尚未對外披露。Google表示，包括原告的法律費用在內，和解總值不會超過9,000萬美元。Google目前規定廣告客戶應在發生點擊欺詐60天內申請補償，但和解方案允許所有美國廣告客戶就2002年以來發生的點擊欺詐申請補償。

　　Google的副首席法律顧問Nicole Wong在公司網站刊登的聲明中表示，和解方案對各方都是一個好的結果。一位原告律師喬治?麥克威廉姆斯(George McWilliams)表示，由於該和解方案不是最終結果，還需得到法官格瑞芬(Griffin)的批准，目前無法對細節問題做出進一步評論。Search Engine Watch網站週三報導了和解方案的達成。

# N* ^" ?9 j6 w# |9 m# X% a　　點擊欺詐在搜索領域是一個熱點問題，原因之一是搜索企業不願披露界定點擊欺詐的具體範圍和所採取的反欺詐措施的細節。Google的首席執行長埃裡克?施密特(Eric Schmidt)上周向分析師表示，Google擁有解決點擊欺詐問題的員工和體系，並會在發生點擊欺詐後補償廣告客戶。他說，這對公司而言不是大問題。

/ X: C5 u- m9 ]& F7 W- B　　即使此和解方案獲得批准，但這起訴訟中對雅虎公司(Yahoo! Inc.)等其他被告的指控還不會結束。雅虎公司的發言人對此項和解方案不予置評，但表示「我們堅信我們特有的點擊保護系統，將會就此案進行積極辯護。」

　　去年在加州聖何塞的聯邦地區法院還有一起針對Google提起的同點擊欺詐相關的案件，目前尚未結案。