NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The number of online advertisers and search engine marketing firms who believe click fraud is a serious issue has tripled in the past year, according to data released today by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). Nearly two out of five advertisers and nearly half of the agencies surveyed have tracked fraud; 16% of the advertisers say it's serious, nearly triple from December 2004, according to SEMPO.
The data was collected in December 2005 as part of SEMPO's "The State of Search Engine Marketing" survey which sizes the market, identifies trends and highlights key issues of concern. A detailed online survey was completed by 553 search engine advertisers and search engine marketing agencies, conducted via Radar Research.
"Network click fraud is a threat to the increasing value of search engine traffic and represents a significant hurdle to the growth of Google and Yahoo's traffic. If left unchecked, click fraud could amount to millions of dollars in unwarranted expense to advertisers," says Kevin Lee, a member of the SEMPO Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the non-profit association's Research Committee. "As more people do business online, and advertising expenditures grow, control of the click fraud problem is critical, for both marketers and publishers," he says. "Our advertisers and agencies need to ensure their advertising dollars are being spent well, and not subject to inflated expenses due to click fraud in pay-per-click campaigns," he adds.
In other data, the 2005 SEMPO survey revealed that more than 40 percent of advertisers and more than half of the agencies claim they have been a victim of click fraud. However, nearly 1/3 of advertisers are not actively tracking fraud at this time and do not know if they've been a victim of click fraud. About 25 percent of those surveyed do not believe it's a problem.
As for the source of click fraud, more than 75 percent of the advertisers say the fraud comes from publishers, networks or affiliates attempting to increase their revenue through non-authentic clicks. More than 50 percent of respondents say they have been a victim of competitive click fraud as well.
Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo 2006
Click fraud will be discussed at Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo 2006, which is being held this week at the New York Hilton. The panel, "Auditing Paid Listings & Click Fraud Issues," will be held on Tuesday, February 28, 2006, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. http://www.jupiterevents.com/sew/winter06/agenda2.html#1115-3
Speakers include: Jessie Stricchiola, SEMPO Board of Directors and Founder of Alchemist Media Inc.; Greg Boser, President, WebGuerrilla LLC; Shuman Ghosemajumder, Business Product Manager, Google; John Slade, Director, Product Management, Yahoo! Search Marketing; and Adam L. Penenberg, Author, Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, Business and Economic Reporting, New York University. The panel moderator is Jeffrey K. Rohrs, President, Optiem, LLC.
SEMPO will also be holding a "Meet & Greet" event at Search Engine Strategies for members and non-members. It will be held on Monday, February 27th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Nassau Suite of the New York Hilton.
SEMPO will be conducting a webinar on click fraud on Thursday, April 20 at 12 p.m. ET This webinar is free and anyone can attend. The registration process will begin in April and attendees can register at www.sempo.org/learning_center/webinars/
About the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)
SEMPO is a non-profit professional association working to increase awareness and promote the value of search engine marketing worldwide. The organization represents the common interests of more than 315 companies and consultants worldwide and provides them with a voice in the marketplace. For more information, or to join the organization, please visit www.SEMPO.org.
The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization company logo is available at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2228