‘PPC’

Click fraud costs the advertiser loss of income and also increases the cost of Internet marketing. Advertisers monitor clicks and adjust their marketing spending accordingly. The price per click is adjusted according to keyword popularity and the total of advertisers competing for the keyword.

If the keyword is particularly popular, click fraud can lead to depletion of an advertiser’s budget within a day. Given the consequences of such criminal activity, it is understandable that advertisers call for more effective methods to prevent people from simply clicking on their ads.

Clicks mean money and if the clicks are valid such actions mean money for the advertisers, but invalid clicking lead to money loss for the advertiser. It drives up the cost per click while at the same deplete advertiser budgets.

What Is Click Fraud?

Clicking is the action of selecting a sponsored (pay-per-click) ad to go through to the advertiser website or the landing page of the ad with the purpose of learning more about the product or service offered. If, the selection is not based on a sincere interest in the advertiser’s offering, but simply to drive up the cost for the advertiser and thus eliminate competition, it constitutes click fraud. Another reason why such is done is when an Adsense income generator makes use of unethical means to gain more income from selecting sponsored ads on their page. They normally do this from various computers or pay others to do so to get more income.

There are thus two main types of click fraud:

• Network ad publisher fraud
• Targeted competitor ad fraud

Targeted Ad Fraud

In this type of fraud, the fraudster targets the ads of a competitor company and generates hundreds of false selections to deplete the budget of the competitor. Small businesses suffer most as they have limited funds for their online marketing campaigns and as such it is possible to get rid of all the small players in order to drive the traffic to larger players.

Does Click Fraud Cost Google?

Although Google does get money for every click, they also pay out for such. In addition, the whole sponsored ad network integrity is affected. Companies want to know that the click-through rate is accurate and that the actions will generate leads as well as sales.

What Does Google Do About It?

Google has a system in place to detect click fraud and offers the service for free simply because they want to ensure the integrity of their ad network stays intact. The three step system includes filters to assess whether a clicking action is valid. The filter uses data such as IP addresses, rate of click, time spent at the advertiser site and dates. Further offline assessment is done where not only automated filtering and analyses take place, but also human based analysis. The next level is that of Google reacting upon an advertiser report of possible fraud. If the advertiser’s suspicion of fraud is confirmed by the Google team, reimbursement takes place. As such Google also stands to lose a lot if the invalid clicking is done.

How To Identify Click Fraud

If you are an advertiser and suspects invalid clicks there are a number of ways to confirm your suspicion and to stop the actions. For one, if your ad budget is suddenly depleted without any leads or sales then you already have reason to be suspicious. Should the budget for one month be R1000 and be enough to drive adequate, relevant, and valid traffic, but the next month R3000 is not enough, you may want to look into it. Audit the netlog files and if any suspicious clicks are found, report such to Google or the Pay-per-click company immediately.

If you are a second tier publisher, thus have a website where sponsored ads appear, and find that your income from the ads suddenly drops, you need to investigate. There may be another company stealing your Adsense income. If you find that there are many clicks which Google doesn’t pay you for, investigate. Check if there is any malicious code inserted in your code and also change the ad codes. In addition, ensure that only specific sites may display ads from your ad publisher account. If such continues, Google may ban your site from displaying sponsored ads. Report suspicious activities to Google.

Advertisers Still Pay For Fraud

Advertisers stay the victims as the estimate is that around 10% of clicks are not valid. Taken into account that with other methods of advertising one seems to lose more money than with online ads being clicked for no valid reason, the ten percent may not be that much to pay for the convenience of reaching targeted audiences.

New Pay Per Click Schemes

Unfortunately as Internet advertising grows and new methods for detecting click fraud are developed, so too will the fraudsters come up with new schemes to go undetected. One way of accomplishing fraud is by creating a site that offers ad or information space. The advertiser displays their AdWords on the site while thousands of second tier publishers gain commission. The publishers share their commission with the fraudulent site, not knowing that the site is indeed a fraud. Once the affiliate signs up, an email infected with spyware is emailed to the unsuspecting affiliate. It infects their computer and when they then visit valid sites, they receive pop-up windows and often purchase from those ads which they would not have done otherwise. It is more complicated, but just one example of how fraudsters go about to bypass the system.

Google has faced numerous class action lawsuits and Yahoo! has also been on the receiving end of such, but both have taken action through improved click fraud detection systems and through refunding policies. The only way to prevent large scale fraud and becoming the victim of such is to regularly monitor netlogs, Google Adwords budget accounts, clicks, and if you are a second tier publisher, the income statement and channels.

Integrated Technical Services known, as ITS Africa, is a well-known industrial and commercial cleaning equipment supplier in South Africa with a large customer base. The company is also a distributor of the famous Kärcher products.

The ITS client base includes the likes of large mining companies and projects such as the Gautrain cleaning contract. The company operates in an extremely competitive environment also when it comes to carwash and carpet cleaning equipment. Competition on high level also means that competitors invest a lot in marketing, especially online marketing. This in turn leads to extreme keyword and ranking competition. Getting to the first five search result ranks for one of the main keywords is a rather impressive feat and more so to stay at the position or to improve the position.

ITS Africa, as an award-winning cleaning equipment supplier and service provider to large enterprises in South Africa, recognises the importance of a flexible, yet, well planned online marketing strategy. With that in mind the company under leadership has partnered with iLead Online to ensure that it can gain and keep a competitive edge in the online environment. The company recently received the South Africa Distributor of the Year Award from two major suppliers. It is an impressive accomplishment indeed. Part of their distributor success has to do with their marketing and customer relationship building strategies. Both strategies include a solid online presence and user-friendly websites packed with information on the various products and brands.

Online Marketing Strategy And Performance

ITS makes use of Pay Per Click Advertising in addition to affiliate marketing, link building, search engine optimisation and content generation services offered by iLead. Their service package thus consists of a complete marketing mix ensuring that they gain maximum online exposure and visitor traffic to their website. In addition to the above the following areas are also exploited in terms of online marketing:

• Interactive blog allowing for short posts about specific services offered by the company.
• Website banner ads at strategic places.
• Newsfeed on the main page allowing for constant news updates on the latest developments.
• Facebook advertising and business profile development.
• YouTube Channel for video marketing and building of links.
• Opt-in Mailing List for news & specials.
• Newsletter to build credibility and keep clients informed

Links Increase

The ITS Africa website had 135 incoming links in June 2010. Within only a few months iLead succeeded in building an additional 126 links bringing the total incoming links to 261 for February 2011. Ranking is directly influenced by the number of value added and relevant links and as such the incoming links have helped to improve search engine ranking.

Organic Search Results

The website is performing well on the organic search results for most of their main keywords, considering how competitive the market is in terms of their specific keywords. Co-owner of ITS Africa, Wayne Mulder, commented that although the website is not within the first three search results for some of the important keywords that it is on its way there and since search engine marketing is a long term and gradual process, it is worth the investment. Being on the first page is absolutely essential if one hopes to get a major chunk of the visitor traffic, and lying within the first five definitely helps. The goal is to get to position two or three in the near future.

Pay Per Click Advertising

While the website is still climbing the ranks in terms of some main keywords, it is doing exceptionally well on the PPC front with tremendous click through conversions. The combination of organic search with a PPC campaign strategy managed by iLead is delivering the desired visitor and conversion results. Out of 10411 clicks in February 2011 there were 1061 visits. When interviewed about his website success, Wayne answered that PPC is a more controllable tool which is definitely a must have for immediate results. Pay per click offers the benefit of a user already being in the market for the specific product or service and not only browsing for information. With this then, PPC is used to compliment the traffic drive to their website.

Leads

According to Wayne iLead has helped to ensure a constant flow of incoming leads. Not all result in sales, but are still important for brand building and customer mailing list development. Every relevant lead is important and with a definite increase in leads experienced, the company is 100% satisfied with the iLead strategies and professional lead building techniques.

Report Back & Future Trends

With the marketing mix strategy that iLead follows, the client can expect a solid return on investment into online marketing. Additional channels which are still to be exploited fully include that of viral marketing, YouTube, and social media brand development, all planned for the future.

Client Perspective Of iLead

The company provides excellent service and staff is available 24/7 to assist with any queries. One can trust in the professionalism of iLead. Even though iLead has other clients in the same industry, the company gives 100% to each client and upholds the integrity of the relationship. ITS Africa experiences the search engine marketing relationship as one based on trust. iLead is committed to client service and the building of long term relationships. It is this commitment that ensures complete dedication by the search engine specialists and staff. It is a reliable company that delivers on its promises to clients.

In Summary

ITS Africa is one of the leading commercial and industrial cleaning companies in South Africa. The company makes extensive use of online marketing to expand its markets and to ensure brand awareness. iLead works in close relationship with ITS to extend the reach of the company by ensuring well planned search engine optimisation, a flexible approach to Internet marketing, and transparency in its marketing approach. With this approach followed and a professional relationship with the client, iLead continues to develop strategies for optimal visibility, online branding, and the ultimate return on investment for ITS Africa. Contact us to develop an online marketing strategy that will suit your particular advertising needs.

A recession is generally seen as a bad time. Jobs are lost, banks loan less, and, as the consumer tightens his or her belt, businesses start to suffer. Generally businesses try to counteract the negative consequences of a recession in one of 3 ways:

• By retrenching and laying off workers
• By closing loss making and marginal divisions
• By cutting budgets across the board

Although these steps are often painful, they are necessary to ensure the survival of the company during tough economic times. But lately more and more companies are hesitant to cut their marketing budget to save on expenditure. In fact, Kellogg’s actually increased their marketing budget during the Great Depression and as such their sales increased. Today, more than 80 years later, Kellogg’s is the only breakfast brand of that era that is still in existence and their case study proves the short as well as long term benefit of advertising during an economic slump.

During the recent economic recession (some have even called it a depression) the majority of companies took a hit. In fact,  even those who were considered to be doing well also felt the pinch.

Interestingly enough advertising agencies in South Africa experienced the recession more severely than other industries and many had to retrench employees in order to stay afloat. This was because businesses cut on their offline advertising (radio, TV, newspapers, magazines and billboards) – choosing to spend their advertising budgets on online advertising instead.

Online advertising has allowed companies to spend less on advertising but still build on their equity and solidify their client base; not to mention gain new clients and taking on their competition. Indeed, many progressive companies are finding that when weighing op the two advertising methods, that internet driven advertising has multiple benefits.

Costs

From a purely financial consideration online advertising is far more cost effective than offline advertising. Purchasing airtime for a TV commercial is very costly, especially for the prime time spots when most of the targeted consumers are tuned in, and the risk is always there that the channel might be changed during ad breaks. Online advertising on the other hand works with a fixed cost per click (CPC) budget and website advert. Moreover, an online advertising campaign is far more cost effective (with savings of over 80% for the same results found in offline advertising) and controllable in the short- and long term.

Target Audience

People tend to think that you simply need to design and create a website in order for it to be seen, but business owners need to remember that there are literally thousands of websites in any specific vertical and market. Don’t let this scare you however, because while consumers may read the newspaper or watch television on a daily basis, they are not particularly looking for a product or service. With online searches on Google on the other hand, they are specifically looking for the product or service that you offer, and are therefore much more likely to take the time to read your advertisement.

In this case your advertisement would be your website. With online advertising you can be very particular who your target audience is. Moreover, if your website is set up correctly, you will be able to track your statistics. This will give you the particulars of your viewers, such as their age, location, how they came upon your website, what keywords were used to search for your website, and so forth, thus giving you an edge on your marketing strategy.

Reach

With offline advertisements you can never be sure that your particular target audience paid much attention. Yes you can definitely say that a certain amount of viewers were tuned in, but were they actually noticing your ad and were they the right demographic?  With print ads there is of course the chance that the reader will simply page over. The fact is that online readers look at this form of advertising differently. They typed in specific keywords into the search engine looking for the product or service that your website offers. This is why online marketing plays such a significant role.

When your website is properly optimized, you will be sure that your website will be one of the top search results that the reader finds, and by tracking the readers actions, you will be able to see exactly what pages they went on to on your website, how much time they spent on a page, and even if they left your website directly or clicked through to another page. In the online world this is referred to as the click-through rate (CTR) which is used to measure the success of an online campaign.

Speed of Campaign

Another reason why companies choose internet marketing (online advertising) over offline advertising is the speed at which campaigns run. While most offline ad campaigns can take quite some time before the reader/viewer even sees the ad, advertising online is much quicker. From the moment you publish a new page, story or pay per click (PPC) ad it will be live on the internet and have the potential to be viewed by your targeted audience instantaneously. This means that you have to be much more particular with your timing of running an ad campaign offline, and often you are limited by outside influences, while internet advertising allows you to take that new story or ad live whenever it suits you.

While offline advertising still has its place in the world, the fact of the matter is that online advertising is growing rapidly because of several reasons – speed, cost effective, target specific and reach. Does this mean that you should let go of your offline campaign and go fully online? Not necessarily. But you definitely should include online advertising as part of your marketing strategy. Not only is it much faster, cheaper and targeted, but online advertising is also more flexible and offer you as business owner options to get your message across. At the end of the day you can be certain that even during tough times, you will see a positive ROI.

As SEO (search engine optimization) specialists it is important that we are always abreast of all things online, especially when it comes to Google. Everyday innovative ideas come to the forefront, adding to the competitiveness of online advertisers. The advertising industry in itself is rapidly growing and evolving too, which is why Google is working with the various types of advertising agencies, such as SEMs to the more traditional agencies, to ensure the overall success of online advertising.

To ensure that the standards of Google’s advertisers within the online advertising world always remain as high as possible, they created the certification programme.  This rigorous training programme trains and tests online specialists’ proficiency in AdWords. Recently Google decided that it was time to raise the bar however, with their new Google AdWords Certification programme, which is taking the place of their well known Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) programme.

If you know anything about Google you’d know that they are all about constant development and innovative ideas, and by creating this new programme they are affording advertisers, like the iLead SEO team, with the opportunity to advance their skills greatly. In turn this will obviously benefit the advertisers’ AdWords campaigns. In order to achieve this, AdWords professionals are required to follow Google’s rather difficult training programme that includes the most up-to-date, all-inclusive, strategy-focused information and material one could hope for on the latest tools, as well as the various practices to manage an AdWords account.

SEO professional training is available by way of the webinar series, learning centre or Google’s on-site training facility. Through these various ways iLead’s SEOs are able to create a better understanding of the latest changes in the manner which search marketing and AdWords functionalities operate.

If you think for one moment that you will be able to take on the more challenging certification exams without studying, you are sadly mistaken. It is tough and with the bar set very high, it is impossible to pass any of these exams by merely going on what you think you know. To begin with, the pass rates for the fundamental exams are 85%, while the more advanced tests require a minimum of 80% in order to pass. Moreover the fundamental exams aren’t merely on your knowledge of the practical application of the various tools and functionalities, but will also encompass the best practices when working on AdWords campaigns. Only once you’ve passed these will you be able to move on to the advanced-level exams wherein the specialist’s competency in analysis, display, search and reporting will be put to the test.

The iLead team of AdWords specialists will be taking on this gruelling task of writing the advanced-level exams in the upcoming month of August, 2010. Once all have passed they will be able to add the newly redesigned Certified Partner badge to their profiles.  This will allow the iLead clients, more noticeably referred to as the AdWords advertisers, to simply click on the badge in order to verify the qualification. In light of this we wish our team the very best for what is sure to be the most difficult test they are about to undertake.