(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Google appears to be doing reasonably well protecting advertisers from scam artists preying upon the Internet's largest marketing network, but it remains unclear how much the system is being bilked under a ruse known as click fraud, according to an independent report filed in court.
Alexander Tuzhilin, a professor of information systems at New York University, compiled the 47-page analysis of Google's fraud-fighting defenses as part of a proposed $90 million class-action settlement that will be considered for final approval in a two-day hearing scheduled to begin in an Arkansas state court.
At least 51 objections have been filed against the settlement, which would pay up to $30 million to lawyers and divvy up the remainder to thousands of advertisers worldwide.
The advertisers paid for each click on short text ads primarily tied to requests entered into Google's Internet-leading search engine during the past 4 1/2 years. Google also distributes the ads to thousands of other Web sites that share in the commissions.
Those austere ads have generated $15.7 billion in revenue for Google and its partners since 2001, turning the company into one of the world's most prized businesses.
Clicking on the ads, typically displayed at the top and sides of Web pages, triggers sales commissions even if the activity doesn't lead to a sale. Click fraud cropped up several years ago as a way to drain advertising budgets or funnel illicit revenue to Web sites that belong to Google's network.
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