Click fraud is the bane of my existence. And NOT because it’s actually a problem. The PROBLEM is that every time a fear-mongering article comes out about click-fraud, I no longer get to talk about how we can help businesses grow. Instead, I get to spend my time talking people down out of trees. To put it mildly, it gets in the way of our goal to transform the Michigan economy one business at a time.

I am inspired to address the issue of click fraud after reading this New York Times (NYT) “article” (it’s actually an ad, but someone forwarded it to me that thought it was an article, so clearly the advertiser got their money’s worth). The ad takes the typical assault on Google AdWords to a whole new level. It quotes the director of the Center for Digital Democracy, which claims Obama ought to immediately address the issue:

Click fraud should be at the top of the priority list with Obama and the F.T.C.

Here’s my unusually unabashed take: if your paid search suffers from click-fraud, well… somebody isn’t doing their job. (And I’m not talking about Obama!)

I hardly know where to begin addressing this click fraud hyperbole! However, a class in AdWords management might be a good start. My personal bet would be that far more money is lost on paid search due to common setup mistakes than click fraud. Thank goodness for publications like Corp! magazine that are helping to educate the business community about online marketing pitfalls. Just a few days ago Corp! ran an article we contributed on the very subject of search marketing mistakes that can crash your campaign.

The thing that makes paid search different from many other forms of advertising is its inherent measurability. You shouldn’t be pouring money into it without asking what you’re getting out of it. Consequently, I’m not sure whether to describe this next statement from the NYT ad as amusing or absurd:

…according to the click fraud detection business Click Forensics, marketers are wasting more money than ever. Because of the troubled economy, companies have shifted their advertising dollars to more cost-effective formats like pay-per-click advertising…

Don’t get me wrong. I understand where they are going with this and I even think services like Click Forensics can be useful… I just happen to disagree with the framing of the conversation because this kind of propaganda creates unnecessary, and unproductive, fear. “Wasting more money than ever” is balderdash.

I believe any form of advertising has “waste” in the system:

• How many newspapers full of ads rot in driveways?
• How many television ads have you Tivo’d through?
• How many billboards have you whizzed past?
• Need I say more?

If you want Obama to regulate paid search because of the “waste,” why not every form of advertising? <sigh>

What I’d much rather talk about is the contribution Google AdWords and similar systems like Yahoo! can make in growing sales for all sorts of companies. Granted, it’s not a one-size-fits-all thing, but honestly – is any form of advertising? Paid search is powerful when you understand what makes it tick, and use that to your advantage. There are a lot of leverage points in paid search, and if you diligently refine them all, you’ll create what we call an “online sales engine.”

What’s an online sales engine? A measurable, repeatable process that generates online sales – profitably. If you need help figuring out where the leverage points are, to get your online sales engine humming along, give us a call. We’re happy to help. Just promise me you won’t blame the President if your AdWords experiment doesn’t work out. He may not be perfect, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.