However, all of that may be about to change. At an investor conference last Wednesday, Google CFO George Reyes stated:

"I think something has to be done about this really, really quickly, because I think, potentially, it threatens our business model."

My question is this: What took Google so long to come to that realization? It's not like click fraud just magically appeared yesterday. The media has been reporting on problem for at least last 3 years.

Smug in its ivory tower, did Google think problem was just going to go away by itself? Or was it waiting for Overture or one of smaller pay-per-click companies to solve problem, so it wouldn't have to deal with it?

These are troubling questions, to say least. Even more troubling is Google's passive approach to a serious problem, which in my opinion has been reprehensible.

It should be interesting to see what Google's next move is. Google CFO George Reyes statement notwithstanding, I'll believe Google is serious about eliminating click fraud, when I finally see it!

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net

There are a number of viable options, but whatever you choose, you must remember that your business absolutely will not earn you a full-time income until you become a big-player in your niche. You must recognize this and structure your business plan around it; otherwise, you are setting yourself up for failure.

If this is not a good option for you, then you must consider option B:

MARKET YOUR PRODUCT TO A DIFFERENT GROUP OF BUYERS

When you think of your website, you may only be able to think of a couple words to describe it--the keywords you have been telling yourself you must use to make money, to get rankings, to make sales.

If these keywords are not working for you--if you either have a low conversion rate or poor rankings on search engines--then you must consider marketing to a different group of buyers. You can sell same product to an entirely different group and radically change your conversion rate and profit margin.

You can begin by finding new keywords to better target potential customers. Pay-per-click search engine advertising is one of best ways to do this. You can use overture's and google's tools to create a bigger, more specific set of keywords and then find out which keywords reach a respectable market and which ones draw a high conversion rate. Mix and match until you have best possible set.

Use ad tracking as much as possible to scientifically determine which ads are doing best. Once you have best set, optimize your website for those keywords. Figure out what people are thinking when they type in those exact words--what solution they are looking for and for what problem--and then find those people elsewhere and market to them in different ways.

And if this option wont work for you, then you must resort to something entirely different--option c:

ABANDON YOUR PRODUCT AND FIND A PROFITABLE NICHE

Sometimes you just run out of options and have to switch products. I personally would never suggest taking this route unless it comes down to either a) quitting marketing altogether or b) giving up on your current situation.

If it comes down to this, just switch your products and find another one that you wont have to fight so hard to sell.

This time, when you select your product, make sure you lazer-target a niche that will undoubtably be more profitable and easier to break into. Again, you can use PPCs and adwords to find which niches are overcrowded and which niches desparately need sellers.

You want to pick a specific product to market to a specific crowd with specific keywords that will provide a specific solution for a specific problem.

Be specific.

When you find this specific niche, build your business around it. Profit will flow in naturally.