This is a huge problem. There is no "pay per click" Company denying that click fraud exists. Web analytics companies estimate that 50% of all click activity is fraudulent.

This means that your pay per click marketing activities are half effective as they could be because of click fraud.

Overture spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens refutes that in estimate, numbers likely represent acts of fraud that are ultimately caught. She added that Overture filters most fraudulent clicks with best antifraud system in industry, which combines technology and human analysis.

Most advertisers are aware of click-fraud issue but have not delved into it because of technical complexities involved. Others are concerned that they could jeopardize their relationships with powerful search networks if they complain too loudly.

One of best ways to eliminate click fraud is using anti click fraud services such as ppctrax. They provide services like below:

IP address capture. IP address geographic Location. User Agent (browser, bot etc.) See exactly what keywords are generating your clicks Date and Time stamp System detects sudden click spikes from one or more IP addresses Real-time email alerts at 80% and 100% of your account's transaction utilization IP address history - alert you to prior offenders

Another similar service is "who is clicking who". Other way is click fraud capture software like Click Auditor.

The scammers really, really wanted my eBay account number, but I was deleting their e-mails without clicking on their link. So they upped ante. Because I didn’t reply, supposed “eBay Fraud Mediation” people stepped in and got more and more testy as I didn’t supply them with my eBay account number.

I felt perfectly relaxed through all of this, not only because I got each notice in triplicate (one from each sucker list I’m on) but because I DON’T HAVE AN EBAY ACCOUNT! If I had one, I might have worried, and then done sensible thing: GONE TO THE OFFICIAL EBAY WEBSITE AND ASKED THEM IF THEY SENT IT. My husband did that once and got a form indicating (1) they get a zillion of these things, and (2) they don’t send e-mails like that. It was a scam, all right.

•Anti-scam rule 3: eBay and other legitimate organizations are NOT going to ask you to confirm your account information in an e-mail.

•Anti-scam rule 4: If you are not sure whether an e-mail is from a legitimate organization or is a scam, go to legitimate organization’s website (rather than clicking on a possibly infected e-mail link) and ask them if they sent it.

Coming next: most vicious scam of all.