Advertising is, and has always been, part art and part science. With direct marketing, science part takes center stage as there are common direct marketing measurements that can be utilized to verify results of advertising.

With increased popularity of direct marketing, success of advertising can be measured through a variety of common direct marketing methods such as cost per acquisition, cost per piece, and response rate.

Before continuing in describing these common direct marketing measurements in detail, it is beneficial to review one of direct marketing tools needed to determine success of mailing. The most important direct marketing tool is response mechanism. This is how you can gauge success, or lack of success, of a direct mail campaign. This is mechanism by which prospect will use to respond - it may be a postcard to request more information, an 800 number to call, or a website address to place an order. You can than utilize this response to determine success of direct mailing.

Pay per click (PPC) advertising continues to gain popularity in online marketing world as an effective and inexpensive way to drive targeted visitors to web sites. Research firm eMarketer reported that between 2002 and 2003 paid search listing market grew 175 percent. Major trusted search properties such as Google, Overture, FindWhat.com, and Kanoodle, all offer PPC campaigns in which you pay only when someone clicks through your banner ad or link. But PPC also has an enemy--click fraud--and understanding what it is and what to do about it should also be a key part of your PPC campaign.

What is Click Fraud?

Click fraud is when someone or something generates illegitimate hits on your banner or text advertisement causing you to pay for worthless clicks. AS PPC campaigns have grown in popularity and keyword prices and bidding have become more competetive, click fraud is on rise.

Online marketers are becoming increasingly worried about prospect of click fraud. According to CNET News, some marketing executives estimate that "up to 20 percent of fees in certain advertising categories continue to be based on nonexistent consumers in today's search industry."

This estimate is certainly unsettling for advertisers who, recently, have been paying hefty amounts bidding on desirable search terms. Financial analysts report that in year 2004 advertisers are paying an average of 45 cents per click. Compare this to 40 cents in 2003 and 30 cents in 2002; bidding wars continue to rise.

Who's Doing it and Why?

Click fraud perpetrators are most often motivated by trying to increase revenues from affiliate networks or attempting to damage competitors' revenues by forcing them to pay for worthless clicks. The Google Adsense program, in which affiliates receive payment for clicks whether they are real or not, has caused great concern for Google and has intensified its focus on click fraud.

Those engaged in click fraud use a variety of techniques to generate false clicks. Low cost international workers from all over world are hired to locate and click on ads. The Times of India provided investigative reporting on payment for manual click fraud happening in India. Unethical companies may pay their own employees to click on competitor ads. Last but not least, click fraud can be generated by online robots programmed to click on advertiser or affiliate ads. Some companies go to great lengths creating intricate software that allows for this to happen.