So, what's source of these shockwaves? Click fraud. As my readers know, I've written several articles on subject of click fraud, suggesting that since it's market leader, Google should take a more proactive approach with problem of click fraud.

Until now, Google has been mostly quiet about subject, issuing this single statement to Securities and Exchange Commission:

"We are exposed to risk of fraudulent clicks on our ads. We have regularly paid refunds related to fraudulent clicks and expect to do so in future. If we are unable to stop this fraudulent activity, these refunds may increase. If we find new evidence of past fraudulent clicks, we may have to issue refunds retroactively of amounts previously paid to our Google Network members."

So, why isn't Google doing more about click fraud? In one of my articles, I theorized that with amount of money involved, it's actually more cost effective for Google to issue an occasional refund to its advertisers, than to develop technology to eliminate click fraud.

That theory was echoed in a recent article, in which author wrote:

Having Trouble Making Money? You Might Have A Nasty Case of MCN.

Do you spend majority of your time trying to convince your prospects that they absolutely must buy your product? Are you experiencing low conversion rates and high negative-response rates? Are you starting to feel like internet marketing success really is just a myth? Do you think everyone is lying to you?

These are all symptoms of MCN, marketing in a crowded niche. If you're dealing with them on a regular basis, chances are there are just plain too many people selling a similiar product to your same targeted customer base.

But don't worry--this isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, realizing this information may be best thing that ever happens to your business.

But now that you do know you are marketing in an overcrowded niche, you must choose a specific path for your business if you want to acheive profit.

You must decide if you want to a) prepare for a long fight to top (of your niche); b) market your same product to a different group of buyers; or c) abandon your product, find a profitable niche, and then build a new business around it.

Of course, there are pros and cons to each decision, but as long as you recognize need to make a decision--and then create a clear, honest business plan to make money with that choice--you wont run into trouble.

Let's start with option A:

PREPARE FOR A LONG FIGHT TO THE TOP

If your niche is so crowded that you haven't broken into profit after several of months of marketing, this does not mean that your niche is unprofitable--it means exact opposite: your niche is so unbelievably in-demand and profitable that everyone is trying to build around it.

You may not be making money with this route now, but if you stick with it and continually make progress, then you are almost guaranteed to make an enormous amount of money when your business reaches critical mass--when your website has a lot of backlinks from high-traffic sites; when your webpage is ranked highly in search engines for your specific niche keywords; when other marketers in your niche begin to seek you out for interviews and for joint ventures; and when you begin making your own products to fill gaps in your niche. . .

'Preparing for a long fight to top' also means not relying on your main business as a cashcow--as your source of income--for time being. This is always a huge mistake.