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Quote:A UK-based service aims to emulate Spamhaus' success in helping organisations block spam by tackling web advertising fraud.

As much as 70 per cent of annual online advertising spend is wasted because of click fraud, according to Clickhaus, a not-for-profit project that aims to help combat the loss of revenue caused by click fraud. Online advertisers stand to lose $1.6bn in wasted ad expenditure by 2008 because of the problem.

Clickhaus aims to help online advertisers clamp down on abuse by compiling a database of IP addresses associated with click fraud in much the same way Spamhaus compiles a list of addresses associated with spam and spam-related botnet activity...

Quote:How click fraud affects business

        * As much as 70% of annual online advertising spending is wasted because of click fraud.
    * Corrupt affiliates of ad networks such as Google and Yahoo account for 85% of all click fraud.

How Do They Do It?

Click fraud can be automated or manual. It can be as simple as a rival occasionally clicking on competitor ads just to push his advertising costs up. But click fraud can be sophisticated as well. A common method is to use online robots, or “bots,” programmed to click on advertisers’ links. A growing alternative uses low-cost workers in China, India and other countries to click on text links and other ads. These fraudulent clicks are harder to trace because they can be spread across a large network.

What will clickhaus do?

clickhaus will provide a service allowing professionals, advertisers and search engines the ability to report instances of click fraud. This information will then be made available for public use, helping organizations quickly identify click fraud, stop any potential losses and recover funds that were paid out for fraudulent clicks.