A Flight to Quality in Online Advertising

[mandy]

As companies get savvier about where to place their ads, there's a flight to quality

... not all the Internet numbers tell the truth. The same technology that's smart enough to target ads automatically, and to count them, can also be engineered to churn out false clicks by the millions. Google, for one, has agreed to reimburse advertisers plagued with fraudulent clicks since 2002 for as much as $90 million.

And cyber scoundrels aren't the only ones messing with numbers. Concerns about privacy are leading an estimated 10% of Web surfers to erase their Internet cookies on a regular basis. These little bits of code dropped into computers by publishers and advertisers carry out useful chores, like remembering passwords and preferences. For advertisers, they provide the kind of detailed customer information that makes the Internet irresistible. Add up the click fraud and the erased cookies, and it may look as though Internet advertising is facing a counting crisis...

full article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/con...977401.htm