TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: PPC Advertising, Click Fraud, and Its Effect on Search Engines

Re: PPC Advertising, Click Fraud, and Its Effect on Search Engines

T. Sean Weintz (strap@hanh-ct.org)
Tue, 19 Apr 2005 18:30:52 -0400

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As for myself, I cannot really picture
> 'five hundred thousand zombie computers scattered across three
> continents'. If so, under whose coordination? A gang of crackers all
> working in concert to cheat some advertiser's competitor, by running
> up his advertising bill? Seems sort of improbable to me. PAT]

There are easily that many zombies available out there. Doesn't need
any real coordination at all to use them -- there are automated
scripts available to find and use them.

I figure probably 1 in 50 home users' PC is "zombified" without them
knowing it.

Anyway, my point is one bright 13 yr old could do the whole operation
alone.

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess not everyone takes the trouble,
as I do, to automatically run Grisoft AVG in the early morning hours
on my machines, and Ad Aware and Spybot Smash and Destroy once per
week or so. PAT]

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