What is click fraud

Can anyone explain click fraud to me?

Also I am trying to set up a new contract with our PPC agency and need to add a section in the contract about the success rate of a click on a advert to landing on the webpage. What is the industry term for this?

Click fraud is unwanted traffic and the cost created by it.

This unwanted traffic can be from competitors trying to manipulate your or their position on google, or adsense subscribers trying to inflate their adsense revenue by clicking on your ads.

Proxy servers are used (1 server multiple domains and users) and enable inaccurate tracking.

For example I get non-US traffic from every PPC out there. I specifically checked the US traffic only box, but I get non-US IP's from every one of them. A company can display your ad on their site, then have multiple end-users from where ever click your $2.00 ad and they receive 80% of what the generated.

There are also hitbots (software) programs that do this as well.

Bottom line is, if you have a PPC campaign running you'd better have click tracking as well.

Thanks that explains the concept are there any good technologies to identify.

Also is there something called click to visit failure where there is a percentage of PPC clicks that fail to land on a site?

Yes thats where tracking software plays into this scenario.

PPC's charge for clicks, tracking software track unique IP's.

This help when you have someone clicking on your ad (a competitor or adsense participant), unless the run it through a proxy server. In this case you need tracking software.

I use DirectTracks so I can set non-US IP's to be rejected and set the cookies not to duplicate either, thereby getting you TRUE unique traffic and proof to talk to your rep about.

ps. - No. The PPC's wouldn't volunteer that info and your own tracking wouldn't beable to track it.