I guess Google would be the one's you'd expect to say there is no click fraud, or that there's so little fraud (try 0.02%) that it's not worth suing us ….or don't get your hopes up when you sue Google for Click Fraud – this comes from SearchEngineLand.  Here's 5 definitions:

"…

• Invalid Clicks: This is a Google term. It means that of ALL the clicks Google ads generate, a percentage of these are deemed "invalid." These are clicks that Google makes no money from. It either never bills for invalid clicks or eventually issues a refund. Not all invalid clicks are necessarily fraudulent (such as in cases of quick double-clicks that aren't billed).
   
• Fraudulent Clicks: These are the percentage of clicks that an advertiser is charged for when the person (or bot) clicking is doing so to purposely cost the advertiser money or make money for themselves through an ad program.
   
• Overall Click Fraud Rate: This is the number of fraudulent clicks as a percentage of ALL clicks that happen, regardless of whether Google issues a refund or doesn't bill.
   
• Detected Click Fraud Rate: This is the number of fraudulent clicks as a percentage of ALL clicks that happen where Google generates a refund after performing a requested or "reactive" investigation asked for by an advertiser. Google would call this the "re actively identified invalid click" rate.
   
• Undetected Click Fraud Rate: This is the number of fraudulent clicks as a percentage of ALL clicks that happen where no refund has happened because neither Google or the advertiser spotted the fraud.

But it's all in how Click Fraud is defined.  If 30% of the clicks are fraudulent but Google detects it and prevent the fraud from applying to your account – then they say there are little or now Click Fraud.

Honestly, I don't know ….. but 0.02% seems awfully low.

I went ahead and submitted my application to the Web Analytics Association tonight to be a member of the Board - I asked Bryan Eisenberg and Gary Angel to sponsor me… so we'll see what happens in a month or so when voting starts:

In fact, WAA members have from 12 noon (Eastern Time) Friday April 1st till close at 10 pm (Eastern Time) on Thursday April 15th, 2007 to vote (hopefully for me).

Let's put it this way …I'll remind everyone right around April 1st about voting; but before that, you need to join the Web Analytics Association. 

if your a web analyst you probably should be a member anyway – but if your not yet a member it's easy enough to sign up.

And this is what your get when you sign up and become a member:

"..WAA member benefits include:

Discounts to Industry Events
Our partners and sponsors offer discounts to their events to all WAA members. Current offers are listed on this Members Only page.

Networking Opportunities
A variety of ways to interact with the world's best and brightest web analytics professionals.

Ground-floor Involvement
Opportunities to help develop and shape industry standards and best practices.

Continuing Education
Various focused and expert-level programs to ultimately result in certification for web analytics professionals.

Publication Discounts
A wide variety of industry-related journals, books and white papers.

Conference Discounts
Reduced entry fees for Emetrics Summit and other industry events.

Discussion List
Explore topics with other influential members of the web analytics industry.

Member Directory
Get to know who else in the industry is as passionate as you about web analytics."

Anyone that's on the fence ought to join – because this is our association – there's no other one that's really all about just Web Analytics.

Plus, if you join, vote for me – I'll do my best to bring the same passion to the Web Analytics association as I do to Webmetricsguru.com

Just heard the news tonight – IBM to pipe Google gadgets into company sites according to Reuters/Yahoo:

"…By allowing Google Gadgets to work within its WebSphere Portal, IBM is making it easier for companies to give employees access to popular Web applications while keeping control over how they are used. Companies can decide which Google Gadgets they can see."

Ok, this is how I envision this partnership:   I log into my W3 page while at IBM and I get a whole bunch of Widgets that are merged into the Intranet applications running internally ….and so do a lot of other companies running Websphere Portal Server.

So.. the question is ….. why can't anyone, today, go out and get any Widget themselves and place it on most pages they have some control over?   It's not about the Widget's so much, it's the hybrid applications that will come into being down the line:

"…Beyond the novelty of running Google Gadgets on corporate networks, the IBM-Google deal lays a foundation for IBM to deliver hybrid applications that infuse consumer ease of use into existing business applications, Bowden said."

Should be interesting.