Putting a price on click fraud

Google is prepared to pay $90 million to settle a lawsuit over click fraud, the company said Wednesday.

Advertisers pay Google each time someone clicks on one of their ads. Click fraud refers to spurious clicks made manually or by computer programs, running up fees for the advertisers.

The search giant and other companies, including Yahoo and Time Warner, were sued in Texas over the practice. Google said in a blog posting that it would offer ad credits to marketers who claim they were charged for invalid clicks and not reimbursed.

Reactions to the settlement were mixed. Some investors were glad to see the matter go away, but slammed the company for the way it published the news in the first place.

Blog community response:

"On the PR side, it is hard to know which is more worrisome: That Eric, Larry, Sergey, and George would make the decision to have a subordinate deal with this in a blog post, or that the subordinates could be so out-of-touch with the real world that senior management wasn't even informed."
--Internet Outsider

"This settlement is a major victory for Google. Was it good for advertisers? Not sure. But I think the folks at Google are pleased as punch with the deal."
--John Battelle's Searchblog

"Setting aside 90 Million Dollars can't be a good sign to investors that they are handling the click fraud properly currently, or in the past. Or it could be just what advertisers want to hear. That Google is stepping up and being responsible."
--The Blog Herald