A big chunk of the $550 million Facebook is expected to make this year comes from small self-service advertisers, a group that TechCrunch's Michael Arrington notes isn't too happy right now due to
pervasive click fraud. Actual complaints can be found at
WickedFire, where advertisers claim
they're seeing click fraud of up to 100%. Says one poster: "Its clear the problem is getting worse daily ... Facebook is never going to admit to whats going on. I can almost guarantee you that."
Click fraud occurs when bots rack up scores of fake clicks, thus depleting an advertisers' budget. In that case, advertisers can actually see the clicks as they're reported, but in the case
of Facebook, the social net seems to be recording and charging for clicks that don't exist at all, even from bots (according to the aggrieved advertisers). Their tracking software is reporting numbers
that are 20-100% lower than what Facebook is reporting.
In a response, Facebook said it was on the case and would have the controversy sorted out by the end of the day: "Over the past few
days, we have seen an increase in suspicious clicks. We have identified a solution which we have already begun to implement and expect will be completely rolled out by the end of today. In addition,
we are identifying impacted accounts and will ensure that advertisers are credited appropriately."
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