Click Fraud Up Slightly

The level of click fraud grew slightly from 13.7 to 14.1 percent of clicks during the last quarter, according to Click Forensics. The consulting firm surveyed 1,300 online marketers and found that 12.8 percent of clicks on Google's network were fraudulent, while Yahoo had 12.1 percent of bogus clicks, according to the Associated Press.

Click Forensics has 1,300 customers and signed up with MIT to further study the problem.

While Google and Yahoo may be doing a better than average job of addressing the problem, advertisers are tiring of giving away 10-15 percent of their ad dollars. Paying per click probably will fade away within five years unless a near-perfect fraud prevention technology arises. CPA alternatives will become mainstream, and even Google sees that writing on the wall.