click forensics traffic quality management tom cuthbert, president & founder tom charvet, vice...
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Click Forensics Traffic Quality Management
Tom Cuthbert, President & FounderTom Charvet, Vice President &
Founder
IEEE
March 19, 2009
– EDUCATION:· Attended M.I.T. · BSEE with Highest Honors, Georgia Tech· MSEE, Southern Methodist University· Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, S.M.U.
– PUBLICATIONS:· Circuit Design Using Personal Computers· Optimization Using Personal Computers Applications for Electrical Networks· Broadband Direct-Coupled and Matching RF Networks· Four articles, RF Design, 1994, 1997, 2000· One article, IEEE Trans. Microwave Thy. Tech. Newsletter· One article, Applied Microwave and Wireless· Paper and presentation, IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems
– EXPERTISE· Design &Synthesis of Electrical Filters &Impedance-Matching RF Networks· Amplifier Design by Geometric Model and Mapping· Electronic Circuits in Frequency Ranges from VLF through K Bands· Optimization (Nonlinear Programming)· Numerical Methods and Analysis
– JOINED IEEE IN 1958, LIFE MEMBER
Tom Cuthbert
Click Fraud is like spam…
• Spam was up 25% in 2008• When McColo went offline in November,
the rate dropped 70%, it’s up 156% since• An unprotected user would have received
45,000 spam emails in 2008• Virus volume increased 6X in 2nd half ’08• Spammers have reinvested and are
constantly evolving their efforts
How Click Fraud Works
• Methods– Individual– Click farms– Bot and botnet
• Motivations– Competitive– Malicious– Financial
Types of Traffic Quality
ClickFraud
Valid Traffic
OtherInvalidTraffic Invalid Traffic
Likelihoodof
Conversion
Low
High
Valid Traffic
Invalid Traffic
Click Click TypeType
CharacteristicsCharacteristics
Click Bots Programmed for low frequency repeat clicking
Click Farms
Humans coached to use proxies and clean cookies
Competitors
Business & Keyword competitors
Internal Own & Partner clicks
Search Bots
Valid Bots that don’t properly identify themselves
Invalid Click Detection
Invalid Traffic Is MoreThan Just Click Fraud
Low Quality
Click FraudClick Fraud
Invalid Traffic
Types of Low Traffic Quality Reason
• Low conversion rates
• CPA too high
• Broad match conflict• Outside target service area
• Competitor Clicks
• Unacceptable type of site (MFA, Adult, etc.)
• Malicious intent• Click Farms• Bots/Botnets
CONFIDENTIAL 18
Five Major Threats To ROAS In CPC Campaigns
1. Like spam, bots and botnets are becoming more sophisticated and difficult to catch
2. Over 70% of all sites in Google Adsense and the Yahoo Publisher Network are made for ad sites or parked domains
3. Over 22% of all invalid activity comes from outside the targeted geo area of advertisers
4. Competitor clicks deplete ad spend
5. Brand infringement violations use established brands to send customers to competitor’s sites
Fully Automated Click Tracking Reconciliation
• FACTr completely automates the submission process of invalid campaign activity evidence
• The evidence report is a verifiable third-party audit containing a click-for-click breakdown of invalid activity
• Google, Yahoo, Looksmart and Miva are partners in this program with more to be announced soon
CONFIDENTIAL 23
FACTr™
Case Study:Click Forensics 6-Month ROI
45% reduction in invalid clicks Over $200k monthly savings Eliminated very expensive, low-quality clicks FACTr process produced credits for exceptions (>$100k/mo)
7% increase in conversion rates
FACTr
Traffic Segmentation
Click Fraud
• Traffic to Discard
1000
0
Marginal
Best
• Route Traffic Most Effectively
• Maximize Earnings Potential
Reading the Scoreboard
ClickScore - A three digit score that indicates whether a click is valid or invalid and serves as a predictor of conversion .
VisitorScore - A three digit score produced by each individual visitor. Represents the quality of visitor.
SiteScore™ - A three digit score that represents the traffic quality of an individual publisher or network.
Click Forensics 2008
Primary goal is to supply high quality traffic to advertisers from publishers to maximize revenue
Ad Network
Click Forensics 2008
Click Forensics measures the quality of traffic from publishers and report the results
Ad Network
Click Forensics 2008
Click Forensics augments existing blocking mechanisms that eliminates the poor quality visitors from viewing ads
Ad Network
Click Forensics 2008
The result is higher quality impressions and more valuable clicks delivered upstream
Ad Network
Click Forensics 2008
Standard
Discard
Premium
Reporting Tools
• View the SiteScores™ of the publishers in your network
• Monitor the VisitorScores™ of your worst offenders
• Gain insight into the geographic areas delivering high and low quality traffic
• Analyze trends within your traffic
• Export data into other applications for added analysis
• Setup near real time email alerts to monitor spikes in unwanted traffic
• Drill down for publisher and advertiser dispute resolution
Click Forensics 2008
Data Flow Diagram
Raw click data – transmitted via scp, sftp, or ftps. This can be scheduled near real time.
Ad Network
The Click Forensics API returns:
• Valid and Invalid Clicks and their ClickScores™• High threat visitors and their VisitorScores™• Publisher quality index and their SiteScores™• Known Offender Lists
Each click is rated and assigned a ClickScore™
Each visitor is rated and assigned a VisitorScore™
Each publisher is rated and assigned a SiteScore™
Click Forensics 2008
Putting It All To Work
• Blocking - Invalid traffic can be blocked before it ever reaches an advertiser
• Routing - Ad networks can route traffic appropriately to maximize earnings
• Intelligent Pricing – Traffic segmentation allows for quality-based pricing models
• Publisher/Advertiser Review - Ad Assurance automates the process for detecting malware in ad creative and sites.
• Reconciliation - Evidence of invalid traffic is recorded so that ad networks can reconcile payment with both publishers and advertisers