'TheOcho writes "Webhost company AIT has decided to file a class action lawsuit against the internet giant Google. According to the article the dispute is over click fraud. AIT claims they have lost around $500 000 due to fraudulent clicks. They claim that Google is hitting their website from 'the same IP addresses'."'

'Click fraud' is such a harsh a term; I prefer to call it 'incorrect click recording'. Jokes aside, the latter term is probably the more accurate one, since it's unlikely that there's any deceptive component behind what's going on. Presumably Google's search robot doesn't index Google's own search pages (it would be mutually recursive if it did), and presumably when a robot crawls an AdWords link it isn't charged out to the client. Assuming, then, that there's no negligent behaviour on Google's part, should the company be liable for the malicious clicks of a competitor who deliberately clicks on an advertisement multiple times in succession with the intention of exhausting the advertiser's campaign?

The best way to prevent this kind of error would simply be to limit the number of times a single IP address can register and a billable ad click in a given span of time. Of course, temporarily storing and checking IP addresses may involve a change to Google's already shaky privacy policy, and entail a substantial loss of revenue.

Originally by ScuttleMonkey at Slashdot: Your Rights Online, 2:34 PM

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