I spoke at length yesterday with Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google’s Business Product Manager, Trust & Safety, about “click fraud.” The opportunity to go beyond formulaic public relations statements yielded interesting tidbits of insight into how Google accounts for valid vs. invalid clicks and on its mechanisms for detecting “fraudsters.” Barry Schnitt, Google spokesperson, was also on the phone.

GOOGLE DEFINITIONS

According to Google, its advertisers are charged for “valid clicks,” but not for “invalid clicks.” A straightforward analysis of Google’s accounting for clicks, therefore, ought to start with definitions: What is the definition of a “valid click” and what is the definition of an “invalid click.”

Clarity is difficult to come by, however, as Google often publicly defines the two terms simply in relation to each other.

Read more on Google's view on valid and invalid clicks and also on click auditing methods at ZDNet blog.