The Top Tens in the world Part 4

Ice Cream Consumers






Top Ten Nations with the largest workforce







Countries with the heist divorce rates







The highest house hold size






The fastest car in the world

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The Top Tens in the world Part 3

The most common cases of accidental death







Bottle water drinking nations






The mot intriguing characters







Most intelligent breeds of dogs







Lowest average birth weights

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The Top Tens in the world Part 2

Top Ten Countries with the most number of cows




Top Ten Coffee drinking nations






Top Ten European castles






Top Ten Best discount broker in the USA

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The Top Tens in the world Part 1

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Google AdSense Program Policies Part 2

Site Behavior
Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation.

Competitive Ads and Services
In order to prevent user confusion, publishers may not display Google ads or search boxes on websites that also contain other ads or services formatted to use the same layout and colours as the Google ads or search boxes on that site. Although you may sell ads directly on your site, it is your responsibility to ensure that these ads cannot be confused with Google ads.

Google Advertising Cookies
AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users' browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.
Google uses the DoubleClick DART cookie on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. Subject to any applicable laws, rules and regulations, you will have the sole and exclusive right to use all data derived from your use of the DoubleClick DART cookie for any purpose related to your business, provided that Google may use and disclose this data subject to the terms of Google's advertising privacy policies and any applicable laws, rules and regulations.

If your current advertising services contract with Google or DoubleClick already has a specific provision defining data ownership, that provision instead of this policy will govern with regard to the data collected under that contract.

Product-Specific Policies

AdSense for content: Up to three ad units and three link units may be placed on each page.

AdSense for search: A maximum of two Google AdSense for search boxes may be placed per page. Also, a single link unit or a search box, but no other Google ads, may be placed on pages with AdSense for search results. Queries must originate from users inputting data directly into the search box and cannot be modified. This includes pre-populating the search box with terms or hard-coding direct links to search results pages. AdSense for search code may not be integrated into any software application such as a toolbar.

Additional Products:
AdSense for mobile
AdSense for video
AdSense for feeds
AdSense for domains

Source: AdSense Help

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Google AdSense Program Policies Part 1

Publishers participating in the AdSense program are required to adhere to the following policies, so please read them carefully. If you fail to comply with these policies, we reserve the right to disable ad serving to your site and/or disable your AdSense account at any time. If your account is disabled, you will not be eligible for further participation in the AdSense program.

Invalid Clicks and Impressions
Publishers may not click their own ads or use any means to inflate impressions and/or clicks artificially, including manual methods.
Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest. Any method that artificially generates clicks or impressions on your Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools and the use of robots or deceptive software. Please note that clicking your own ads for any reason is prohibited.

Encouraging Clicks

Publishers may not ask others to click their ads or use deceptive implementation methods to obtain clicks. This includes, but is not limited to, offering compensation to users for viewing ads or performing searches, promising to raise money for third parties for such behavior or placing images next to individual ads.
In order to ensure a good experience for users and advertisers, publishers participating in the AdSense program may not:
Compensate users for viewing ads or performing searches, or promise compensation to a third party for such behavior.
Encourage users to click the Google ads using phrases such as "click the ads", "support us", "visit these links" or other similar language.
Direct user attention to the ads using arrows or other graphical gimmicks.
Place misleading images alongside individual ads.
Place ads in a floating box script.
Format ads so that they become indistinguishable from other content on that page.
Format site content so that it is difficult to distinguish it from ads.
Place misleading labels above Google ad units. For instance, ads may be labelled "Sponsored Links" or "Advertisements", but not "Favourite Sites" or "Today's Top Offers".

Content Guidelines
Publishers may not place AdSense code on pages with content that violates any of our content guidelines. Some examples include content that is adult, violent or advocating racial intolerance.
Sites with Google ads may not include or link to:
Pornography, adult or mature content
Violent content
Content related to racial intolerance or advocacy against any individual, group or organisation
Excessive profanity
Hacking/cracking content
Gambling or casino-related content
Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia content
Sales of beer or hard alcohol
Sales of tobacco or tobacco-related products
Sales of prescription drugs
Sales of weapons or ammunition (e.g. firearms, firearm components, fighting knives, stun guns)
Sales of products that are replicas or imitations of designer goods
Sales or distribution of coursework or student essays
Content regarding programs which compensate users for clicking ads or offers, performing searches, surfing websites or reading emails
Any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others

Publishers are also not permitted to place AdSense code on pages with content primarily in an unsupported language.

Copyrighted Material
AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on webpages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. Please see our DMCA policy for more information.

Webmaster Guidelines

AdSense publishers are required to adhere to the webmaster quality guidelines.
Do not place excessive, repetitive or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of webpages.
Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
Do not include deceptive or manipulative content or construction to improve your site's search engine ranking (e.g. your site's PageRank).
Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

Traffic Sources

Google ads may not be placed on pages receiving traffic from certain sources. For example, publishers may not participate in paid-to-click programs, send unwanted emails or display ads as the result of the action of any software application. Also, publishers using online advertising must ensure that their pages comply with Google's Landing Page Quality Guidelines.

To ensure a positive experience for Internet users and Google advertisers, sites displaying Google ads may not:
Use third-party services that generate clicks or impressions such as paid-to-click, paid-to-surf, autosurf and click-exchange programs.
Be promoted through unsolicited mass emails or unwanted advertisements on third-party websites.
Display Google ads, search boxes or search results as a result of the actions of software applications such as toolbars.
Be loaded by any software that can trigger pop-ups, redirect users to unwanted websites, modify browser settings or otherwise interfere with site navigation. It is your responsibility to ensure that no ad network or affiliate uses such methods to direct traffic to pages that contain your AdSense code.
Receive traffic from online advertising unless the site complies with the spirit of Google's Landing Page Quality Guidelines. For instance, users should easily be able to find what your ad promises.

Ad Behavior
AdSense code may not be altered, nor may the standard behavior, targeting or delivery of ads be manipulated in any way that is not explicitly permitted by Google. For instance, clicking Google ads may not result in a new browser window being launched.

Ad Placement
Publishers are encouraged to experiment with a variety of placements and ad formats. However, AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software. Publishers must also adhere to the policies for each product used.
Google ads, search boxes or search results may not be:
Integrated into a software application of any kind, including toolbars.
Displayed in pop-ups or pop-unders.
Placed in emails or in email programs.
Obscured by elements on a page.
Placed on any non-content-based page.
Placed on pages published specifically for the purpose of showing ads.
Placed on pages whose content or URL could confuse users into thinking it is associated with Google due to the misuse of logos, trademarks or other brand features.
Placed on, within or alongside other Google products or services in a manner that violates the policies of that product or service.

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How to Avoid PPC Scams

When we talk about PPC Scams we are referring to technology companies that charge for Pay Per Click (PPC) without giving you detailed information about where your marketing dollars are going. Unfortunately, this has become a very common practice. We are not sure whether it is due to the fact that customers don't have a general idea of how it all works, or if its because PPC Advertising is still relatively new (to most people) and is not regulated. Probably a combination of both..

Here is what you want to watch out for:

Set Rates: This is the biggest money maker for Internet marketing companies. They give you a set rate (I.e. - $500 per/month) for your PPC campaigns. Some will tell you that they are spending "X" dollars on the PPC and rest on the management fee. How do you know it's true? Others will even take it a step further and give you no information.

No Statistic Reporting: You hire a business to manage your Internet Advertising. They do it for a period of time and give you no indication of whether it is working. You don't know how much your clicks cost, how many clicks your getting, what geographical locations are being served, etc. The only checkup you can do is to perform a Google Search of your keywords and hope to see your ad.

Contracts: Most Internet marketing companies want you to sign a 12 month (or more) contract for their services. This locks you into Internet marketing [with them] for a year! What if your not getting your ROI? What if they're not doing a good job? What if anything?

All three of the items above are suggesting one thing; you will not know what is going on with your Internet marketing if you do not choose the right company.

In order to avoid the scams above (and many others), we recommend that you use Asset Technology's Internet Marketing Services. Our Internet marketing approach is like no other on the net and shows why we are becoming the leader in PPC Management Services. Here is our program and how it works:

Contracts: NONE
Cost: $89 per / month + $200 Setup Fee
Statistics: Monthly Reports

How it works:

Our Internet Marketing Specialists first look at your website to determine strategy of landing pages, content, etc. We then create professional campaigns through Google AdWords that cater to the needs of your potential customer. After determining keywords, cost per click, number of campaigns, etc., we recommend a monthly budget for your Internet Advertising. You (the client) then determine if you want to raise/lower that budget on a monthly basis when we provide our Statistic Reports. You are in complete control.

Example: You budget $250 per month on your clicks (that are billed directly to you from Google), you will then receive a monthly invoice of $89 for our management fee. You will also receive monthly reports that show statistics like visitors that month, avg. time on site, conversion [sales] rate, geographical location of where your clicks came from, avg. amount of pages they viewed on your site, etc, etc, etc. These statistics not only show you the that our marketing works, but will also give you detailed information on how to cater to your customer via your website.

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Report: Click Fraud At Record High

Report: Click Fraud At Record High

17.1% of all clickthroughs on web advertising are the result of click fraud - the act of clicking on a web ad to artificially increase its click-through rate - according to the latest report from Click Forensics, a company that specializes in monitoring and preventing internet crime. The level of clickfraud is the highest the company has seen since it started monitoring for it in 2006, dashing our hopes that it might hold steady in 2008. The company recorded a rate of 16.3% in Q1 2008.

Also alarming is the fact that over 30% of click fraud is now coming from automated bots - a 14% increase from last quarter and the highest rate Click Forensics has seen since it started collecting data. Click fraud for ads on content networks like Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network was up to 28.2% from 27.1% last quarter, though that figure has decreased since Q4 2007, when it was at 28.3%. Outside of the US, Click Forensics reports that the most click fraud came from Canada (which contributed 7.4%), Germany (3%), and China (2.3%).

Click Forensics also notes that it has seen a reemergence with some old-hat tricks, like link farms. The company speculates that the increase may be tied to the poor economy, which has spurred a rise in activity like phishing and other cybercrime.




Website: clickforensics.com
Location: Austin, Texas, United States
Funding: $15M


Click Forensics offers auditing services to both advertisers and Web publishers who want to keep tabs on how many clicks on their ads are fraudulent.

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The Growth of Click Fraud

Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Excerpt Part 2
By: Boris Mordkovich and Eugene Mordkovich


Excessive clicking on links to websites and forms of online advertising not tied to a cost-per-click payment is nothing new to the online community. Ever since the beginning of the Internet as a commercial enterprise, excessive clicking on search engine listings was used to create a sense of “popularity” of the website. which often led to improved rankings on the search engine (Stefanie Olsen, “Exposing Click Fraud”).

It is partly because of this early type of questionable clicking that search engines began to explore different methods of ranking websites, leading eventually to today’s reliance on complex algorithms, robot crawls, the infamous Google Dance, relevancy ratings, related links, content, popularity, and so on.

Repeated clicking on pay-per-click advertising is not a recent development, but it has become a major problem for all parties involved.

This phenomenon, now referred to as “click fraud,” has been a part of the Internet for quite some time. One of the earliest successful strikes against this type of fraud was conducted by Jessie C. Stricchiola, President of Alchemist Media, Inc., who identified and successfully procured a refund on behalf of the national corporation Chase Law Group against Goto.com (now Yahoo! Search Marketing) late in the year 2001.

It wasn’t until later in 2002, however, that many companies began to discuss the issue in online articles and forums. One of the main problems with combating click fraud seemed to be that there were so many different interests involved.

Or course, advertisers were concerned that their ad dollars were being wasted. Yet, if they were also affiliates, they saw the potential of making back some of their own click fraud losses by practicing click fraud themselves.

Search engines were interested in maximizing ad revenues (which click fraud accomplished for them), yet realized that if they didn’t help control click fraud, eventually they would lose those very advertisers and their ad revenue.

In addition, some people who were involved in click fraud didn’t understand that what they were doing was wrong. This was particularly true if they were not very computer literate or had themselves been a victim of click fraud. In some cases, they had even been told they were helping the very people whose ad dollars they were depleting, because clicking on their ads increased the popularity of the website.

However, click fraud didn’t really become a huge problem until pay-per-click advertising became more prevalent. Logic dictates that if there is nothing to practice click fraud upon, it is unlikely to be a large problem. Unfortunately, the increased popularity of pay-per-click advertising has concurrently revived the practice of fraudulently clicking on paid advertising.

Although many suspected fraudulent clicks were depleting their ad accounts, it wasn’t until a few landmark cases came to light that the online advertising industry began to react to the growing problem.

Estimates of the extent of the problem today vary widely, and this is a subject of much discussion among advertisers and PPC search engines. Estimates range from a low of 10% to as much as 50% of clicks falling into the fraudulent category. The search engines usually claim that, although it is a significant problem, it falls toward the lower percentage. Developers of tools and software to counteract click fraud, however, lean toward the higher figure.

However, everyone does agree that click fraud has been a problem in the past and that it is becoming an even greater problem now. Left to flourish on its own, click fraud ultimately could bring the entire pay-per-click industry grinding to a halt, with advertisers losing enough money on their ad campaigns to drop their ROIs to negative numbers. This, in turn, could lead them to withdraw from this type of advertising altogether.

The domino effect from such a retreat could have a massive effect on search engines in general, most of which now rely on paid advertising as a prime source of income for growth in the marketplace. Both sides have a great stake in controlling and ultimately bringing click fraud statistics down to the lowest possible percentage.

As long as there are people willing to commit fraud, however, click fraud will never be completely eliminated. Advertisers and search engines agree, however, that the issue needs to be addressed now, before it gets completely out of hand.

Probably the most infamous and audacious click-fraud case, which caught the attention of the industry and alerted them to the potential danger of click fraud, involved an individual named Michael Anthony Bradley. Mr. Bradley developed a software program that he called “Google Clique.” He claimed that the program allowed clicking on pay-per-click ads in such as way as to be virtually undetectable to search engines.

Bradley told Google that if they were not interested in purchasing his software at a reported price of $100,000, he would send copies of it to at least 100 spammers worldwide. This would result in fraud in the neighborhood of at least $5 million in the course of six months. Bradley was charged with extortion and wire fraud in March of 2004.

Later in the year, another significant lawsuit brought to the forefront another type of click fraud, this time involving affiliates. On November 15, 2004, Google sued one of the advertisers on its AdSense program (which involves websites including a PPC ad on their site in return for a portion of the income earned by Google when someone clicks on that ad).

The lawsuit claimed that Auctions Expert International, a Houston, Texas-based company, “ flagrantly abused (Google) by artificially and/or fraudulently generating ad clicks…. These clicks were worthless to advertisers, but generated significant and unjust revenue for defendants.” Key to the lawsuit was the claim by Google that the site itself was set up specifically for the purpose of click fraud and was never intended to be a legitimate auction website.

Experts in click fraud are of two minds concerning these two significant cases. One side believes that businesses need to accept the fact that a certain amount of click fraud is inevitable, just as offline businesses accept the fact that they will be subject to a certain percentage of loss due to shoplifting and other means.

Those who adhere to this view generally believe that the search engines are doing all they can to identify the culprits and rectify the situation via refunds to their advertisers. They also believe that advertisers need to consider click fraud part of the cost of doing business online and that they should take whatever steps are possible to detect it (more on this later in the chapter).

Other experts, most notably Jessie Stricchiola from Alchemist Media, who is one of the earliest analysts to identify and deal with click fraud issues in paid advertising, see the problem slightly differently. They tend to view the public actions by Google against click fraud activities as a means of deflecting advertisers’ concerns. To these analysts, search engines appear to be either unable or unwilling to commit the resources needed to combat click fraud. Instead, they place the onus on the advertiser to detect and report it; then the advertiser must rely on the search engine’s judgment as to whether or not the incident is true click fraud, or not.

As for the search engines, many have begun to institute click fraud detection programs. Google itself claims that both the Bradley case and the Auctions International lawsuit show that Google is sending a warning to all who participate in click fraud that they “…have sophisticated technology that detects and eliminates fraud…. This lawsuit … demonstrates the success of our antifraud system and that we will take legal action when appropriate.” (Steve Langdon, Google spokesperson.)

These high-profile legal cases are, however, just the tip of the iceberg in terms of click fraud in general.

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Click Fraud and How to Counteract It in Ad Campaigns

Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Excerpt Part 1
By: Boris Mordkovich and Eugene Mordkovich

Unfortunately for any advertiser or businessperson, whether they are online or offline, fraud is a component they must all deal with, in one form or another. With offline businesses, it’s usually in the form of shoplifting or mysteriously disappearing inventory. With online business, however, the fastest-growing type of fraud concerns a phenomenon called “click fraud.”

On its most basic level, click fraud is defined as any click that is maliciously made on an advertiser’s PPC ad with the intent of depleting the amount of money in the advertiser’s account.

As a simple example, let’s assume you have a pay-per-click ad set up on Google and your keyword bid is $1 per visitor. Therefore, each time someone clicks on your ad on the results page for that specific keyword, your account is charged $1. If the amount of money in your account equals $1,000, then you can have 1,000 clicks on your ad before your account is depleted of funds.

If someone decides to target your ad via click fraud, they can use various methods to arrange to have your ad clicked on repeatedly until your $1,000 is gone. This can occur within a matter or minutes, or over a number of days or weeks, depending on what method is used and how blatant the fraudsters are about the process.

Obviously, this is an incredibly destructive type of fraud, especially since it occurs online, where many people feel they are acting anonymously. Some click fraud campaigns do not even try to hide their location or identity if they make a lightning attack on your ad; instead they wait and change their online “identity” after they had made a significant dent in your account, if not having drained it altogether.

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