Monday, March 22, 2004

Search Term Suggestion Tool

Have you seen this nice Search Term Suggestion Tool by Overture? It lists previous searches done along with their count.

Search Term Suggestion To ... by Philipp Lenssen

Michael Moore Now Miserable Failure

Enter Miserable Failure into Google, and MichaelMoore.com is top. Previously this Googlebomb was directed at George W. Bush.

Michael Moore Now Miserab ... by Philipp Lenssen

Google Ad Fraud

“In court papers unsealed Friday, law enforcement officials detail [Michael Anthony] Bradley’s alleged efforts to threaten (...) Google with a software program he devised that creates phony clicks on advertisements. (...) Bradley created a method that generates false clicks that appeared to be real Internet traffic, which would have repeatedly defrauded Google.

Bradley contacted Google in early March, informing company officials that he had created the program and wanted $100,000 to keep him from selling it to spammers, according to an affidavit by a U.S. Secret Service agent. After Bradley contacted Google, company officials turned the matter over to federal officials to investigate. The result was a videotaped meeting at Google’s corporate offices March 10.

During that session, Bradley told Google engineers he would sell the program to the ``top 100 spammers’’ if they didn’t meet his demands, joking at one point that ``this feels like a blackmail session,’’ court papers show.”
– Howard Mintz, Federal charges: Man threatened Google (Mercury News*), Mar. 20, 2004

The threat seems to be real: if someone wants to hurt a competitor he just needs to click their Google AdSense banner hundreds of times. This might convince Google this company tries to cheat-boost their AdSense income, and have them be excluded from the program.

Another way to attack would be to mass-click Google AdWords, thus making the AdWords sponsor pay big-time for no extra-visitors.

Some sources are writing about an attack on Google Pop-up ads, though I believe they are plain misinformed.

And He Bragged In Public, Too...

Apparently it’s the same bragging fraudster active in alt.internet.search-engines newsgroup thread Adsense Autoclick:

“Want auto click software?


http://www.myhq.info/clique/

Google even called me to thier office, I flew up, met with them, and lets just say, they are scared and don’t want this software to get out, bottom line, I don’t care anymore.”
– CountScubula (Scantek at Hotmail.com), 2004-03-12

And:

“First lets address the IP’s you must scan using a port scanner and use the verify/programming software to use those IP’s

Then when we simulate a surfer, with low click rates, you do not want to surf and click with 83 uniq ips like you suggested. that would show lots of visitors comming and going, and the ad clicking ip as never surfing. So, each virtual surfer, will surf the site, pulling impressions (pulling googles java as well) then after surfing X (more on X in a moment) amount of pages the virtual surfer is to click an ad, and follow it through. (so yes, it does surf for a while)

So, 1 IP will surf, click around, pull googles java, pull thier ads, then eventualy click an ad, and follow through. then that IP is put asside and the proccess started over.

Now there is also a dummy surfer, that uses an IP to surf, but never clicks an ad (also to keep your click rates low) and at a later time, that IP will be reused to actauly do a click. So if you anylize logs, you will see an IP surf/pull impressions, but not click, and at a later time, come back, surf and click.


As far as stats, well the software is configurable as to time of day for a range of pages to surf, and a rangfe delay between pages, and click rates.

For holidays, you just have to tweek to config file”
– CountScubula (Scantek at Hotmail.com), 2004-03-15

And in newsgroup alt.www.webmaster, same subject:

“Hmm, Dude its like a cable box, not illegal to make one, own one, sell one, but it might be for you to use one. Thus I can write the software, and sell it.

Besides I was hired to write it, but the original client backed out an ran with alot of money, I just want to recoup my development time.

So I really dont care who buys it. lets just call it eduacational software.

As far as theft, I am not stealing anything.”
– CountScubula (Scantek at Hotmail.com), 2004-03-13

And:

Simple, set up 10 little info websites withdiffernt adsense accounts, and each will pull in $3,000 per month at a 1.1% click rate, thus you earn $30,000 in one month. in 4 months you will have earned $120,000”
– CountScubula (Scantek at Hotmail.com), 2004-03-13

Google Ad Fraud by Philipp Lenssen

Google Finds Osama Bin Laden

“Osama Bin Laden might be masquerading as a doctor in various cities” says Gary Price and points to this Betaish Google Local search in Chicago, IL [via Battelle].

Google Finds Osama Bin La ... by Philipp Lenssen

Technorati Relaunch

Live backlink digger Technorati got a complete redesign, plus some new features. Like BookTalk – “books people are talking about now”.

Also see: Technoratisphere.

Technorati Relaunch by Philipp Lenssen

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