At the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago, Webmaster Radio’s Jim Hedger is currently holding a press conference which is making public the investigative report that:
1. Google is serving Adwords and Adsense advertisements on Google properties within Orkut which are managed by terrorist cells and sympathizers.
2. Google is serving advertising on the sites of Google AdSense members who are connected with Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups which are benefitting from revenue which is originated by Google advertisers.
3. Click fraud and click bots are escalating the revenue generated by these 3rd party Adsense partner sites, and this revenue is making its way into the hands of organized crime and terrorist groups.
Google, Orkut and Advertisers
The specific Google properties which are serving these ads are housed on the Google Orkut social network. Orkut groups which were serving these Google Ads were set up by Hezbollah, Iraqi insurgent and other terror oriented groups.
I took it upon myself to perform some searches within the Orkut network and came across multiple Hezbollah and Al Qaeda groups, associated forums and member profiles which are serving Google AdWords contextual advertisements.
The following is an example of one of the hundreds of terror oriented groups within Orkut serving AdWords ads from probably unaware Google advertisers:
This is a condensed shot, please click for the full screenshot.
Update, here is a screenshot of an Orkut Hezbollah group which is serving paid advertisements from eBay and other Google publishers via Google AdWords : Hezbollah Orkut Group Screen Capture.
Sure the argument can be put together that Google is not responsible for the content which is created by members of their Orkut community, which lets registered users set up their own forums, blogs, and groups to connect different users over the Google network.
Pay per click revenue from these ads goes directly to Google.
Google, Click Fraud and Terror Funds
Furthermore, Jim Hedger of Webmaster Radio has spoken with a contact who was behind the lines in Fallujah working with the Iraqi insurgency, who was setting up blog networks which serve Google AdSense advertisements, and incentivize their readers to click on the ads.
Not only, however, are users clicking on the ads, but these insurgent based networks are using clickbots, automated programs which click on Google advertisements, to click on these advertisements.
How would this system work? The Google AdSense partners are then, once they receive their payments from Google, donating these funds to ‘invisible’ charities which are then funneling the funds to Internatinonal Hezbollah groups, Iraqi insurgents and Al Qaeda networks.
1. Groups set up blogs and sites with Google AdSense ads
2. Commit click fraud on those sites
3. Collect revenue from Google
4. Donate revenue to ‘charities’ which funnel to terror groups
Is Google knowingly funding these terrorist groups? No, they are not. However, holes in the Google click fraud tracking and identification system may be.
More About Clickfraud, Clickbots and Botnets
For those readers who are new to the click fraud controversy, the Wikipedia entry on Click Fraud has good background information.
Jim Hedger also adds (read more from The Silent Epidemic of Botnets)
“The real victims of click fraud are PPC advertisers. Both the perpetrators and the PPC advertising providers make money every time an advertiser pays for a fraudulent click. If the fraudsters have been paid out by one of the PPC engines, it is a safe bet that engine has made money as well. Though the search providers, most notably Google and Yahoo, already detect and delete a wide array of invalid clicks, the rapid proliferation of botnets is considered mute testimony to the success of the underworld endeavor.
As efficient as they are at automating fraud, botnets require human control and activation. There is always a central controller. The controller is not necessarily the person responsible for writing the malicious code. The controller might not even be directly associated with the person or organization profiting from the scheme. Controllers are often highly paid mercenaries who happen to be very, very good hackers.”
Yet another leading story about an advertiser screwed by Google – no, wait, yet another advertiser advertising that they set up campaigns wrong:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/watching-a-story-part-ii/
Over 2 years ago I ran an ad campaign for a small business owner with a PPC company. I too noted the sudden increase in traffic, drop in conversions, the suspicious source of the clicks, etc. When I brought this click fraud to the attention of the PPC company they looked into it and refunded 2/3 of my client’s money. Unfortunately, it would take them some time to be able to block the kind of fraud that was found. My response was to drop my bid amount (there was a threshold below which the fraud seemed to stop, i.e. fraudsters click through on the higher payouts so that their revenue share is greater) and then to find other ways to advertise.
Some click fraud will always exist, it will be impossible to eliminate. It will be a cost of doing business much like shop lifting. Stores which do not get a handle on this theft will loose their customers due to higher prices, a poor environment, etc. Consumers should realize that a part of the cost of an item is due to theft costs spread out into the prices of items. On a similar note, I wondered if there could be a class action suit against magazine publishers over the fact that not all magazine recipients will ever open the mag. The advertisers in the mag. are paying for the ad because they were told that it will be “seen” by a given number of people. Hmm. I suppose that for those advertisers who are paying attention they will realize that their roi is not as good as they thought it would be and then they will take their advertising somewhere else.
As far as regulating google like a phone company – Yikes! Save Us All! Perhaps all hosting companies should also be regulated like the phone companies? I’ve dealt with some pretty nasty phone / hosting / advertising / (fill in the blank) companies but I would Never wish for them to be regulated by a federal organization. If you think that the cost of click-fraud is high, wait till you factor in the cost of regulation to your click cost. We’ll pine for the earlier days!
Google – work hard on your click fraud problem and settle with the companies who are having a problem with the fraud without going to court. This is a business matter and shouldn’t be a court matter (or a federal regulatory one either).
Advertisers – this is not just a Google problem. Keep pressure on all advertisers to represent their value correctly and keep an eye on your roi. There are always other ways to advertise.
Actually we make quite a bit of money from AdSense ads. Not near as much as the monthly donations we receive from the Google owners. They also gave us 2 million shares of their stock when they went public.
So we appreciate Google funding our cause.
Osama
(I’m in an internet cafe in NYC – SOHO)
And you call this an “investigative” reporting?
AIT.COM itself and personnel involved in Questionable activities:
“AIT CEO Clarence Briggs Charged with Criminal Assault”
“Business executive and soldier get in fight”
09/18/05 at 6:28pm
Fayetteville Observer Newspaper
(http://www.fayettevillenc.com ):
Business executive, soldier in fight
By Paul Woolverton Staff writer
Clarence Briggs, the chief executive of Advanced Internet Technologies, has been charged with knocking an Army soldier to the ground Aug. 26, hitting him in the face and smashing his head into the concrete.
Briggs, in turn, has charged the soldier, Staff Sgt. Rodney Goudy of Fort Bragg, with throwing him to the ground and threatening to kill him.
The violence happened outside the B&B Sports Tavern on Person Street in downtown Fayetteville, records say.
AIT’s chief financial officer, Steve Young, has also filed a charge against Goudy from the incident. Young accuses the soldier of threatening to hurt him.
AIT is an international Internet Web-hosting company that Briggs started in his home in Fayetteville in 1996. Its headquarters now fills much of a city block in downtown Fayetteville.
Briggs and Goudy are scheduled to face their charges in Cumberland County District Court on Monday. However, court and Fayetteville police records say that Briggs has not yet been served with the warrant charging him with assaulting Goudy.
…
Goudy, Briggs and Young presented varied accounts of what happened at the bar.
In his charge, Goudy wrote, “Mr. Briggs asked me to go outside to discuss something because the music inside of B&B Sports Bar was loud. When we turned the corner, Mr. Briggs had his arm around me like we were old friends and he stuck his leg out, grabbed me and threw me on the ground, sat on me and proceeded to hit me in the face. He threw my head back into the concrete.”
…
Goudy declined a request for an interview. Goudy’s lawyer, David Courie, said that his law firm is “investigating scope, severity and frequencies of their alleged behavior,” but declined to make further comment.
Young also declined an interview request. Briggs referred questions to AIT spokesman Alex Lekas.
…
Staff writer Paul Woolverton can be reached woolvertonp@fayettevillenc.com or at 486-3512.
AIT.COM involved
I feel suckered being pulled in by such undercooked linkbait.
Interesting the discrediting of Mr. Briggs after he make his claims and Google shuts his accounts down and now the story comes out and now its to mudslinging?!?!!?
Ohhh and Matt, the terrorist organizations that Google Hosts on Orcut may not profit those organizations directly.
But exactly what does google do with that money? First off, its a crock that you guys put only charitable ads up there. I have screen shots where you guys are trying to seel high-yeild CD’s, and even Nitrogen for tires?
Is Google donating that money to a charitable orgainzation or more that really could use it? Or does blood money smear nicely on those quarterly reports?
I use Orkut quite frequently and I really doubt this is happening. The ads that come on orkut are put up by the orkut team and not the people who create those communities. I dont think there is any way someone can make revenue ( apart from the orkut people) from the google adsense on the site.
google adwors will still got the problems
Loren Baker is making cheap money with this cheap shot at Google. What a looser…
you’re completely wrong and Google isn’t a Governmental Investigation nokia housing covers nor should they be
to join