Getting to the Point; Students’ Software Targets Ad Fraud

The Patriot Ledger

It doesn’t matter if they zoom around the page, expand when your cursor slides over them or remain on a side of the screen. The way most online ads earn money is relatively simple.

Advertisers are increasingly paying web sites or search engines based on how many clicks their ads receive. Other pricing schemes exist, such as paying for every ad displayed regardless of activity. But “pay-per-click” has become a standard, convenient model. However, not all clicks are created equal. Competitors, spammers and, in some cases, owners of the web sites that host the ads are clicking to drive up their own profits or wreck an advertiser’s. “Click fraud” is estimated to account for one-fifth of the $9 billion online advertising industry, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal.

Three college students have decided to lend a hand. Mikhail Ledvich and Mikhail Gurevich met at Boston University, and Gurevich’s cousin, Greg Gurevich, joined from Lehigh University to develop a software program called ClickFacts. The program monitors web sites for suspicious traffic and clicking patterns. The three partners received $18,000 this spring from Y Combinator, a Cambridge- based firm that provides funding for startup businesses.

Ledvich, a 20-year-old public relations major, handles business development for the Brookline-based startup. To use ClickFacts, clients add coding to their web site pages that allows visits to the site to be monitored. The program looks for suspicious traffic patterns, such as excessive clicks from one computer or clicks that recur every 30 seconds. Advertisers can view the reports and contact the sites or networks that host their ads to request a refund if ClickFacts detects a pattern of fraud.

The program, unlike other click fraud detectors, teaches itself to recognize new patterns, said Greg Gurevich, a 20-year-old information systems engineering major who developed the algorithm used for the ClickFacts software. “It adapts to click fraud,” he said, instead of relying on users to review traffic patterns, a time- consuming process.

ClickFacts is expected to launch this month, and already has its first client in E-magine Networks Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.- based marketing company that operates national online directories of lawyers and advertises on Google and other web sites.

Mikhail Gurevich, who assisted his cousin in the programming and scripting of the software, said that like email spam a few years ago, click fraud is a new challenge for programmers to sink their teeth into.

Once ClickFacts launches, Ledvich said they will seek business partners who might be interested in offering click fraud detection in online advertising products.

They will also contact companies that advertise aggressively online. For example, some legal firms and mortgage companies pay up to $100 per click to be displayed in Google search results for words such as “loan” or “lawsuit.”

While large advertisers are more concerned with click fraud than smaller companies, small firms are not immune to the problem. Kevin McNally, CEO of Interactive Palette in West Bridgewater, said “someone with a limited budget is getting their ad dollars burnt down pretty quickly” if a click fraud perpetrator targets them.

McNally said that monitoring for suspicious traffic is important. It’s important for his web design firm’s site, too, he said. “We do some pay-per-click listings, and I could easily see some competitors clicking.” On Google, where advertisers can set the maximum amount they wish to spend on advertising per day, “if all our clicks are burnt by 12 p.m., that’s it for the day.”

Andrew LaVallee may be reached at alavallee@ledger.com.