Actual for You - Internet and Businesses Online

How to use Joint Ventures in Your Online Business Part I
Many people know how to use most of the online and offline advertising methods available to them, but if you know how to use joint ventures in your online business, you will have a powerful marketing technique at your command.You cannot beat joint ventures for building massive opt-in lists, unbelievable website traffic and profits about which you could previously only dream. Most beginners to internet marketing are nervous about trying to enter into joint ventures because they think that they do not have enough experience to interest anybody else. That indicates a misunderstanding about what joint ventures are.There is only one way to succeed, and that is to try. Before you try anything in internet marketing, you must understand it. So, what is a joint venture?Let’s assume that you can provide a service such as article ghost writing. You have read an advert on the internet about an ebook on the use of article marketing in

As a positive for the future, Google is currently testing a cost-per-action (CPA) platform, which should effectively deal with click fraud. With CPA ads you don't pay by the click but instead pay when the customer reaches a certain goal: buys a product, fills an enquiry, etc.

How to identify click fraud on your pay-per-click campaign

Before you can even contemplate identifying click fraud you must have effective tracking tools implemented on your website and, if possible, access to your server logs. With tracking tools in place, the most obvious way of spotting click fraud is to simply observe any spikes in traffic where there is no particular shift in your conversions.

Once identified, these spikes can then be analysed by looking for repeated clicks from sources that look similar. This similarity could be an IP address or an IP range; it could be a combination of IP range; browser version; operating system. Basically look for data in groups that looks fraudulent.

If all this is just 'a bit too heavy' for

Web 2.0 - The Future Awaits
With all that Web 2.0 offers as an extension to the way you currently use the internet, you may think that it's an extremely beneficial tool. However, this is just the beginning. Since it uses the existing ways of sharing information, users will already be familiar with how Web 2.0 will work. Indeed, most users won't even notice the difference, as it will mainly be behind the scenes that the real changes are taking place – as long as they can use the likes of MySpace and Skype, consumers will be happy. For the more technically minded, Web 2.0 is a true innovation.With applications such as the popular MapQuest, or Google Maps, users wouldn't always have to be online to benefit from the service. With Web 2.0, almost all the same features that you use when connected to the web would be available to you offline, so you could sit in your office or at home, and work out a route without even needing your connection to the internet to be on.<

Click fraud is the latest 'hot topic' circulating the online marketing arena, but what is it? And how does it affect you as a merchant running a pay-per-click campaign?

Spending on Internet advertising is growing faster than any other sector of the advertising industry and is expected to surge from $12.5 billion last year to $29 billion by 2010 in the U.S. alone, according to the researcher eMarketer Inc. With around 50% of this spending being spent on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Here we offer you a complete guide as to what this phenomenon is, who is likely to commit such an act, how to identify & prevent click fraud and how to best report instances of suspected click fraud on your PPC campaign.

What is Click Fraud?

According to Wikipedia "Click fraud is a type of internet crime that occurs in pay per click online advertising when a person, automated script, or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an ad, for the purpose of generating a charge per click without having actual interest in the target of the ad's link"

Click Fraud is estimated to range from 5% - 15% of pay-per-click traffic (some estimates are as high as 20% - 35%) although Google estimates click fraud at only 2% due to the rigorous detection methods they claim are in place.

In a recent study by Click Forensics, click fraud reached a new high of 14.2% in the last quarter of 2006 with the average rate of click fraud on 'content networks' as high as 19.2% for the same quarter.

So who is likely to commit Click Fraud?

The click fraud villain is most likely to fall into one of three categories:

Online vandals with nothing better to do than cause a nuisance
A competitor clicking on your search network PPC ads, with the sole intention of increasing your cost-per-acquisition (CPA). This could be interpreted as click fraud, although currently the search engines do not consider this kind of activity as click fraud
Search Engine advertising affiliates who generate self-income from fraudulent clicks on 'content network' adverts displayed on their own websites. This practice, at it's extreme, involves the use of unscrupulous 'paid to read' or PTR sites, which are basically click-fraud rings, some with hundreds or thousands of participants, paid to click on your ads with no regard for your return on investment (ROI) as the advertiser

What are the Search Engines doing about it?

Both Google and Yahoo claim that they filter out most fraudulent clicks. The costs involved for these clicks are either not charged or are reimbursed to advertisers who have been wrongly billed.

To combat click fraud Google applies four layers of fraud detection:

Automatic detection - this filters clicks from both the search and content networks in real-time with the goal of removing them before their existence is ever shown to the advertiser
The "Flagging system" - an automatic process to remove invalid AdSense clicks
The "Manual review" - this process has more than two-dozen Google employees tasked with manually reviewing and removing any suspicious AdSense clicks
If the first three layers of protection fail then the fourth and final layer of click fraud detection falls to the advertiser and 3rd party click fraud detection companies. Google refers to this layer as "requested investigations"

Googles main aim is that the first three layers of filtering will identify all invalid and fraudulent clicks. These layers currently filter more than 98% of invalid clicks.

And should you be in any doubt, both Google and Yahoo have, in the past, released the following statements:

"We think click fraud is a serious but manageable issue" says John Slade, Yahoo's senior director for global product management.
"Google strives to detect every invalid click that passes through its system" says Shuman Ghosemajumder, the Google manager for trust and safety. "It's absolutely in our best interest for advertisers to have confidence in this industry."

How to identify click fraud on your pay-per-click campaign

If all this is just 'a bit too heavy' for y

Create Your Own Power Team
A Power Team is a group of people that act as mentors for each other. They offer expertise in areas that you generally do not cover. For example, I work on a power team that provides me with support in the areas of Financial Analysis, Legal Matters, Insurance, and Advertising. I provide Business Process Analysis and Restructuring. When there is potential business with a client that involves more than one aspect for the entire project, we figure out which team members are appropriate and do the proposal together. I am constantly adding members to my team that compliment and add to the services I can offer. I do not pretend that I can offer all of the project needs.The Power Team does not work in competition with each member but as a loosely fitted group or team of professionals that offer a wide range of services. I have another team that I work with on the e-learning side called Vervial Group. We have a website that advertises our service

tual interest in the target of the ad's link"

So who is likely to commit Click Fraud?

The click fraud villain is most likely to fall into one of three categories:

Online vandals with nothing better to do than cause a nuisance
A competitor clicking on your search network PPC ads, with the sole intention of increasing your cost-per-acquisition (CPA). This could be interpreted as click fraud, although currently the search engines do not consider this kind of activity as click fraud
Search Engine advertising affiliates who generate self-income from fraudulent clicks on 'content network' adverts displayed on their own websites. This practice, at it's extreme, involves the use of unscrupulous 'paid to read' or PTR sites, which are basically click-fraud rings, some with hundreds or thousands of participants, paid to click on your ads with no regard for your return on investment (ROI) as the advertiser

What are the Search Engines doing about it?

Both Google and Yahoo claim that they filter out most fraudulent clicks. The costs involved for these clicks are either not charged or are reimbursed to advertisers who have been wrongly billed.

To combat click fraud Google applies four layers of fraud detection:

Automatic detection - this filters clicks from both the search and content networks in real-time with the goal of removing them before their existence is ever shown to the advertiser
The "Flagging system" - an automatic process to remove invalid AdSense clicks
The "Manual review" - this process has more than two-dozen Google employees tasked with manually reviewing and removing any suspicious AdSense clicks
If the first three layers of protection fail then the fourth and final layer of click fraud detection falls to the advertiser and 3rd party click fraud detection companies. Google refers to this layer as "requested investigations"

Googles main aim is that the first three layers of filtering will identify all invalid and fraudulent clicks. These layers currently filter more than 98% of invalid clicks.

And should you be in any doubt, both Google and Yahoo have, in the past, released the following statements:

"We think click fraud is a serious but manageable issue" says John Slade, Yahoo's senior director for global product management.
"Google strives to detect every invalid click that passes through its system" says Shuman Ghosemajumder, the Google manager for trust and safety. "It's absolutely in our best interest for advertisers to have confidence in this industry."

How to identify click fraud on your pay-per-click campaign

If all this is just 'a bit too heavy' for

Internet Mortgage Leads
Internet mortgage leads are indispensable for mortgage lending companies and brokers. The mortgage leads are lifelines to their business. That’s why they always look for qualified and cost-effective Internet mortgage leads. Borrowers often search for mortgage lending companies on the web. Initially they get in touch with the lead generation companies with their loan requests. They submit their requests to the mortgage lead generation companies by filling out an online application form. The lead generation companies send the applications, after screening them carefully, to the mortgage brokers and lending companies. Here the screening is necessary to ascertain the reliability of the loan application. The mortgage applications then become leads. Mortgage brokers and lending companies in turn contact the borrower via e-mail or telephone.Lead generation companies use advanced technology to find suitable Internet mortgage leads. Here the quali

nt clicks on 'content network' adverts displayed on their own websites. This practice, at it's extreme, involves the use of unscrupulous 'paid to read' or PTR sites, which are basically click-fraud rings, some with hundreds or thousands of participants, paid to click on your ads with no regard for your return on investment (ROI) as the advertiser

What are the Search Engines doing about it?

Both Google and Yahoo claim that they filter out most fraudulent clicks. The costs involved for these clicks are either not charged or are reimbursed to advertisers who have been wrongly billed.

To combat click fraud Google applies four layers of fraud detection:

Automatic detection - this filters clicks from both the search and content networks in real-time with the goal of removing them before their existence is ever shown to the advertiser
The "Flagging system" - an automatic process to remove invalid AdSense clicks
The "Manual review" - this process has more than two-dozen Google employees tasked with manually reviewing and removing any suspicious AdSense clicks
If the first three layers of protection fail then the fourth and final layer of click fraud detection falls to the advertiser and 3rd party click fraud detection companies. Google refers to this layer as "requested investigations"

Googles main aim is that the first three layers of filtering will identify all invalid and fraudulent clicks. These layers currently filter more than 98% of invalid clicks.

And should you be in any doubt, both Google and Yahoo have, in the past, released the following statements:

"We think click fraud is a serious but manageable issue" says John Slade, Yahoo's senior director for global product management.
"Google strives to detect every invalid click that passes through its system" says Shuman Ghosemajumder, the Google manager for trust and safety. "It's absolutely in our best interest for advertisers to have confidence in this industry."

How to identify click fraud on your pay-per-click campaign

If all this is just 'a bit too heavy' for

NACS 2006 Trade Show Review
I visited the NACS, National Association of Convenience Stores, this past week. It is a trade show and conference event for everyone involved in selling to or running convenience stores.If your beverage or other product can be sold at convenience stores, this show is for you. It is visited by buyers from distribution companies, convenience stores and supermarkets.First of all you need to know that the exhibitors at this trade show are not convenience stores. Instead, they are all suppliers to convenience stores. Many people believe that 7-Eleven, Circle K, Valero, Shell, Chevron, Safeway, Albertsons, Walgreens, Supervalu, AVC, or Kroger will be exhibiting their own booths, allowing you to go and talk with them or sell them your products. This is not the case. If you want to sell to distributors or retailers at the show, you need a booth.Retail stores don't exhibit at the NACS, suppliers to these stores or companies that

mployees tasked with manually reviewing and removing any suspicious AdSense clicks

If the first three layers of protection fail then the fourth and final layer of click fraud detection falls to the advertiser and 3rd party click fraud detection companies. Google refers to this layer as "requested investigations"

Googles main aim is that the first three layers of filtering will identify all invalid and fraudulent clicks. These layers currently filter more than 98% of invalid clicks.

And should you be in any doubt, both Google and Yahoo have, in the past, released the following statements:

"We think click fraud is a serious but manageable issue" says John Slade, Yahoo's senior director for global product management.
"Google strives to detect every invalid click that passes through its system" says Shuman Ghosemajumder, the Google manager for trust and safety. "It's absolutely in our best interest for advertisers to have confidence in this industry."

How to identify click fraud on your pay-per-click campaign

If all this is just 'a bit too heavy' for

A Few Basics Of Ezine Website Designing - Build It For Speed
Okay, so you have decided that you're going to go with a web site for your E-Zine. Good choice. You can have more content and less chance that people won't get your emails. But before you go jump into doing this, you better have a decent idea of how you're going to lay out the whole thing. Designing a web site isn't very hard, but there are some basic things that you need to know or your E-Zine web site could turn into the biggest horror since Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.The one thing you can't assume is that everybody in the Internet world has a high speed connection. Even though these are becoming more common place, there are still a large number of people who are still in dial-up. So the last thing you want to do is build a web site that takes the average user a year and a day to load. They're not going to hang around for the main attraction if they can't even get past the preview real.So what exactly does this mean?For s

How to identify click fraud on your pay-per-click campaign

If all this is just 'a bit too heavy' for you then there are a number of companies out there that can help.

AdWatcher - claims to able to spot click fraud so that you can report it. Covers other aspects of PPC marketing, by helping you track your ROI, email success, etc.
Click Auditor - offers the ability to check whether your competitors IP is the one performing any abusive clicking, and says it will stealthily gather your competitors IP addresses for this purpose.
ClickSentinel - focuses on helping you get refunds on fraudulent clicks, as requesting a refund from your PPC provider can often be very difficult for the un-initiated.
Click Tracks - reportedly has automatic click fraud reporting along with other click tracking (analytics) tools.

Reporting suspected Click Fraud

When reporting suspected click fraud, you must include as much captured data as possible to increase your likelihood of obtaining a refund or credit.

The following guidelines are recommended:

Clearly state, at the very beginning of your claim, that you are reporting suspected click fraud
Provide a full explanation to support your claim
Include your account details (do not include your password or payment information)
State the exact keyword, ad and campaign where you suspect click fraud has occurred
State the exact time, date and IP address of each instance of suspected click fraud. This data can be gleaned from your server logs or 3rd party tracking tool
Finally, state whether you are requesting a refund, credit or investigation

If you were using any software tools, such as those highlighted earlier, to help you track and report click fraud then include any reports generated by these in your claim.

Lowering the risk of Click Fraud happening to you!

Always bear in mind that your PPC objective is to get conversions and not just clicks.

The more you have researched the demographics of your intended client base the better your chance of avoiding click fraud. Are your clients from a specific country or location? When are they likely to search for your product or service? What are the key search-terms they are using?

With demographic data in-hand you can target your ad campaigns more effectively and lower your risk of click fraud.

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Interrogated on a beach in Barbados by friends insistent that there was little validity to my speciality, I have felt compelled to answer the most common objections in the field of Managing Creativity and Innovation.

Managers need to make pricing decisions that are consistent with customer behavior while avoiding the noise from competitors, price-sensitive buyers and professional negotiators, as well as internal corporate dynamics that reward volume and sales over profitable and relevant market share.

If the rich individual doesn't do anything to preserve the wealth, this will soon disappear. This is the reason that being a venture capital investor seems to be a good idea. A venture capital investor is an individual who would like to help fund an entrepreneur. There are two kinds namely the person who will wait to receive such a proposal while the other is out there hoping to see something interesting.

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