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Fair Isaac and SEMPO
Search Advertising Click Fraud Study

Become a Contributor to this Industry-First Click Fraud Study

SEMPO has teamed with Fair Isaac, the leading global provider of analytics and decision management technology, to co-sponsor a significant click fraud study, which will use artificial intelligence methods to determine the extent of fraud in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.

SEMPO's role will be to help enroll quality data sources from its membership and from within the larger online advertising community. In addition, the Research Committee of SEMPO will be responsible for oversight of the research methodology and publication of the outcome.

Please read the following to learn more and to enroll in the study:

ABOUT THE STUDY

Fair Isaac, the leader in payment transaction fraud detection, will be studying the effectiveness of various statistical methods in determining the extent of invalid/fraudulent click-throughs in Internet advertising. Fair Isaac researchers are currently seeking organizations that actively and widely use Internet advertising as a significant advertising vehicle to participate in this free study.

The planned study will analyze several mathematical methods of scoring and vetting advertising charges with emphasis on establishing the required data and evaluating the value of specific data sources in the fraud assessment. In particular, we will attempt to learn what combinations of data types and sources are most important for an accurate and reliable click fraud assessment. The methods applied will generally utilize “artificial intelligence” methodologies through systems that rely upon neural networks and similar techniques that are trained to recognize patterns through repetitive analysis of historical data.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE?

Your organization may be eligible to participate if it is:

  • A large corporate PPC advertiser
  • A search marketing or interactive advertising agency managing large search accounts
  • A provider of analytics with access to advertiser data

There is no cost to participate. Participants in the study should be organizations that actively use Internet advertising and who are interested in understanding the level of click fraud that may impact them.

Each advertiser will receive a copy of the confidential version of the final results of the study that pertains to their organization, as well as analytical information developed on relevant patterns found in the data contributed. Contributed data and participant identity will be kept confidential and the data will be used only for producing the reports described under “Findings” and developing and supplying click-fraud products and services in accordance with Fair Isaac’s Mutual Confidentiality and Data Disclosure Agreement, which must be signed by interested participants before they supply any data to Fair Isaac.

WHAT DO PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE?

Participating advertisers benefit from contributing their data to the study in the following ways:

  1. Assisting an industry-wide effort to identify the true extent of click fraud and develop a viable solution
  2. Receiving meaningful comparison data from the global leader in fraud detection about the quality of the advertising they are purchasing across multiple online channels

Findings

Two reports are expected be developed:

  1. A public version providing general indications of the results found (viewable by all participating advertisers)
  2. A confidential version containing advertiser-specific findings delivered to each advertiser.

Participants are asked not to submit data containing customer identity information or customer payment information (i.e. names, addresses, telephone numbers, account numbers, Social Security numbers and the like should not be given to Fair Isaac). Fair Isaac will provide advice and suggestions on how to obtain and package data and preclude inappropriate items before delivery to Fair Isaac.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Fair Isaac is also interested in partnering with a select number of organizations who share our interest in shedding some new light on the true extent of fraud in Internet advertising. Ideal partners are Internet traffic providers (publishers), search engine marketing agencies, search industry groups and Internet & technology research organizations that can contribute domain expertise about Internet advertising fraud without compromising the unbiased status of the investigations that Fair Isaac has planned.

Publishers such as search engines, vertical search engines, directories, and other web site properties engaged in providing Internet advertising can participate by encouraging their advertisers to contribute their traffic data to the study. In doing so, publishers have the unique opportunity to leverage their participation in this study in the following ways:

  1. Show confidence in their own site and/or network’s traffic quality by encouraging their advertiser base to submit their traffic data for analysis
  2. Demonstrate willingness to help solve a broad industry problem and to increase the sense of legitimacy in online advertising
  3. Prove their traffic quality as a selling point

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Search engine marketing agencies and industry groups can participate in the study by encouraging their advertisers and/or members to contribute data, to show their client base that they are proactive and interested in helping solve an industry problem.

Interested organizations are requested to submit by e-mail a summary of their interest including scope of desired involvement, company background, and necessary contact information to ClickFraud@fairisaac.com. In addition, inquiries can be directed to out click fraud hotline at: (866) 354-FICO (3426).

WHO IS FAIR ISAAC?

Fair Isaac Corporation is best known as the inventors of the modern consumer credit score (aka FICO scores) and of the most successful systems for using artificial intelligence to reduce fraud in financial transactions (aka Falcon).

Fair Isaac scientists and inventors believe that the anti-fraud technology the company developed and that currently protects about 85% of all credit cards in the US may also be effective in differentiating between Internet advertising “clicks” that are genuine expressions of human interest and those that are not.