Yahoo! Aims For Transparency. Introduces 'Click Filter Report'

Yahoo's (YSM) proprietary 'Click Protection System' has been in place for quite some time, in an effort to monitor fraud clicks. Now with the introduction of 'Click Filter Report', even users will have a chance to see how many bad clicks their website has received. Yahoo! has come up with this innovative function so as to:

• Increase transparency with the users as much as possible.
• Provide with an extra feature to help the Webmasters monitor their website traffic with more scrutiny.
• Make the users realize the importance of the Click Protection System and its necessity for their accounts.

The Click Filter Report will give a clear picture of the number of clicks recorded by Yahoo! and the number of clicks that Yahoo! categorized as 'invalid'. A Webmaster can then compare the Yahoo! data with his weblogs or any third party tool's data to get a clear estimate. In case he encounters any errors, a 'Click Investigation Request' can be submitted to Yahoo! for further investigation.

A click fraud can be targeted at any specific industry, the frequency of attacks keep fluctuating from time to time or it can be targeted towards any specific product, which a perpetrator deems vital for a user's business. According to Yahoo!, click fraud is often unpredictable, but Yahoo! does detect patterns of this menace. Therefore, in case a Webmaster experiences an increase of invalid clicks in his Click Filter Report, then his click fraud rates are rising. However, even if the report suggests a substantial increase, it would mean that the Click Protection System had detected and logged the fraudulent clicks.

Click Filter Report is accessible through the 'Reports Tab'. A User will then have to select 'Click Filter' under the 'Traffic Quality Reports' section in the 'Reports Navigator'. He also has the option of customizing the report by including data such as impressions, invalid clicks, invalid click rate, and average cost-per-click.

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