Microsoft’s Shocking Click Fraud Lawsuit (Microsoft v. Lam, et. al.)

June 16, 2009
Filed Under General | 8 Comments

With the recent launch of Bing, Microsoft has been making alot of promotional fanfare. That was expected.

Seemingly almost out of nowhere, after several years of being virtually invisible to the public, click fraud appeared on the pages of the New York Times and Microsoft took on the role of being the white hat with the filing of a unique lawsuit.

Whether the timing shortly after the launch of Bing is on purpose or not, this is a highly important event. Time may one day look back at this first of it’s kind event as the most single important action Microsoft has ever taken in the battle with other search engines.

Tim Cranton, Microsoft’s Associate General Counsel, wrote a post about the lawsuit on the Microsoft on the Issues blog, entitled Using Enforcement to Crack Down on ‘Click Fraud’, Cranton stated:

Once we became aware of the click fraud attacks we quickly took action to address any impact on advertisers and to enhance safeguards to further protect our network. Today’s suit seeks an injunction to help stop this activity and to recover damages.

As I’ve stated on this blog before, the Internet is all about trust. If Microsoft can build trust by taking these actions, that is outstanding. Over time, the question is this, “Will Microsoft will be able to take trust away from other search engines regarding this issue?”

Article Tags>> Click fraud | Microsoft
First time visitor? Please subscribe to my blog feed

Online Search Marketing Management Business Strategy

SES Day 2 – Auditing Paid Listings & Click Fraud Issues Session

SES San Jose Day 3 – Eric Schmidt Interview

Comments

8 Responses to “Microsoft’s Shocking Click Fraud Lawsuit (Microsoft v. Lam, et. al.)”

Microsoft's Shocking Click Fraud Lawsuit (Microsoft v. Lam, et. al.) | Business News on June 17th, 2009 9:27 am

[...] Online Marketing Management Strategy Innovation Internet Marketing Strategic Planning, Social Media Change Management, Sales Lead Generation, Mobile Search. Microsoft’s Shocking Click Fraud Lawsuit (Microsoft v. Lam, et. al.) … Read the rest of this great post here [...]
Frugalocal on June 18th, 2009 10:28 am

Microsoft has an uphill battle, as does Google, click fraud I believe is rampant and tough for them to completely eliminate. Excellent blog by the way.
psicologa roma on June 19th, 2009 4:13 pm

It’s important to know that click fraud can not only fought in courts but also with an outstanding technology.
David Dalka on June 19th, 2009 4:32 pm

psicologa – Excellent point. However, creating a deterrent is certainly a piece of this complex puzzle and for this first of it’s kind event Microsoft deserves praise. Can the keep focused on the goals for five and hit the inflection point? History says no. But maybe they will bring in visionary leaders to execute on the needed strategies.
Name on June 20th, 2009 1:18 pm

As an active advertiser with Adwords and Live Center I’m glad “someone” is doing something in regards to click fraud, it’s just a joke these days that conversion rates go down while the click costs go up. A+ Microsoft!
Patrice on July 6th, 2009 5:40 am

That’s a very smart move by Microsoft. Nice blog.
David Miller on July 13th, 2009 2:49 am

It does seem that Microsoft has changed a lot, I mean it was like Googling Microsoft and come up with a lot of forums and websites that were criticizing it and for obvious reasons but now it seems they have changed their strategy after they launched Bing and suit further states the step into the right direction, has Microsoft finally learned to implement the successful strategies of their competitors? This is what I think we will see in the near future.
Law Suit Loans on January 25th, 2010 2:49 pm

I’m glad “someone” is doing something in regards to click fraud