Does that create a transparency problem for Google in its relationship with advertisers?
There’s no doubt that Google has a transparency problem. They’ve been extremely guarded about what they’re willing to talk about. The only way to resolve that is to involve a third party in the discussion that has the interest of the community at heart. In traditional media, companies exist to make sure that advertisers get what they pay for. Nielsen does this in television, Arbitron in radio, circulation auditors in print. As the online ad market matures, the same kind of companies will develop. No matter how much Google tries to diminish the role of click fraud in advertisers’ campaigns, it’s here to stay, and a third-party system is necessary to build trust and help grow the industry. Editor’s note: Shuman Ghosemajumder responded to Cuthbert’s comments by noting that while Click Forensics’ use of Google Click ID is encouraging, the auditor’s numbers were likely skewed by inaccuracies in how it counts fictitious clicks on Microsoft’s and Yahoo!’s network. He repeated his assertion th
