Microsoft Refunds $626.85

kindsvater · 09-13-2011, 02:35 PM

Heads up if you're using Microsoft PPC ...

I noticed a spike in clicks for two of my affiliate ads over ten days, but with no sales being generated.

Upon closer review the traffic was from Microsoft's "partner" search websites. Not from searches on Bing or Yahoo.

Upon a closer, closer review, these partner websites were owned by the same person, with anonymous registration and no identifying information on the sites.

Upon a closer, closer, closer review, tons of clicks, albeit from different IPs, but all magically from the same web browser with a unique identifying code due to software downloaded to their computer.

Today Microsoft credited $626.85 to my account.

I have banned Microsoft's partner search sites from showing my ads

If you're losing money on PPC, you may want to review your logs and any stat programs you use to look for a pattern of fraud, and to decide if the sources of the clicks are sources that are valuable to you.

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symn23 · 09-13-2011, 04:03 PM

I had a lot of trouble with their partner websites a few weeks ago when I first started advertising with Adcenter. I had 75 clicks yet only 5 visitors came to my website.

I thought that was strange so I set up a new campaign a few days later. 12 clicks, just 2 visitors came to my website.

I also had click though rates of between 25% and 100% even though my average position for the keywords was in double figures which I thought was odd.

Now I only use Yahoo and Bing websites.

09-13-2011, 02:35 PM	#1
kindsvater Senior Warrior Attorney War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Jedi Temple Posts: 3,126 Blog Entries: 39 Thanks: 76 Thanked 2,616 Times in 756 Posts	Microsoft Refunds $626.85 Heads up if you're using Microsoft PPC ... I noticed a spike in clicks for two of my affiliate ads over ten days, but with no sales being generated. Upon closer review the traffic was from Microsoft's "partner" search websites. Not from searches on Bing or Yahoo. Upon a closer, closer review, these partner websites were owned by the same person, with anonymous registration and no identifying information on the sites. Upon a closer, closer, closer review, tons of clicks, albeit from different IPs, but all magically from the same web browser with a unique identifying code due to software downloaded to their computer. Today Microsoft credited $626.85 to my account. I have banned Microsoft's partner search sites from showing my ads If you're losing money on PPC, you may want to review your logs and any stat programs you use to look for a pattern of fraud, and to decide if the sources of the clicks are sources that are valuable to you. .
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09-13-2011, 04:03 PM	#2
symn23 Banned Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Microsoft Refunds $626.85 I had a lot of trouble with their partner websites a few weeks ago when I first started advertising with Adcenter. I had 75 clicks yet only 5 visitors came to my website. I thought that was strange so I set up a new campaign a few days later. 12 clicks, just 2 visitors came to my website. I also had click though rates of between 25% and 100% even though my average position for the keywords was in double figures which I thought was odd. Now I only use Yahoo and Bing websites.