Click fraud is when a person unlawfully increases the number of clicks on an advertisement by using automated process or by hiring staff especially for the purpose. These fake practices can increase the cost of ad for competitors and increase the revenue for fraudsters.

The Click Fraud Index of ClickForensics reveals that in the first quarter of 2010 the total click fraud rate on pay-per-click ads on the Internet was 17.4%, which indicates a rise from both 13.8% in Q1 2009 and 15.3% in Q4 2009.

The security experts opined that the click fraud has risen because the malware and botnets have been increasing for the last three years and currently estimates for nearly 50% of total invalid clicks. Further, in Q3 2009, there was a major increment in botnet-led click fraud traffic.

This regular increase has maintained a trend seen in Click Fraud Index in Q3 and Q4 2009. However, ClickForensics states that it's little bit surprising that the last quarter of the year usually displays a recurring progression in click fraud, while, on the other hand, the first quarter shows a drop.

ClickForensics informs that one reason for the surge in click fraud in Q1 2010 could possibly be the rise in the refined methods of committing the fraud.

An extremely refined kind of click fraud has been discovered as a part of a campaign known as publisher collusion, found by means of advanced cluster analysis of the click sources and pattern recognition. A publisher collusion system is where cybercriminals try to imitate authentic traffic patterns by circulating botnets and malware across several systems, which, in turn, click ads in an apparently random pattern. As it is circulated across several IP addresses, the fake clicks are harder to detect and identify.

It is interesting to learn that fraud rates on social media websites have come down. The report added that while some suspected click fraud systems on social networking websites have been alleged by advertisers, it is assumed that click fraud schemes are less effective on these websites.