Google to Provide Click Fraud Data

In an effort to prove that it is serious about combating click fraud, starting next week Google will provide its AdWords customers with information on how many times it believes their ads have been clicked on fraudulently. With the company currently facing off with some of its advertisers in court over the issue, the new feature could help it in its defense that it is tackling the problem head on.

Google says it decided to offer the service as a way to give advertisers a real-time view of how many clicks the company is filtering out as fraudulent. According to some advocacy groups, as much as 15 percent of all clicks may be invalid, a number the industry and advertisers seem to disagree on. Details of the new feature were first reported by MarketWatch on Wednesday.