If you’re like me, you buy advertising on Google AdWords and have opted out of having your advertisements displayed across Google’s network of syndicated affiliate partners.  The syndicated product is called AdSense and features less tracking functionality than Google AdWords (i.e. you cannot track your ads to a conversion/desired action such as a purchase or sign-up).  For this, and other reasons I won’t get into here, AdSense simply isn’t of value to me (for an interesting read on pros and cons check Mark Glaser).

Does this mean that my AdWords ads won’t appear on Web pages filled with real or “fake” content?  No, it does not fellow advertisers and this means you too.  Your ads may end up here, here or here just as mine are in the case of Yahoo! Search’s ContentMatch product.

What does this mean?  Essentially, it means that our ads are not just showing up at Google.com based on keywords we’ve purchased.  They’re ending up on these sites which Google’s affiliates use to fraudulently collect click referral fees.  How might someone end up at such a listing of ads (including yours)?  In any number of ways including adware but that’s another story.  More common is the arbitrage game - affiliates themselves purchasing keywords at lower cost sources (i.e. FindWhat’s network) and sending the user/clicker on to their page - filled with more expensive clicks that YOU pay for yet which they split with Google.

What’s more frightening from an advertiser’s perspective, if a fraudster doesn’t wish to take the time to game Google or Yahoo, they (actually, just about anyone) can purchase Web sites with “content” (sometimes stolen news feeds… sometimes nothing but re-purposed ads).  Shopping for one?  Just click AdSenseSitesForSale.com. 

So… how difficult is it for companies like Google and Yahoo to curb this kind of thing?  Deadly simple as I see it.  The likelihood of these companies taking any kind of action soon on it?  Nil.