Click Fraud Rates Higher Than Once Thought?

Some more interesting information came out in regards to the click fraud rates on the major engines. Google and Yahoo have been suggesting over the last year or so that the rate of fraud was somewhere around 2%. Not so, according to a new study done by the Fair Isaac company. Their figure is closer to 10%-15%, and the figures are supported somewhat by the independent studies done by Click Forensics and Click Fraud Network. I am sure this is an argument that will continue as long as search engines display search results, but the bottom line is that if you can avoid pay per click long term, do so. There is enough natural traffic out there, you just need to have good fresh content and back links to get in front of your audience.