Cover Story

Pay-per-call advertising has been growing rapidly over the last year or so, allowing advertisers and publishers to generate hot leads from potential customers who prefer to use the phone. Some industry insiders are already estimating that it will become a multi-billion dollar market, with companies like RingRevenue, KeyMetric, CallButton, ValueLeads and others extending the pay-per-call payment model into affiliate marketing.

Fraud: Where the Buck Stops

Fraud has been a problem in the performance marketing industry from the beginning. The concern of many is that despite numerous industry initiatives, the situation doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Networks have developed various fraud prevention technologies, created databases of fraudulent affiliates, enforced strict compliance policies and do their best to encourage best practices, but advertisers and their agencies say much more needs to be done.

Google is cracking down. Last month, Google filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Pacific WebWorks and several others as part of an effort to stop fraudulent “Google Money” schemes. These are scammy offers that use Google’s brand to attract unsuspecting customers and then trap them into hard-to-break continuity programs, often via negative option contracts.

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