How prevalent are pay per click scams? In the . alone, scammers hijack nearly 600 million clicks monthly with illicit ads. These hijacked clicks drive up advertising costs for legitimate brands—and cost additional billions in lost revenues, reduced marketing effectiveness and brand dilution. The scams also affect brand loyalty and consumer trust as consumers, expecting to have an authentic brand experience, come across illicit sites or inferior goods. Marketers and eCommerce professionals, severely impacted by PPC scams, should take the lead in fighting them. While the major search engines have complaint procedures, monitoring and taking action is, essentially, up to brands.
