A word of warning on conversion benchmarks...

Matt Belkin at Omniture has some sensible words of warning on relying too much on aggregated industry benchmarks.

More on conversion benchmarks...: "Since I wrote about benchmarking two weeks ago, I've received many follow up emails. Many of you said "Amen! Thanks for dispelling the myths around web analytics benchmarking." However, some of you pushed back, saying that "conversion benchmarks are useful if you simply weigh them appropriately". And truth be told, I do not disagree with the second point. Benchmarks can be useful if you weigh them appropriately" - of course, when compared to site-centric data, I give benchmarks very little weight. To illustrate why benchmarks are often misleading at best, take a look at the Fireclick Index http://index.fireclick.com/ I've focused on this index because it's publicly available and everyone can readily access it." Read more

Click Fraud Settlement Approved

Click Fraud Settlement Approved: An Arkansas state judge on Wednesday granted final approval to a class-action settlement between Google and advertisers who alleged Google allowed third parties to drive up fees by fraudulent use of its Web search advertising system. Google will have to pay up to $90 million in online credits to customers and legal fees, according to court documents. The Google settlement hearing is part of a broader legal action by plaintiff Lane's Gifts and Collectibles originally filed in February 2005 against Internet advertising industry players over the issue of so-called "click fraud". However, in March, Google broke ranks with its pay=per-click competitors electing to pay up to $90 million in a settlement. In June Yahoo reached a preliminary settlement in a separate "click fraud" lawsuit filed in California.

Monitoring patterns of clicks from AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing campaigns using web analytics can provide early warning of click fraud and give you the evidence you need to obtain refunds from your pay-per-click provider. Contact JU2 to find out how we can help.