Click fraud on the rise

Fraudulent pay-per-click ads rose from 13 percent to more than 17 percent during the first quarter of 2010, according to Click Forensics.

Fraud rates on social media sites have dipped. However, botnets and malware now account for more than 50 percent of invalid clicks.

Click fraud is when a person illegally increases the number of times an ad is clicked on by employing specially-hired staff or using an automated process. These fraudulent practices can increase ad cost for competitors, while increasing revenue for the scammer.

Experts say that click fraud can be avoided by improving fraud identification practices, which include advanced analysis of clusters from click sources.

Microsoft recently filed a lawsuit against RedOrbit for click fraud. The company has denied the allegation.