Microsoft files click fraud case

Microsoft is filing two lawsuits for alleged pay-per-click fraud on its adCenter network, which costs thousands for their advertisers.

The company says that RedOrbit—a science website—made invalid ad clicks, which they passed off as legitimate.

“We found that he’d done something that was thought to be technically unfeasible,” said Richard Boscovich, Microsoft’s attorney. “While many websites have used methods to mask the true source of traffic, he was able to mask the fact that he was masking.”

“Click laundering” is the term that Microsoft used to describe RedOrbit’s actions. Microsoft says that RedOrbit’s click traffic skyrocketed from 75 to 10,000 in a span of three months. RedOrbit denies the charges.

Click fraud occurs when a company illegally increases the number of times an ad is clicked on to boost ad costs for its competitors and increase its own revenue in the process.