click fraud

American

[klik frawd] / ˈklɪk ˌfrɔd /

noun

the fraudulent practice of clicking many times on an online advertisement to generate the small fee charged to the advertiser per click, thereby harming the advertiser or benefiting the host website.

Automated bots are used to commit click fraud.

Etymology

Origin of click fraud

First recorded in 2000–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

click fraud

As advertisers crack down on click fraud, website publishers could suffer in the short term, said ANA Executive Vice President Bill Duggan.

From Reuters ● Mar. 23, 2015

Concerns about click fraud have prompted some advertisers and website publishers to form an alliance in December.

From Reuters ● Mar. 23, 2015

He goes so far as to title his video “Facebook Fraud,” implying that Facebook tolerates click fraud for its own benefit.

From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2014

The Business Insider reports that Bing executive Yusuf Mehdi posted a blog stating that Google's spy operation is actually "click fraud."

From Inc ● Feb. 3, 2011

He has also detailed connections between Evony's owners and a company being sued by Microsoft for alleged click fraud on search engine adverts.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023