Reggie Davis: Yahoo Click Fraud Claims Plummet, INTERVIEW
Microsoft search rejoices that it “thinks about relevance constantly,” in it its effort to catch up to Google and Yahoo search. BUT, will Microsoft soon have to “eat, live and breathe” click fraud detection, same as the big(ger) search guns, as well?
What a difference six months makes in the click fraud battle? YES, in the case of Yahoo’s quest to bolster marketplace quality under the leadership of Reggie Davis. Davis is a seven year veteran of Yahoo and was tapped to implement the company’s enhanced quality strategy after having managed the company’s click fraud litigation response.
When I met with Davis last April, just weeks after he assumed the position of VP, Marketplace Quality, he told me he had seen “decreases in the number of click fraud/traffic quality investigation requests” at Yahoo. Yesterday, Davis quantified for me the decrease in advertiser claims.
“We are receiving about 100 claims a month now, compared to about 800 claims a month last year,” Davis told me.
For Davis, the decrease in advertiser requests for investigations regarding concerns over possible click fraud and/or traffic quality issues means his team is delivering on its mission to drive:
More rapid innovation, greater transparency and faster delivery of product and service enhancements to build an even higher quality advertising network for Yahoo’s customers.
Davis’ marketplace quality enhancement initiatives designed to bolster advertiser conversions and ROI:
Quality Based Pricing: Pricing discounts whereby advertisers may be charged less based on Yahoo’s assessment of the quality of its partners’ traffic.
Domain Level Blocking (launching this month): Advertisers can block up to 250 domains per account and thereby prevent their ads from appearing on Websites that don’t meet their needs.
Blocked Continents: Adverisers can exclude traffic from continents other than North America if intercontinental traffic is not important to their businesses.
Advertiser Traffic Quality Online Resource with Automated Advertiser Claim Process
Greater Detail in Advertiser Reports (2008)
Davis told me that when Domain Blocking launches later this month, advertisers will be able to “partner with us to help drive traffic quality.”
In sum, “bad clicks have no business here,” is the Yahoo traffic quality motto and the end goal of Davis’ mission.
ALSO Read Interview with Click Forensics CEO, Tom Cuthbert: Google, Yahoo Click Fraud Audit Minefield Looms: Look to the IAB?
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