On the security of pay-per-click and other Web advertising schemes

Vinod Anupam; Alain Mayer; Kobbi Nissim; Benny Pinkas; Michael K. Reiter

doi:10.1016/s1389-1286(99)00023-7

On the security of pay-per-click and other Web advertising schemes

Vinod Anupam, Alain Mayer, Kobbi Nissim, Benny Pinkas, Michael K. Reiter

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a hit inflation attack on pay-per-click Web advertising schemes. Our attack is virtually impossible for the program provider to detect conclusively, regardless of whether the provider is a third-party `ad network' or the target of the click itself. If practiced widely, this attack could accelerate a move away from pay-per-click programs and toward programs in which referrers are paid only if the referred user subsequently makes a purchase (pay-per-sale) or engages in other substantial activity at the target site (pay-per-lead). We also briefly discuss the lack of auditability inherent in these schemes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1091-1100
Number of pages	10
Journal	Computer Networks
Volume	31
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/s1389-1286(99)00023-7
State	Published - 17 May 1999
Externally published	Yes
Event	The WWW8: 8th International World Wide Web Conference - Toronto, Ont., Can Duration: 11 May 1999 → 14 May 1999

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Benny Pinkas is a Computer Science doctoral student at the Department of Applied Math and Computer Science of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. He received his B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) and his M.Sc., both in Computer Science, from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, in 1988 and 1991, respectively. During 1991-1996 he served in the Israel Defense Forces, where he worked in computer science and communications research and development. His main research interests are computer security and cryptography, and in particular communication efficient security protocols. His research is supported by an Eshkol Fellowship from the Israeli Ministry of Science.

Funding

Benny Pinkas is a Computer Science doctoral student at the Department of Applied Math and Computer Science of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. He received his B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) and his M.Sc., both in Computer Science, from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, in 1988 and 1991, respectively. During 1991-1996 he served in the Israel Defense Forces, where he worked in computer science and communications research and development. His main research interests are computer security and cryptography, and in particular communication efficient security protocols. His research is supported by an Eshkol Fellowship from the Israeli Ministry of Science.

Funders	Funder number
Israeli Ministry of Science

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10.1016/s1389-1286(99)00023-7

Cite this

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On the security of pay-per-click and other Web advertising schemes

Abstract

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