Another Notable Tool for Combating Click-Fraud

Posted by Tim Cranton 
Associate General Counsel

In case you missed today’s announcement on the Microsoft AdCenter blog, I wanted to share the news that Microsoft has become one of the first companies in the online advertising industry to achieve click measurement standards accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC), indicating our compliance with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s Click Measurement Guidelines and the MRC’s Minimum Standards for Media Rating Research.

This is an important development.  As I mentioned in my last post, enforcement can play a key role in supporting the industry’s efforts to fight click fraud, and we are committed to investigating perpetrators and shutting them down.  It is equally important, however, for industry to develop technology solutions and best practices as the first line of defense, to help block and disrupt click fraud before it happens.  We applaud the IAB’s and MRC’s work to help promote industry standards to encourage transparency, accuracy and accountability in clicks and congratulate the Microsoft Advertising team as well as the other companies announced today for the accreditation.