Editing Click fraud (section)

==Legal cases==

===Lawsuits===
* Disputes over the issue have resulted in a number of [[lawsuit]]s. In one case, Google (acting as both an advertiser and advertising network) won a lawsuit against a Texas company called Auction Experts (acting as a publisher), which Google accused of paying people to click on ads that appeared on Auction Experts' site, costing advertisers $50,000.<ref name="MediaPost">{{cite web |url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/31772/ |title=Google Wins $75,000 in Click Fraud Case |work=Media Post |first=Wendy |last=Davis |date=July 5, 2005 |access-date=2024-04-15}}</ref>  Despite networks' efforts to stop it, publishers are suspicious of the motives of the advertising networks, because the advertising network receives money for each click, even if it is fraudulent.
* In July 2005, Yahoo settled a [[class action]] lawsuit against it by plaintiffs alleging it did not do enough to prevent click fraud. Yahoo paid $4.5 million in legal bills for the plaintiffs and agreed to settle advertiser claims dating back to 2004<ref name="imediaconnection">{{cite web |last=Ryan |first=Kevin M. |url=http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10294.asp |title=Big Yahoo Click Fraud Settlement |publisher=iMedia Connection |date=July 5, 2006 |access-date=July 6, 2006 |archive-date=July 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720015152/http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10294.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In July 2006, Google settled a similar suit for $90 million.<ref name="google update">[[Nicole Wong|Wong, Nicole]]; [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/update-lanes-gifts-v-google.html "Update Lanes Gifts v. Google"]. Google Blog, March 8, 2006</ref><ref name="google_lanes_final">{{cite web |author=Griffin, Joe E.|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/pdf/lanes_google_final_order.pdf |title=Lanes v. Google Final Order |publisher=Googleblog.blogsport.com |date=July 27, 2006}}</ref>
* On March 8, 2006, Google agreed to a $90 million settlement fund in the class-action lawsuit filed by Lane's Gifts & Collectibles.<ref name="search engine watch">[[Danny Sullivan|Sullivan, Danny]];[http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060308-152034 "Google Agrees To $90 Million Settlement In Class Action Lawsuit Over Click Fraud"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122094006/http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060308-152034 |date=2007-11-22 }}. March 8, 2006</ref>  The class-action lawsuit was filed in Miller County, Arkansas, by Dallas attorneys Steve Malouf, Joel Fineberg, and Dean Gresham.<ref>{{cite web|title=Court Docket For: Lane's Gifts and Collectibles, L.L.C. et al. v. Yahoo! Inc., et al.|url=https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Arkansas_Western_District_Court/4--05-cv-04027/Lane%27s_Gifts_LLC_et_al_v._Yahoo%21_Inc._et_al/|publisher=Docket Alarm, Inc.|access-date=6 August 2013}}</ref>   The expert witness for the Plaintiffs in the case was Jessie Stricchiola, an internet search expert who first identified instances of PPC fraud in 2001.<ref name="jessie stricchiola">{{cite web |last=Stricchiola |first=Jessie |url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2065811/Lost-Per-Click-Search-Advertising-Click-Fraud |title=Lost Per Click |publisher= Search Engine Watch |date=July 28, 2004}}</ref>

===Michael Anthony Bradley===
In 2004, California resident Michael Anthony Bradley created Google Clique, a software program that he claimed could let spammers defraud [[Google]] out of millions of dollars in fraudulent clicks, which ultimately led to his arrest and indictment.<ref>{{cite web|title=Criminal Docket for: USA v. Bradley, 5:04-cr-20108 (N.D.Cal.)|url=https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/California_Northern_District_Court/5--04-cr-20108/USA_v._Bradley/|publisher=Docket Alarm, Inc.|access-date=6 August 2013}}</ref>

Bradley was able to demonstrate that fraud was possible, and was impossible for Google to detect. The [[United_States_Department_of_Justice|Department of Justice]] alleged that he contacted Google saying that unless they paid him $100,000 for the rights to the technology, he would sell it to spammers, costing Google millions. As a result, Bradley was arrested for [[extortion]] and [[mail fraud]] in 2006.<ref name="BradlyArrest">[[US Department of Justice]]; [http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/bradleyArrest.htm "Computer Programmer Arrested for Extortion and Mail Fraud Scheme Targeting Google, Inc."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001184925/http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/bradleyArrest.htm |date=2006-10-01 }}. March 18, 2004</ref>

Charges were dropped without explanation on November 22, 2006; both the US Attorney's office and Google declined to comment. ''[[Business Week]]'' suggests that Google was unwilling to cooperate with the prosecution, as it would be forced to disclose its click fraud detection techniques publicly.<ref name="newsweek">Elgin, Ben; [https://web.archive.org/web/20120706054600/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-12-04/the-vanishing-click-fraud-casebusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice "The Vanishing Click Fraud Case"]. [[Business Week]]. December 4, 2006</ref>

===Fabio Gasperini===

On June 18, 2016, Fabio Gasperini, an Italian citizen, was [[Extradition|extradited]] to the United States on click fraud charges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/cybercriminal-who-created-global-botnet-infected-malicious-software-extradited-face|title=Cybercriminal Who Created Global Botnet Infected With Malicious Software Extradited To Face Click Fraud Charges|website=www.justice.gov|language=en|access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> An [[indictment]] charged Gasperini with:
* two counts of [[computer intrusion]]
* one count of [[Mail and wire fraud|wire fraud]] 
* one count of wire fraud [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] 
* and one count of [[money laundering]]
According to the U.S. government, Gasperini set up and operated a [[botnet]] of over 140,000 computers around the world. This was the first click fraud trial in the United States. If convicted of all counts, Gasperini risked up to 70 years in prison.

Simone Bertollini, an Italian-American lawyer, represented Gasperini at trial. On August 9, 2017 a jury acquitted Gasperini of all the felony charges of the indictment. Gasperini was convicted of one misdemeanor count of obtaining information without a financial gain. Gasperini was sentenced to the statutory maximum of one year imprisonment, a $100,000 fine, and one year of supervised release following incarceration. Shortly after he was credited with time served and sent back to Italy. The [[Second Circuit Court of Appeals]] upheld the ruling on July 2, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/cybercriminal-convicted-computer-hacking-and-sentenced-statutory-maximum|title=Cybercriminal Convicted of Computer Hacking and Sentenced to Statutory Maximum|website=www.justice.gov|language=en|access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=UNITED STATES v. GASPERINI (2018) |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1941724.html |website=FindLaw |publisher=FindLaw |access-date=30 May 2025}}</ref>