What happens if someone keeps clicking on my listing?
MySexMap has very sophisticated click review software, which we call our "Click Protection System." This system ensures advertisers don't get charged for invalid clicks. It uses a variety of techniques to filter the clicks before they show up as a charge on the reports found in the advertisers secure web interface. This is one of the most important issues we face at MySexMap, We realize that this is essential to ensure the integrity of our marketplace.
What is MySexMap's Click Protection System?
Our Click Protection System is sophisticated software that evaluates each of our advertisers' clicks. This software makes decisions as to the validity of any click.
Our Click Protection System uses search and click data to make both rules-based inferences and pattern recognition-based inferences about which clicks are valid clicks. We have two patents pending related to this technology, so we cannot currently disclose too many details about the methods we use. While the details cannot be disclosed, the core mechanics involve many data points. Each click is evaluated along 20 to 50 data points. Some of the data points evaluated are:
- IP address
- User session information
- User cookie information
- The network to which an IP belongs
- The user's browser information
- The search term requested by the user
- The time of the click
- The rank of the advertiser's listing
- The bid of the advertiser's listing
- The time of the search
- The time of the click
If the data points indicate that the click is not a valid one, our Click Protection System marks the click in our billing system, and the advertiser is not charged for it. However, we are unable to remove the click from the advertiser's own Web logs.
Why does the Click Protection System exist?
We developed the Click Protection System to protect advertisers. We are dedicated to protecting the integrity of our marketplace, by building and then constantly improving our Click Protection System. It has been designed to detect a wide range of invalid clicks and to ensure our advertisers are not charged for these invalid clicks.
What kind of clicks does the Click Protection Software detect and remove?
The Click Protection System has been designed to detect a wide range of invalid clicks.
MySexMap has long recognized that there are many scenarios that could result in the delivery of an invalid click. A common case is when a Macintosh user double-clicks on an advertiser's paid listing. Macintosh users may do this because they are accustomed to double-clicking on their single button mouse. There are many other ways that invalid clicks can enter the system, and none of these clicks are acceptable to us. This is why we viligantly maintain and refine our Click Protection System.
Does MySexMap monitor the effectiveness of its Click Protection Software?
Every day! We don't assume that our Click Protection technology is perfect. There will always be people who attempt to find and exploit weaknesses in the software. Clicks are routinely reviewed after the Click Protection Software has run to ensure that the filters caught everything that should be caught. When situations arise in which MySexMap specialists discover click patterns that do not seem to be valid clicks, MySexMap immediately refunds affected advertisers. In addition, the Click Protection Software is upgraded to prevent the billing of such clicks in the future.
How do I know the Click Protection System is working?
First of all, to verify the effectiveness of the Click Protection System, you must have an MySexMaps tracking URL in place on all of your listings.
An MySexMap tracking URL removes the possible source of confusion. Suppose you are the advertiser who owns the site http://www.fuckmebitch.com.
Your tracking URL would be: http://www.fuckmebitch.com/?source=MySexMap.
With the tracking URL, you are able to review your Web logs for the phrase "source=MySexMap." You will be able to see that MySexMap is delivering you lots of targeted traffic. Read more about tracking URLs.
Why do third party tracking software packages (like Webtrends) show that I'm not getting as many clicks as MySexMap is reporting?
That's a good question! This is why we recommend that you have a tracking URL in place. Adding a tracking URL allows you to see just how many clicks you're getting not only from MySexMap directly but from MySexMap's extensive affiliate network as well. If you do not have tracking URLs in place, add them. Then review your server logs to count your hits (not unique users) where the requested page contains the phrase "source=MySexMap." The numbers almost certainly will match.
On the subject of counting unique users: Different companies do it different ways and this means there are different levels of accuracy. MySexMap tracks users by keeping what are called "session cookies," which are stored on MySexMap's servers, not the end user's browser. When the Click Protection Software finds duplicate clicks from the same user cookie or session cookies within a given time period, it promptly prevents these invalid clicks from being billed. So even when users have their browsers set to refuse user cookies, we can identify those users as individuals.
Some third party tracking software packages (like Webtrends) count unique users differently. Webtrends simply counts one IP address for every half-hour interval as a unique user. The problem with this counting technique is that the Webtrends software is not taking into consideration the existence of proxy servers.
Proxy servers are computers that act as agents for multiple users. The effect of proxy servers is that thousands of truly unique users can all share the same IP address. The best example of proxy server traffic is America Online. America Online routes all of its subscribers through a limited number of IP addresses, so any one America Online IP address can map back to tens of thousands of separate America Online users. Some tracking software, like Webtrends, fail to take the proxy server condition into account.
At time of publication
If MySexMap's Click Protection System eliminates 'invalid' clicks, what is considered a 'valid' click?
The purpose of our Click Protection System is to ensure that advertisers are charged only for valid clicks or those clicks that are from users who have actively chosen the advertiser's listing out of a set of search results where a detailed title and, usually, a description are provided. Will all users visiting an advertiser's site from MySexMap purchase something or sign-up for an advertiser's services? Of course not, just as your local shoe store gets customer traffic that is 'just looking' so do sites on the Internet. Once a potential customer arrives at an advertiser's site, it is that advertiser's challenge to keep that person interested and provide the right information to close the deal.
Do you bill only for one click per IP address per day?
No. We don't do this because there are a large number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who use proxy servers to serve their subscribers. All 21 million of America Online's users come to any Web site from a small block of IP addresses. In order to ensure that all advertisers are charged for only valid clicks, our Click Protection System needs to take into account that proxy servers can deliver many targeted leads in one day. Furthermore, America Online isn't the only MySexMap partner that uses proxy servers. Almost all users who come to your site from a workplace (e.g. General Motors) will come through a proxy server. Since many users access the Web from their offices, many of our advertisers' own Web logs will show repetition of certain IP addresses.
Will your software detect if my competitor tries to click on my links?
MySexMap's Click Protection Software has mechanisms to prevent charges for repeated clicks on the same link. Our Click Protection System recognizes patterns associated with competitor clicking and prevents such click patterns from being charged to the advertiser.
Does your software prevent me being billed for a user who bookmarked a link?
Yes. How we do this is one of our trade secrets, but we guarantee that a link that a user bookmarked will not be billed to you when the bookmark is used to come to your site again.
Does your software filter out spiders and robots?
Yes. Most spiders and robots correctly follow the directives we put in the code on our site that instructs them not spider our search listings. Those spiders and robots that ignore the directives tend to stand out like a sore thumb when being evaluated by our pattern recognition software and thus 99.9% of all spider and robot clicking is filtered out.
What can I do if I feel I have been charged for unwarranted clicks?
Please contact MySexMap's Client Services department by dropping an email to clientservices@MySexMap.com Be sure to attach any relevant documents. A Client Service specialist will investigate your account in detail and contact you directly.
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