New Article - Google and Overture in Contextual Conundrum

[thejenn]

Full article: http://www.searchengineguide.com/hedger/003182.html

Some snippets...

"As long as Google, Yahoo and the web community at large can produce virtual real-estate, there will always be room to plant virtual billboards."

"Click fraud is a very real problem for the search engines. Now that advertisers are starting to look for reasons their campaigns are not making money, the specter of click fraud is receiving lots of attention. This is a perception issue as much as it is a real issue and today's perceptions have a weird way of driving future realities."

So...what do you think? Is click fraud going to become enough of a problem that it puts the future of contextual search in jeopardy? IMO, I don't think so, but it will remain an issue for some time to come. Click-fraud runs along the lines of email spam...as soon as people figure out a way to block it, other people will come up with a new way to get past the blocks... it's simply a question of who is willing to be more creative and that usually boils down to how much money stands to be gained (or lost.)

How about the ongoing ability to produce real estate? There's always been debate in the PPC community about when and if PPC programs will "run out of words." I don't really see that happening as there are infinate combinations of words that users type into engines, but the reality is that the profitable areas are quickly being eaten up... Is it a bubble? Will people bid more than they can afford to and drive themselves out of the market, thus freeing bidding spaces up for those that can actually achieve ROI?