Click Forensics raises $5M for prevention of online click-fraud

Updated

Click Forensics, of San Antonio, Texas, a company that reports on online click-fraud, has raised $5 million in a first round of financing.

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The round was led by Austin Ventures with participation from Silicon Valley’s Shasta Ventures.

Click-fraud is when someone clicks on an online page or advertisement purposefully to inflate revenue for the publisher of the site hosting the advertisement, or to make the advertiser pay more than they otherwise would have.

The area has drawn increased scrutiny, because no one knows exactly how bad the problem is. Estimates of the problem suggest it makes up anywhere from less than 1 percent to 20 percent of total clicks.

Click Forensics is a spin out of Optimal iQ, which is a division of Market Power Group. The funding comes at a time when upstart competitors such as ClickFacts are making inroads.

Last year, Click Forensics created the Click Fraud Index, which publishes data collected from the Click Fraud Network, an independent third-party click fraud detection service.

(This story originally posted 2/9)