Reglikedomain industry desk

Payments Due to Click Fraud — TrafficClub Delays

Domain parking service’s payments delayed from upstream providers.

Publisher payments for Moniker’s TrafficClub domain name parking service will be delayed due to questions regarding click fraud. As stated by a notice on the TrafficClub site, the service’s upstream providers are delaying payment:

Payments: With the increase of click fraud, we are receiving payment delays from our upstream providers. This is an industry wide issue that all firms are experiencing from time to time. We apologize for the inconvenience and we are working hard to resume our normal payment cycle and get payments released to clients ASAP.

Almost all TrafficClub traffic is right now monetized through Skenzo, so Skenzo’s payments to TrafficClub must be delayed. It’s not clear if Skeno’s delays are due to that firm’s upstream ad provider witholding payment. [Update 9-23-07: As stated by Skenzo, their payments to TrafficClub have not been delayed. As stated by Divyank Turakhia, President & Director of Skenzo, “The post on TrafficClub’s website regarding us delaying payments to them is incorrect. Someone from our team is reaching out to them to get this statement rectified.” I ought to note that the TrafficClub web site does not say specifically that Skenzo is delaying payments. Still, almost all user accounts are solely monetized through Skenzo. My understanding is that some accounts within TrafficClub may have other ad providers. Please see Skenzo’s comments below as well. I’m sure we’ll get more details soon.]

Fraud is a big issue that domain name parking services are wrestling with. I’ve talked to a number of parking firms, especially fresh ones, that say 9 out of 10 account applications they receive are not activated due to suspected fraud. When a fraudster is kicked off another network, he simply finds another network to join. This creates a number of ‘false positives’, whereby a legitimate domain parker is not accepted to a network since he may be a fraud. One parking firm confided to me, “If the application to our service includes broken English, we usually assume it’s a fraudulant account.”

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

TLDH raises $33.6 million for fresh top level domain name auctionsServicesTLDH raises $33.6 million for fresh top level domain name auctionsHServicesHostingCon Kicks Off in AustinCServicesCreate a Print Newsletter to Promote Your Geo Web Site — How toFresh rivals emerge in the race for low-fee domain paymentsServicesFresh rivals emerge in the race for low-fee domain paymentsWhois API make Inc. 5000 list — Atom andServicesWhois API make Inc. 5000 list — Atom andWix shares plummet following Q1 earningsServicesWix shares plummet following Q1 earningsSchedule Posted with $395 Admission — TRAFFIC VancouverServicesSchedule Posted with $395 Admission — TRAFFIC VancouverChange could make domain research harder — A GoogleServicesChange could make domain research harder — A GoogleAnd getting “For Sale” landers, the old fashioned way — Using AfternicServicesAnd getting “For Sale” landers, the old fashioned way — Using Afternic