On WebmasterWorld, a number of webmasters have seen an abnormal number of clicks from Microsoft's IPs since August 1st. Interestingly enough, the clicks are going to PPC links and not organic links, so it's not simply a spider.
A number of suspicions arose: perhaps AdCenter reps are clicking on these links (since they get a percentage of what their customers spend on PPC campaigns) or perhaps there is some sort of intrusion and a third party is using Microsoft's IP addresses to generate artificial traffic.
adCenter411 then updated the thread and has asked the affected webmasters for information regarding these clicks. adCenter411 adds that some clicks are used to calculate the relevancy of ads.
However, I do want you to know that that there ARE some clicks coming from adCenter that we don’t bill for, such as clicks on ads that originate from our editorial verification system. The editorial verification system routinely checks ads for page relevance and the validity of links and landing pages for ads submitted to the system.In addition, you can see how we analyze the clicks that come through the system for click quality. Because all clicks might not carry the same value for advertisers, adCenter categorizes the clicks as either standard-quality clicks or low-quality clicks.
-- Low quality clicks are clicks which adCenter classifies as non-billable. Low quality clicks originate from a variety of sources including: clicks suggesting low commercial intent, clicks that have been identified as likely coming from automated bots, or clicks showing unusual and suspicious patterns of behavior.
-- Standard quality clicks on the other hand are of value to advertisers and are the clicks advertisers are billed for.
You can add low-quality clicks to your reports through the adCenter reporting tab in the user interface.
Anyone affected by these abnormal clicks is encouraged to submit a request for an investigation using one of the links below:
U.S.: http://support.adcenter.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=Adcenterss&locale=en-us U.K.: http://support.adcenter.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=Adcenterss&locale=en-uk Canada (English): http://support.adcenter.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=Adcenterss&locale=en-ca Canada (French): http://support.adcenter.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=Adcenterss&locale=fr-ca France: http://support.adcenter.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=Adcenterss&locale=fr-fr Singapore: http://support.adcenter.msn.com/contactus.aspx?productkey=Adcenterss&locale=en-sg
Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.
