In his second article on Google's AdWords, ThinkMetrics' CEO explores the company's responsiveness to its clients.

In my last column I raised the question of how accurate Google AdWords' click-count is. This is the count of clicks which determines how much Google bills your AdWords account. With over $5.5 billion billed by AdWords in 2005, the accuracy of that billing system is extremely important. I cited a case in which there were dramatic differences between what AdWords claimed to have sent to a site, and what both my own and Google's web analytics systems counted. This article will explore Google's perception and handling of AdWord click-count disputes.

Google's AdWord click-count is based on log analysis. When someone (or something) clicks on a Google Ad, this is recorded in a log file on the Google servers. The logs are analyzed to determine the click-count which will be used as the basis for billing. In Google's view, discrepancies between AdWords' click-count and other web analytics systems don't call the accuracy of AdWords into question because AdWords is counting, while web analytics systems are merely estimating numbers. According to Richard Holden, Google's director of product management, "We don't look at AdWords as an analytics system. AdWords is the front-end to a system which measures clicks directly. Anything that we're measuring as a click is 100 percent accurate. We look at Google Analytics and other analytics software as doing estimation in the sense that they're estimating when clicks occur and don't have a direct view into the system. We don't look at AdWords as doing any estimation whatsoever."

Google does distinguish between "valid clicks" and "invalid clicks." In Google's terminology, a valid click is one you should pay for, and an invalid click is one you don't have to pay for. According to Holden, the only real issue with AdWord numbers is the validity of clicks and Google's attempts to filter out invalid ones. 

Holden stated there are two types of invalid clicks-- "non-nefarious clicks, such as my grandmother double-clicking because she thinks that's the thing to do; or nefarious clicks, such as someone clicking on an ad because they're trying to generate costs for an advertiser."

According to Holden there are two types of queries over AdWord numbers. A customer can question the validity of some of the clicks they are being billed for, or they can question AdWord's click-count because their analytics system is reporting different numbers. In both cases, the case is assigned to an individual member of the AdWords Response Team. If someone has an analytics system which is producing different numbers, the Response Team's first step should be, according to Holden, to work through the different technical reasons why this can happen in an effort to educate the customer. If the customer is still unhappy at the end of that process, the Response Team case worker can ask someone in the Invalid Clicks Team to examine the data and verify accuracy.

The only people at Google who can actually check the data behind AdWord's billing are the members of the Invalid Clicks Team. While communication with customers is mainly handled by members of the AdWords Response Team, they cannot actually verify the data themselves; they must escalate the matter to the Invalid Clicks Team. Richard Holden told me that "this team does proactively look at accounts that we get complaints about. They can look at the logs; they can look at the data very closely." When a Response Team member tells you they've verified the data themselves, Holden states what they mean is that they have managed a process in which the Invalid Clicks Team has verified the data. According to Holden, Response Team members are not anxious to advertise to the world that the Invalid Clicks Team exists.

Holden told me the reason AdWords Response Team members cannot look at the data is privacy-- "We take the privacy of both the advertiser and the consumer very seriously. The Invalid Clicks Team has been screened and is cordoned off, so there is a limited set of people who have access to the data."

Next: Dainow talks with more Google staff, as well as a legal expert