Patent ID: 8131611

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of reducing a financial impact of click fraud, the computer-implemented method comprising: executing instructions on a processor unit, wherein the instructions, when executed, perform a process comprising: testing a random sample of click events for fraudulent clicks of a Pay Per Click (PPC) link, wherein the testing of the random sample of click events for fraudulent clicks is directed to detecting fraudulent non-human clicks of the PPC link, and wherein a sample size for testing the random sample of click events is based on a pre-determined significance factor; in response to the testing during a pre-determined period of time revealing that a percentage of clicks failing the testing is greater than a pre-determined tolerance level, presenting a graphical display of non-standard text characters, wherein the non-standard text characters are designed to be undecipherable by a machine, wherein the pre-determined period of time is an amount of time that is expected for a human user to use in order to manually execute a pre-determined quantity of clicks of the PPC link, and wherein the pre-determined period of time is greater than a pre-determined minimum length of time during which a clickbot is capable of executing two consecutive clicks of the PPC link; receiving an input that indicates that a human viewer of the non-standard text characters has been able to decipher the non-standard text characters; and in response to the percentage of clicks failing the testing being greater than the pre-determined tolerance level, reducing a charge for clicks of the PPC link.