I first met Mark Cuban in 2000 right after he bought the Mavs. He was speaking at an industry conference in Dallas and was talking about “stupid technology company names”. We had just launched a company and when I told him our name, he laughed and approved. Five years later, when we named Click Forensics, I recalled his advice and tried to avoid naming it after a Greek god or some other random seven-letter name that happened to be available. He has yet to comment on our name specifically, but he did mention Click Forensics in a recent blog on click fraud. While he never fixed the dead link to the Click Fraud Index, he did have some interesting takes on the topic.
Cuban said, “The concept of “I know some percentage of my PPC advertising is click fraud, I just don’t know home much” shouldn’t be acceptable.” We agree and that is why we have created a company solely focused on solving the industry problem of click fraud. In his more recent post, “Why I think click fraud is far greater than imagined”, he boldly states, “…no amount of IP repetition algorithms are going to stop them.” Once again we agree. In fact, nothing is going to stop them. The solution is police the activity and report on discrepancies. Once these unwanted clicks are identified, there needs to be a way to reconcile them so advertisers aren’t stuck with the bill. Keep blogging Mark, you have friends in high places. This is an industry issue that needs guys like you to speak the truth.
So what do I disagree with Cuban on? Well, Click Forensics is based in San Antonio; we have season tickets, know several players and even have a room in our office called the “Spurs room”. I grew up in Dallas but left before the Mavs were born. While I root for the home team, Cuban is good for Dallas, good for the NBA, good for the online community and even good for San Antonio. Next year…
So Mark, after you get your ring (and you will) drop by to see us in SA. We can celebrate your victory on the Riverwalk, eat at a Dairy Queen and talk click fraud in our Spurs room! Ciao~