I was doing some searches for a problem I’m having with Firefox 3 randomly logging me out of AdWords when I came across this article.

From the article:

Stevens bought the drive-by-download.info domain, set up a server to display a “Thank you for your visit” message and to log the requests. No PCs were harmed in this experiment, he emphasizes. Then he started the Google Adwords campaign, using combinations of the words “drive-by download” along with the ad. His ad was viewed 259,723 times and clicked on 409 times, for a click-through rate of about 0.16%. The experiment cost him $23, or 6 cents per click/potentially infected machine.

What some people don’t understand about the AdWords system is that the primary traffic sources are not (as was the case in the late 90’s, early 00’s) banner advertising seen by an equal cross-section of tech-enabled humanity. The giveaway to the “success” of this experiment is revealed in two facts from the above paragraph: “combinations of the words ‘drive-by download’” and “6 cents per click.”

Because of the way AdWords works, his ad would only have been seen by those searching for “drive by download” or those reading content about “drive by downloads” (or, more recently, content related to those topics). Given that the only people searching for or reading about that type of activity are those who are already somewhat informed, or are becoming more informed, I would guess that had an actual virus or other malware been installed, there would be very limited damage overall.

And factoring in the 0.16% CTR, and low CPC, I’d say his ad was more than likely running alongside tech articles on the content network, where it would primarily be seen only by tech-savvy users on both sides of the fence.

Certainly, in my younger days when I was first exploring the world of hacking, if I saw someone advertising the download of this type of software, I would take them up on it just to capture their methods and code. Most of the “advanced users” I knew back then not only sat behind fortresses of firewalls and virus checkers, but many of us also browsed via ‘bottles’ where viruses could be trapped. Of the 409 clicks achieved by the experimenter, I’m guessing only a handful of those would have resulted in successful infections, and only a subset of those would have real results.

These type of misunderstandings are what lead to so many small business owners opening their wallets to AdWords and getting taken to the bank. I can’t count the number of times I have tried to dissuade people from adding keywords like “weather” to the keyword list for their golf club, dating, or business portal site in order to get more eyeballs.

The world of online marketing requires more lateral-thinking than any other advertising medium ever invented. If you don’t have the time (or the ability) to answer “Why?” 100 times a day, then you should seek assistance with your Web Marketing efforts.