Microsoft Accuses Firm of Ad Scam

Eric Hal Schwartz6/16/09

Microsoft said yesterday in a press release it has filed a civil complaint against three Vancouver, B.C. residents, alleging that they had manipulated the company’s pay-per-click advertising system.  According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Eric Lam, Gordon Lam and Melanie Suen arranged for automatic repeated clicking on Internet ads for auto insurance as well as business sites related to the popular World of Warcraft online game.  By launching a “complex and nuanced attack against the Microsoft Network,” the defendants boosted the search rankings and traffic of certain sites while damaging others.  Microsoft is seeking at least $750,000 from the defendants, believed to be a mother and her two sons, according to the complaint.

Eric Hal Schwartz was an intern in Xconomy's Seattle office.