Harvard Professor claims Google Artificially Inflating PPC conversion rates

Is Google Artificially Inflating PPC conversion rates? Harvard Professor pegs Google Chrome browser and affiliates as offenders.

Benjamin Edelman, assistant professor at Harvard Business School, claims Google and partners are inflating PPC conversion rates and increasing advertising spend via four specific channels, including Google’s own Chrome browser.

Google makes money by charging advertisers every time a user clicks on a Google advertisement, but in the instances described and documented by Edelman, he makes it appear Google and partners are colluding to intercept traffic to websites that would be navigated directly (and for free) rather than by searching.

What do you think of the Professor’s claims? Leave comments below.

Edelman’s claims, presented as they are, seem damning at first glance, but at times the connections seem tenuous and would carry a certain amount of deniability on Google’s part for they all involve third party actions, even if they benefit Google end. Google would not comment on third party/affiliate actions or motivations, so the links and proffered proofs are left to us (via Edelman) to consider. Google also declined to comment about the autocomplete feature on Chrome and whether it is designed to encourage search and discourage direct navigation.