Systems and methods for detecting click fraud

A method comprising the steps of:

• detecting, by a computer processor, an action of a user on an item;
• and
• once the user is determined trustworthy based on a user trust score, forwarding the user's action on the item to a primary click fraud prevention component, the primary click fraud prevention component checking for a record of the user's action on the item in a request table containing a plurality of records of user actions for a plurality of users, each action record in the request table associated with a unique action identifier, a unique user identifier of the user, an identifier of the item for which the action is detected, a time of a first selection of the item for which the action is detected, a time of a last selection of the item for which the action is detected, a cumulative hits count of the item for which the action is detected, and an indicator of whether the item for which the action is detected has previously been accepted in response to a number of requests for the item meeting a predefined threshold to indicate that a rating of the requested item is allowed to be updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user;
• wherein before the rating of the item is updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user, the primary click fraud prevention component checks the request table to see whether the item has expired for not having been requested within a fixed time period, and removes the requested item from the request table of the primary click fraud prevention component if the item has not been requested within the fixed time period;
• wherein updating the rating of the item is withheld in response to the action until the user is determined to be trustworthy and it is determined that the item has not expired.

A method comprising the steps of:

• receiving by selection of a web link, via a computer processor, a request for an item on a website;
• approving the requested item for a rating;
• and
• once the user is determined trustworthy based on a user trust score, forwarding the user's request for the item to a primary click fraud prevention component, the primary click fraud prevention component checking for a record of the user's request in a request table containing a plurality of records of user requests for a plurality of users, each request record in the request table associated with a unique request identifier, a unique user identifier of the requesting user, an identifier of the requested item, a time of a first selection of the requested item, a time of the last selection of the requested item, a cumulative hits count of the requested item, and an indicator of whether the requested item has previously been accepted in response to a number of requests for the item meeting a predefined threshold to indicate that the rating of the requested item is allowed to be updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user;
• wherein before the rating of the requested item is updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user, the primary click fraud prevention component checks the request table to see whether the item has expired for not having been requested within a fixed time period, and removes the requested item from the request table of the primary click fraud prevention component if the item has not been requested within the fixed time period;
• wherein updating the rating of the requested item in response to the user request is withheld until the user is determined to be trustworthy and it is determined that the requested item has not expired.

A system comprising:

• a computer processor configured for:
• receiving by selection of a web link, via a computer processor, a request for an item on a website;
• directing a user to the requested item but delaying a rating update of the requested item;
• collecting numerical data associated with the user to build a model of the user representing a user trust score for the user;
• building the model of the user in response to the collection of the numerical data;
• determining a trustworthiness of the user in response to the model of the user;
• and
• once the user is determined trustworthy based on the user trust score, forwarding the user's request for the item to a primary click fraud prevention component, the primary click fraud prevention component checking for a record of the user's request in a request table containing a plurality of records of user requests for a plurality of users, each request record in the request table associated with a unique request identifier, a unique user identifier of the requesting user, an identifier of the requested item, a time of a first selection of the requested item, a time of a last selection of the requested item, a cumulative hits count of the requested item, and an indicator of whether the requested item has previously been accepted in response to a number of requests for the item meeting a predefined threshold to indicate that the rating of the requested item is allowed to be updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user;
• wherein before the rating of the requested item is updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user, the primary click fraud prevention component checks the request table to see whether the requested item has expired for not having been requested within a fixed time period, and removes the requested item from the request table of the primary click fraud prevention component if the item has not been requested within the fixed time period
• wherein the rating of the requested item is updated in response to the trustworthiness of the user and a determination that the requested has not expired.