Adwords Security Vulnerability?

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/04/virus_writers_taint_google_ad.html

The above article describes a method used by some bad elements of society to install malware on vulnerable pcs as users click on adwords ads. Replies to the thread tend to point out the vulnerabilities of Internet Explorer Browser as the main culprit in the issue. In effect, the ads would point to a virus which would attempt to install on the users pc & then quickly redirect to the advertised site. Targeted keywords for the ads included well known institutions such as the BBB.

In reality, Google is more guilty on this one than Microsoft. Every browser in common use has security issues. Adwords ads are supposed to point to the domain displayed in the ad. Any ads that redirect to a different domain should not be displayed. A patch for the IE vulnerability was issued last June, so users with updated pcs should be ok. But what of Google's quality control?

Bear in mind that Google introduced a Quality Score for their adwords program which was designed to improve the experience for their users. Google's bottom line saw considerable improvement as well as a result of this initiative. One has to wonder how exploits like this (which should never happen) improve the experience for Google users.

[/rant]