The click fraud rate reached 17.1 per cent, the highest point in the three years since the index was established, up from 16 per cent in Q3 2008 and up from 16.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2007.
Britain is one of the regions of the world regarded as 'high threat', according to ClickForensics, and the problem is increasing.
Click fraud can be a person or a computer programme ('bot') that systematically clicks on paid search ads on search engines and ad networks, thereby costing the advertiser money and defrauding them of their marketing budget.
Tom Cuthbert, president of Click Forensics said that the findings were in line with a "growing tide of cybercrime during this recessionary period."
The news coincides with Ask.com hiring click fraud prevention specialist Anchor Intelligence to investigate and reduce the rate of click fraud across the search engine's network.
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