Is this just tracking ad clicks or is it tracking actual conversions on something?
When I get a really annoying ad I often try and click on anything that I think might make it go away and the ads often seem to interpret that as a click and redirect me to the target page.
Yeah, those are super-obnoxious, and frankly user-hostile. I'm not sure why advertisers don't consider that click-fraud.
I was on some page the other day that had a popover ad that looked kind of like this:
B B B B B B B B B B
B B C C C C C C B B
B B C C C C C C B B
B B A A A A A A B B
B B A A A A A A B B
B B C C C C C C B B
B B C C C C C C B B
B B C C C C C C B B
B B B B B B B B B B
Here the elements are Ad, Background, and Content. Everything except the content was treated as click target for the content.
The example I mention was clicks on a CPC platform, but the EPC from the ad remained higher than any other option for 9 months - long enough for high accidental clickthrough rates to be noted and corrected for.
Another blogger I know has tested layouts and settled on the same floating banner for his Clickbank ads - thus, conversion-tracked.
When I get a really annoying ad I often try and click on anything that I think might make it go away and the ads often seem to interpret that as a click and redirect me to the target page.