At this scale, yes. If you pay me (say) $30,000 for advertising based on a commitment from me that your ads will be shown to enough people until you reach a cer

At this scale, yes. If you pay me (say) $30,000 for advertising based on a commitment from me that your ads will be shown to enough people until you reach a certain number of click-throughs, but actually all of those are just my staff sitting there repeatedly clicking on them all day without ever buying your product, i'm pretty sure you'd be unhappy about that. Whether it's actually illegal or not is another matter, and depends on circumstances and jurisdiction.