That's kind of the point, I think. Stating an obvious fact is often used to suggest some kind of action. And it sounds like that happened here.
I feel bad for the guy, surely. He made a small mistake and paid disproportionately. But once you get branded as a cheater, even if by accident, then advertisers will run away from you.
TV isn't a good analogy, because it's a different business model, so this kind of cheating is impossible.
How many people believe otherwise? If you cater to any audience with a 3-digit IQ, they know you get paid when they click.
On my current arrangement I have payments on conversion (it's working well enough) but it requires a bit more work than AdSense did.