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In this step-by-step guide, we'll explain what click fraud is, what it leads to, and how to spot it in your ad campaigns. We'll also give you nine ways to protect your budget.
Contents
1. What is click fraud?
2. Impact on business
3. 4 types of click fraud
4. Who is responsible for this?
5. Who will stop click fraud?
6. How to understand that advertising is being clicked
6.1. 1. Check the conversion rate
6.2. 2. Check the bounce rate
6.3. 3. Check the click-through rate (CTR)
6.4. 4. Check the expected CTR for each keyword
6.5. 5. Check application forms, accounts, comments
6.6. 6. Check out Google Smart Campaigns
6.7. 7. Be careful with graphic ads
6.8. 8. View IP addresses in server logs
6.9. 9. Use automated click fraud protection systems
Click fraud has been around for over two decades: when advertising platforms appeared, so did scammers who were inflating fake clicks on ads. At first, it was motivated traffic created manually by site owners, then automated scripts appeared, and then botnets. Now this form of fraud has moved to the stage of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
If you are a digital advertising specialist, you have probably encountered click fraud. Even if you have never heard of it. Fraudsters attack any advertising campaigns, platforms, sites and systems. The goal is to spend the advertiser's budget and make money from their attacks.
Click fraud can also be accidental and unintentional. For example, when users accidentally click twice on the same ad or scrapers click on ads in search results.
For example, a keyword tool: to analyze competitors, it accesses a search engine with a specific keyword and goes through all the results, including ads. This results in the advertiser losing their budget and is technically click fraud. And although there is no malicious intent in this case, there is still damage.
Cybersecurity and traffic verification experts estimate that up to a quarter of all interactions with digital advertising are fraudulent.
All of this has a negative impact on business and its development. Click fraud is a serious problem and threat to companies of any size around the world. And fraudsters are not going to just leave such a source of income anytime soon.
— Malicious and motivated click fraud. When an attacker intentionally clicks on an ad, usually on a search, and drains the advertiser's budget. This can be done by competitors and click fraudsters hired by them.
— Fraudulent and passive. Fraudulent and passive click fraud occurs when there is no intention to harm a specific business and advertising campaigns, but there is click generation to increase one’s own earnings, which also leads to damage for advertisers. Webmasters who own monetized sites can inflate statistics and trick users into clicking on ads. For example, using pop-ups and other fraudulent ad placement techniques. Or use artificial traffic to generate clicks.
— Manual. When the user himself takes action to click on ads of a specific advertiser.
— Automated. Automatic click fraud is not performed by people, but by special programs: bots, botnets, scrapers, etc. They interact with advertisements in accordance with the tasks given to them by the attackers. The functionality of the programs can be completely different: from a simple click to interaction with the site and imitation of the behavior of a real user. It is believed that more than 95% of all cases of click fraud are automated.
Fraudster publishers who monetize their sites through advertising can falsify advertising traffic to increase their earnings. To do this, they can use both manual clicking with the help of performers from the PTC, and automated programs, as well as click farms and other fraudulent methods of cheating statistics.
— Competitors
As we have already said above, competitors are not averse to putting a shove in front of their rivals in the fight for advertising space on search. Firstly, they try to spend the competitor's budget faster in order to "squeeze" him out of the search results. And secondly, this way you can take his place at a lower cost.
— Marketing partners
As a rule, they work on conversion, however, accounting for clicks on advertising may also be their responsibility for certain marketing campaigns.
— Scrapers, parsers, etc.
Any search data collection tools can be transferred to websites, including from advertising results.
— Bots, botnets and other automated scripts
Malicious bots, devices in botnets, special scripts for automating attacks on advertising, etc. They are primarily used by interested owners of monetized sites, fraudsters with entire networks of resources created exclusively for advertising, etc.
Systems such as Yandex Direct and Google Ads have their own filters to protect advertising from bot clicks. To do this, they use multi-stage automated and manual verification.
The only downside is that they check every click after it has happened. Unlike special advertising protection systems that prevent fraudulent interaction with advertising.
The saddest thing is that it is not possible to completely eliminate click fraud in the foreseeable future.
Here are nine ways to detect click fraud manually:
You can check the click fraud rate in your niche to assess the risks.
To do this: log in to Yandex Metrica or Google Analytics. Open the landing page where the traffic comes from. Separate advertising traffic and organic traffic, and then compare the bounce rates for each of them. Most likely, the bounce rate in organic search results will be slightly lower - this is normal. However, if the difference is significant, then most likely the problem is in clickthroughs.
Monitor the campaign's historical click-through rate to see if there have been any spikes. Compare it to other similar campaigns. Are the rates similar or significantly different?
If you find that the expected CTR for a particular keyword is “above average” while other similar keywords in the campaign are “below average,” then this may indicate click fraud for that particular keyword.
If you notice an increase in inactive accounts, spam, or fake claims that coincide with peak activity in your advertising campaigns, then there is a high probability that this is click fraud.
Smart campaigns are a great idea in theory, but if you think you are being targeted by scammers, always check the statistics on them. If you think you are being clicked, create a standard campaign and run A/B testing. This will allow you to see if the smart campaign is driving more non-targeted traffic or if there is something else going on.
Look for any patterns in them that may indicate fraud. For example, are there many repeats from the same IP address (when only the last 3 digits of the IP address change) or subnet; were there conversions from these IP addresses, and if so, were they real?
You can block such addresses in the campaign settings, but keep in mind that advertising platforms have a limit on blocking them in the advertiser's account. In Yandex.Direct, you can block up to 25 IP addresses, in Google - no more than 500.
The anti-fraud system for digital advertising automates the entire process of checking advertising traffic, analyzing it and detecting fraudulent visits and blocks the display of advertising to bots and clickers.
The service algorithm checks each visit for 100+ technical parameters of devices and behavioral factors, i.e. how the user behaves on the site. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are used in the process.
Contents
1. What is click fraud?
2. Impact on business
3. 4 types of click fraud
4. Who is responsible for this?
5. Who will stop click fraud?
6. How to understand that advertising is being clicked
6.1. 1. Check the conversion rate
6.2. 2. Check the bounce rate
6.3. 3. Check the click-through rate (CTR)
6.4. 4. Check the expected CTR for each keyword
6.5. 5. Check application forms, accounts, comments
6.6. 6. Check out Google Smart Campaigns
6.7. 7. Be careful with graphic ads
6.8. 8. View IP addresses in server logs
6.9. 9. Use automated click fraud protection systems
What is click fraud?
Click fraud is a type of digital fraud in which fraudsters generate artificial clicks on advertisements. It affects advertising on search engines, advertising networks, social media, etc.Click fraud has been around for over two decades: when advertising platforms appeared, so did scammers who were inflating fake clicks on ads. At first, it was motivated traffic created manually by site owners, then automated scripts appeared, and then botnets. Now this form of fraud has moved to the stage of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
If you are a digital advertising specialist, you have probably encountered click fraud. Even if you have never heard of it. Fraudsters attack any advertising campaigns, platforms, sites and systems. The goal is to spend the advertiser's budget and make money from their attacks.
Click fraud can also be accidental and unintentional. For example, when users accidentally click twice on the same ad or scrapers click on ads in search results.
For example, a keyword tool: to analyze competitors, it accesses a search engine with a specific keyword and goes through all the results, including ads. This results in the advertiser losing their budget and is technically click fraud. And although there is no malicious intent in this case, there is still damage.
Cybersecurity and traffic verification experts estimate that up to a quarter of all interactions with digital advertising are fraudulent.
Impact on business
The consequences of click fraud can be very diverse: from financial damage to loss of reputation.- Advertisers have to pay for fake clicks. Advertising platforms check traffic, but they cannot always recognize non-targeted and fraudulent clicks. Such clicks will in fact be considered targeted, and the advertiser will have to pay for them. According to experts, the damage from advertising fraud worldwide will reach $172 billion by 2028.
- The real conversion rate decreases. Bots, clickers and competitors are not inclined to perform target actions: ordering a service, purchasing a product, etc. Therefore, money from the balance in the advertising account can be spent quickly, and the conversion rate remains at zero.
- Statistics are getting worse. Untargeted and outright bot traffic makes it difficult for specialists to access reliable data that could be used to make decisions on further campaigns and marketing strategies.
All of this has a negative impact on business and its development. Click fraud is a serious problem and threat to companies of any size around the world. And fraudsters are not going to just leave such a source of income anytime soon.
4 types of click fraud
Click fraud can be broadly divided into four categories, which overlap to some extent:— Malicious and motivated click fraud. When an attacker intentionally clicks on an ad, usually on a search, and drains the advertiser's budget. This can be done by competitors and click fraudsters hired by them.
— Fraudulent and passive. Fraudulent and passive click fraud occurs when there is no intention to harm a specific business and advertising campaigns, but there is click generation to increase one’s own earnings, which also leads to damage for advertisers. Webmasters who own monetized sites can inflate statistics and trick users into clicking on ads. For example, using pop-ups and other fraudulent ad placement techniques. Or use artificial traffic to generate clicks.
— Manual. When the user himself takes action to click on ads of a specific advertiser.
— Automated. Automatic click fraud is not performed by people, but by special programs: bots, botnets, scrapers, etc. They interact with advertisements in accordance with the tasks given to them by the attackers. The functionality of the programs can be completely different: from a simple click to interaction with the site and imitation of the behavior of a real user. It is believed that more than 95% of all cases of click fraud are automated.
Who is responsible for this?
— Website ownersFraudster publishers who monetize their sites through advertising can falsify advertising traffic to increase their earnings. To do this, they can use both manual clicking with the help of performers from the PTC, and automated programs, as well as click farms and other fraudulent methods of cheating statistics.
— Competitors
As we have already said above, competitors are not averse to putting a shove in front of their rivals in the fight for advertising space on search. Firstly, they try to spend the competitor's budget faster in order to "squeeze" him out of the search results. And secondly, this way you can take his place at a lower cost.
— Marketing partners
As a rule, they work on conversion, however, accounting for clicks on advertising may also be their responsibility for certain marketing campaigns.
— Scrapers, parsers, etc.
Any search data collection tools can be transferred to websites, including from advertising results.
— Bots, botnets and other automated scripts
Malicious bots, devices in botnets, special scripts for automating attacks on advertising, etc. They are primarily used by interested owners of monetized sites, fraudsters with entire networks of resources created exclusively for advertising, etc.
Who will stop click fraud?
It is no surprise that advertising platforms are actively involved in the fight against contextual advertising click fraud. After all, it is their business model that is at risk, since users are paying for non-targeted traffic.Systems such as Yandex Direct and Google Ads have their own filters to protect advertising from bot clicks. To do this, they use multi-stage automated and manual verification.
The only downside is that they check every click after it has happened. Unlike special advertising protection systems that prevent fraudulent interaction with advertising.
The saddest thing is that it is not possible to completely eliminate click fraud in the foreseeable future.
How to understand that advertising is being clicked
Click fraud can happen to any advertiser, so let's look at whether ad fraud can be detected and how to mitigate the damage.Here are nine ways to detect click fraud manually:
1. Check your conversion rate
In advertising campaigns that are subject to click-throughs, you may encounter abnormal conversion statistics. Therefore, you should pay attention to the following indicators:- Compare the conversion rate of this campaign to others. If it is much higher, but the overall cost per conversion is lower, you may be dealing with fraud.
- Check it over time: is there a sudden increase? The conversion rate of a campaign that has been clicked on can increase from 3% to 20% and then return back to 3% in just a few days.
You can check the click fraud rate in your niche to assess the risks.
2. Check your bounce rate
Campaigns with high levels of click fraud tend to have high bounce rates. This is because bots or click fraudsters do not browse the site like normal users. They come to the page and immediately leave because their goal is to click on an ad.To do this: log in to Yandex Metrica or Google Analytics. Open the landing page where the traffic comes from. Separate advertising traffic and organic traffic, and then compare the bounce rates for each of them. Most likely, the bounce rate in organic search results will be slightly lower - this is normal. However, if the difference is significant, then most likely the problem is in clickthroughs.
3. Check your click-through rate (CTR)
The more fraudulent clicks that are present in an advertising campaign, the higher the percentage of clicks on the link. Therefore:Monitor the campaign's historical click-through rate to see if there have been any spikes. Compare it to other similar campaigns. Are the rates similar or significantly different?
4. Check the expected CTR for each keyword
One easy way to determine if you are being impacted by click fraud and invalid traffic is to check the expected CTR for your keywords.If you find that the expected CTR for a particular keyword is “above average” while other similar keywords in the campaign are “below average,” then this may indicate click fraud for that particular keyword.
5. Check application forms, accounts, comments
If you collect submissions or comments on your site, or allow users to create accounts, correlate them with the timing of ad placements and clicks.If you notice an increase in inactive accounts, spam, or fake claims that coincide with peak activity in your advertising campaigns, then there is a high probability that this is click fraud.
6. Check out Google Smart Campaigns
Relevant for those advertisers who run advertising campaigns in Google Ads. According to experts, the number of fraudulent clicks in them is 31% higher than in regular ones.Smart campaigns are a great idea in theory, but if you think you are being targeted by scammers, always check the statistics on them. If you think you are being clicked, create a standard campaign and run A/B testing. This will allow you to see if the smart campaign is driving more non-targeted traffic or if there is something else going on.
7. Be careful with graphic ads
Check your ad placements on a weekly or, if possible, daily basis and exclude those sites that seem low-quality. Or pay attention to sites with a high CTR (usually more than 3% of impressions is already very high).8. View IP addresses in server logs
If you suspect ad click fraud, you can check your server logs. Upload the logs. You can use tools to monitor logs and extract data. Each ad click will have its own unique identifier, such as yclid or gclid. Extract the IP addresses from which these clicks were made.Look for any patterns in them that may indicate fraud. For example, are there many repeats from the same IP address (when only the last 3 digits of the IP address change) or subnet; were there conversions from these IP addresses, and if so, were they real?
You can block such addresses in the campaign settings, but keep in mind that advertising platforms have a limit on blocking them in the advertiser's account. In Yandex.Direct, you can block up to 25 IP addresses, in Google - no more than 500.
9. Use automated click fraud protection systems
If you do not have sufficient knowledge, experience or time to perform all the above actions, but you want to protect your advertising campaigns from click fraud, connect the automated Botfaqtor service.The anti-fraud system for digital advertising automates the entire process of checking advertising traffic, analyzing it and detecting fraudulent visits and blocks the display of advertising to bots and clickers.
The service algorithm checks each visit for 100+ technical parameters of devices and behavioral factors, i.e. how the user behaves on the site. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are used in the process.
