Running PPC campaigns? Seen our ads and wondering if you really need PPC protection?
We get it. Click fraud prevention is a technical subject and one which you might think would be taken care of at the source (i.e; on the ad platform).
Well, these click fraud FAQs will help you understand why PPC protection is a thing, and why blocking fraud is more necessary than ever.
The following questions are from real customers and are the most common ones we normally receive.
Question #1: Doesn’t Google filter click fraud?
Probably the biggest question and the one which defines our existence.
There is a big difference between what they deem to be fraudulent and what we deem to be fraudulent.
- Click Threshold – We allow you to set up to 5 filters to protect your PPC campaigns manually.
- An example of the threshold is 3 clicks within 7 days. This means that if someone clicks 3 times within 7 days their IP will be blocked before they can commit the fourth click (this is fully customisable and we also offer industry-specific presets too).
- Google does not have this, and you have to rely on them to determine how many times a user can click on your ads before being deemed fraudulent.
- Device-based blocking
- If a device is flagged as fraudulent any new IP they use will be blocked after the first click. We will not allow it to reach your set thresholds as we know it is fraudulent and will not bring you a conversion.
- Google only sees clicks in terms of the IP and treats each IP as a new user charging you for every click they commit from every IP they use.
- VPN blocking
- We allow you to decide if you want to allow people using VPNs to click on your ads. If this feature is turned on every IP that uses a VPN is blocked.
- Google does not have a filter in place for this and will charge you for all clicks from VPNs.
- JavaScript Disabled blocking
- Similar to the VPN blocking you can turn on a filter that will block any IP that is using a browser with JavaScript disabled.
- This is a great filter as there is no reason that a valid user would have JavaScript disabled and is a very easy way to determine if a click is coming from a Bot.
- ClickCease Blacklist
- We have a very extensive list of fraudulent IPs. Not only will we block the fraudulent IPs that are specifically clicking on your ads but if we ever see you being targeted by an IP that we have historically seen as fraudulent we will block it after the first click.
- Behavior Analysis
- When the ClickCease tracking code is installed on the website we are able to capture the mouse movement of users as they interact with your landing page. This is a nice feature as you can track the behavior of customers on your landing page but also serves a greater purpose
- Using the mouse movement along with the duration that they stay on the page and whether or not they scrolled while being on your page we are able to very accurately determine if the user is valid or fraudulent.
Read more about How Does Google Protect PPC Campaigns?
Question #2: Why do you need access to my Google Ads account?
This is sensitive! Allowing 3rd party access to your Google AdWords account is something that practically every advertiser/client of ours feels concerned about.
Whether the connection method is via the Google Ads API or your MCC, allowing anyone but yourself see your campaigns doesn’t seem at first normal…we know.
The reason ClickCease needs this access to your campaign is in order to block the fraudulent IPs in real time. As soon as we detect an IP as fraudulent we automatically add it to your exclusion list in your Google Ads account.
If we do not have access and cannot block the IP right away it will continue to click on your ad costing you more money.
Keep in mind that this is all done automatically and the only part of your campaign that we change is the IP exclusion list.
Thousands of advertisers, big and small, trust us with this.
Question #3: Can I prove that my competitor is clicking on my ads?
That would be nice, but potentially also very dangerous.
Unfortunately, due to Google privacy policies, we are unable to determine the exact identity/location of the people who are clicking on your ads. However, we are able to give you loads
One client of ours got in touch to explain how they, and a group of business competitors, got together to uncover a click fraud campaign.
Question #3: Does Google refund click fraud?
Every two months Google allows you to submit a supplementary report regarding the activity in your account. They will then review this report and determine if you are eligible for an additional refund.
With your ClickCease account, you will be able to automate this. We will gather all the data regarding all of the activity in your account and send it to Google for them to review.
However, it is important to know that the main value of click fraud protection software is blocking the IPs before they are able to damage your budget.
It is much more effective to stop the clicks before they happen instead of relying on Google to refund you.
Question #4: How much fraud do you typically detect?
Every account is unique and facing a different level of fraud. PPC protection
Meaning that around a quarter of the clicks you are receiving are fraudulent and will be blocked.
Question #5: How will I measure my success?
When looking at the efficacy of ClickCease it is important to look at your detection rate in the dashboard.
Our average fraud protection rate is around 14% – although, for some industries, this can be as high as 60% or as low as 9%.
When using ClickCease, you will see a decrease in the number of clicks / spend you have per month without seeing a decrease in the level of conversions. Overall, you will see cleaner, more relevant traffic to your website coming from your paid ads.
The better your paid marketing protection is and the cleaner your funnels are, the better results you can get.
Got more questions?
There are many more questions related to click fraud and PPC protection. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask more click fraud questions directly on our chat or read our docs.