As part of an Adwords campaign, Click Fraud means that phenomenon that manifests itself when a subject generates misleading clicks on ads of sponsored messages with the aim of consuming advertisers’ budgets.
For each click made by the surfers, the advertiser corresponds to the circuit that manages the advertising an amount that varies in relation to the keyword purchased. Unfortunately, not all clicks come from really interested surfers; anyone who clicks without reason and interest on a promotional message, priced in Pay per Click mode, causes damage to the advertiser that, in a few days, could exceed tens of thousands of euros. For this reason, it is always appropriate to keep under control keyword advertising clicks, so as to be able to promptly detect any anomalies. Fraudulent clicks can easily be identified if the site uses a Web Analytics solution; these clicks, in fact, have special features and are easily identifiable. A fraudulent browser, identified by the same IP address, repeatedly clicks the promotional ad and then closes the browser or blocks the session as soon as the request of the landing page of destination is made. This behaviour is repeated several times, often with the help of automated systems. Google has immediately identified the phenomenon of fraudulent clicks and is constantly engaged in undermining them. In fact, once a case of click fraud has been identified using analysis algorithms, the non-compliant clicks are automatically credited without any charge to advertisers.
In addition to operators (who perform manual checks on customer accounts, if necessary) Google has implemented a system of analysis and proprietary control where:
• controls all clicks by collecting data such as the clicker’s IP address, time and any double clicks;
• It filters this data to compare it to the data it already has in its database. When the system detects that clicks are not valid, the advertiser is automatically credited the amount in his account. In the Adwords Help Center, you will learn how to view any invalid click credits within your account management panel. It happens, however, that Google’s control system does not succeed in identifying invalid clicks. For this reason, it is always recommended to keep any unexpected or unexpected click increases monitored. In case you need dizzying increments of clicks on ads, it is useful to check the time when the click took place, the IP address and exclude phenomena such as the seasonality of searches. Other tools provided by Adwords, such as custom reports, can help identify invalid clicks.
Google has a four-stage software platform for identifying invalid clicks: this category includes both non-fraudulent and illegal clicks.
So-called “click fraud” is usually reported by advertisers, through the Adwords console, and by specialized companies. The first stage is fully automatic and is used to filter the clicks from online searches and contextualized advertising of Adsense partners. Invalid clicks are detected in real-time and immediately removed from the Adwords console. The second and third stages are concerned with filtering only the Adsense clicks: the invalid ones have first highlighted automatically and then manually evaluated and eventually removed by Google employees. The goal is to identify in 100% of cases all irregular clicks with the three stages. The fourth is in fact the manual that is activated when an investigation action is requested by an advertiser, as a direct consequence of the failure of the entire control system.
The results to date tell us that search advertising with all its problems of click theft, still has a yield often far superior to other media, even if not for all sectors. The data confirm that advertising on the web is growing sharply compared to other channels, driven by the results obtained since the commercial machine of online advertising is still very weak especially in Europe and even less so in Italy. For those who limit themselves to advertising Pay per Click on search, on the other hand, entrusting campaigns to listed SEM companies can be quiet: no click theft will upset its online promotion strategies. Fortunately, in Italy, the phenomenon does not seem to be particularly widespread. An eye for attention is always recommended.
