Avoiding Click Fraud

By Susanne Svette, IdeaStar Search Engine Specialist

Click fraud can be defined as the act of purposely clicking online ad links without intending to buy from the advertiser. Anytime somebody clicks on an ad, it costs the advertiser money.

Some suspicious clicks may be from people seeking legitimate information. The clicks which cause concern, however, are from those clicking to increase their revenue or to deliberately use-up an advertiser’s pay-per-click campaign fund. (Your competitors wouldn't do that. Would they?)

So what’s a pay-per-click advertiser to do? Major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN take click fraud seriously, and have detection and prevention systems in place. For instance, Google only counts one-click per day per address for any given ad. But as an online pay-per-click advertiser, there are a few things you can do to avoid paying for click fraud.

• Be alert! Watch your ad campaigns and keep track of your daily budget. A large spike in clicks, or repeatedly depleting a daily budget may indicate click fraud.

• Address click inflation issues as soon as possible. Google has been kind enough to grant a refund when suspicious clicks have been pointed out.

• Track your return on investment carefully. The number of conversions or leads produced through your pay-per-click campaign indicates whether or not it is a success.

• A third-party auditing system can be used, but be sure to include a careful selection process.

Yes, click fraud does happen. Fortunately the major search engines can filter invalid clicks out before an advertiser is billed for them. And, they are quick to respond to reports of click fraud and either offer an explanation or credit your account. The main thing is to be vigilant, and watch your ad campaign for anything suspicious.

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