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Fighting Click Fraud In Google Adwords
Click fraud is a very real concern for anybody who is doing PPC
(pay per click) marketing. If you are advertising on Google
Adwords or Yahoo's Overture you need to understand this
increasing threat to your campaigns.
Click fraud involves any artificially created click on your ad.
A human being can create these clicks, or a software program
called a clickbot can create them.
These clicks unfortunately cost you money.
The hard part is identifying click fraud. In order to do this
you need to constantly monitor your campaigns, keeping a
watchful eye out for any abnormalities. You need to pay
attention to your campaign's established trends and watch for
any divergence in those trends. For example, suppose you have an
Adwords Adgroup that averages an 8% CTR (click through). Minor
variations to this CTR are normal and expected. What happens,
however, if this Adgroup spikes to a 15% CTR without warning?
What do you do?
The first thing you need to do in such a case is check to see if
there are any logical reasons for this spike. For example, was
there some media coverage on your industry that would cause an
increase in searches for your keywords? There can be perfectly
reasonable explanations for unexpected traffic spikes. Did you
experience an increase in sales? This is another good indicator
of real traffic. If your sales correspond to your traffic
everything should be fine.
If the traffic still seems fraudulent, however, you need to
gather as much information as possible on the incident. Record
the time period when it happened and what keywords were
affected. Check your server logs and look for any suspicious
looking IP addresses or user agents.
Once you have collected all relevant information you need to
contact
Google support and allow them to take over the
investigation. They will want access to your server logs and any
other pertinent information. They are very good at what they do,
and you need to be patient as their investigation can take some
time.
For example, at one point I had gone away on a camping trip and
had no access to a computer, or an Internet connection to
monitor my campaigns. When I returned I found the costs and
traffic associated with one campaign had spiked dramatically,
costing me several thousand dollars. I instantly knew that a
click bot hit me. I contacted Google and an investigation was
started. A few months later the investigation was concluded and
it was verified that I was the victim of click fraud. I was
reimbursed for all the money the click fraud had cost me and
life went on.
If you spot click fraud Google is very competent with their
investigation and they will reimburse you if click fraud is
indeed proven. If it is determined that click fraud did not
occur, you will be given an explanation describing how this was
determined.
Using Google Adwords and PPC marketing in general can
dramatically boost your sales and should be a vital part of
every marketing mix. Unfortunately, click fraud is also a part
of the PPC landscape. By keeping a watchful eye on your
campaigns and knowing what to look for you can effectively
combat click fraud and continue to reap the rewards of Google
Adwords and PPC marketing.
About the author:
George Peters is a professional Internet marketer and pay per
click advertising expert. His website is located at http://CPCSecrets.com. Email adwordschool@aweber.com
for Adwords tips and strategies.
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