For example, you would pay Publisher xyz.cm when people choose your ads that are published on xyz.cm.
This is a system easy to abuse.
What Is Click Fraud?
For instance, 200 people visit a website, but the ad banner has over 700 clicks.
What about the extra 500 people?
Some people have clicked on the ad more times than once.
Understandably, one might mistakenly select an ad twice.
Also, your old visitors or competitors may click your ad several times.
These would not count as click fraud.
Instead, click fraud is a deliberate action to manipulate the number of ad clicks.
How Does Click Fraud Work?
They might also use click bots.
They are a core player in PPC advertising.
Some publishers are swayed by the monetary benefits they earn when users select ad links.
Publishers may use bots that keep clicking on the links, thereby increasing their revenue.
Sometimes, you may not notice the click manipulation.
However, issues arise when the ad doesnt produce your desired results.
Advertising Networks
These networks connect advertisers to publishers.
Thus, they receive a share of the ad banners revenue.
Advertising networks could manipulate figures so that their percentage increases.
Although they do not earn revenue from the irrelevant links, they force you to pay for them.
And upon noticing the scam, you would probably terminate your relationship with your publisher or advertising online grid.
Asides from competitors, other individuals with malicious intent may execute click fraud.
These persons are the hardest click fraud perpetrators to determine.
Humans could eventually get tired of repeatedly clicking on the ad banner.
Click bots are an automatic way of clicking on ad links.
These bots are not real people.
Instead, they are software using existing user traffic to choose links randomly.
It is a way of ensuring that the ad data pipe doesnt find out about the fraudulent practice.
Click Farms
Click farms are similar to click bots.
The difference is that click farms are made up of actual humans.
Crowdsourcing
This form of click fraud is similar to emotional manipulation.
There is usually a manipulative clause that compels people who come across the ad to keep clicking.
However, abnormal metrics can indicate the presence of click fraud.
This is why much money has been lost to click fraud.
Although there are more sophisticated means of identifying click fraud, none is infallible.
However, the PPC advertising industry continues to lobby for more stringent laws on click fraud.
However, this does not happen when click fraud is in play.
As a result, you have to keep track of your ad campaigns.
Fortunately, severalprivacy-friendly analytics toolsare available to help you monitor and track your campaign.
Alternatively, you’re free to useGoogle Analyticsto check and catch invalid clicks.
These publishers will usually engage specialists to review your clicks and impressions to identify invalid clicks.
However, not all publishers take this stance.
So do your due diligence.
Click Fraud: Is It Legal?
Click fraud is illegal because it involves the manipulation of figures.
And people who employ click fraud cause advertisers to pay more than they should.
Moreover, click fraud does not translate to more traffic for your products or services.
Several click fraud lawsuits have proven the illegal nature of click fraud.
Dont Be a Victim of Click Fraud
Placing adverts should increase reach and visibility.
Unfortunately, anyone can be a victim of click fraud.
Always keep track of your ad campaigns and only use reputable publishers and advertising networks.
