Click Fraud: How to Spot It; How to Stop It

Click fraud is a challenging problem for small direct marketers, but not as big a problem as the press has made out. Understanding what click fraud is, how to identify it and how to address it is key.

Don’t panic.
Click fraud, while a legitimate concern, is not as big a problem as it's made out to be.

There are two types of click fraud.
Competitive click fraud occurs when competitors repetitively and maliciously click on ads. Network, or publisher, click fraud is caused by publishers who are part of the search engine advertising network mixing in non-authentic clicks with bona-fide clicks to inflate their revenues fraudulently.

Smaller direct marketers are more likely to be victims of competitive click fraud.
Larger marketers are generally not concerned with competitive click fraud.

All marketers can be victims of network click fraud.
The engines police vigorously against network click fraud and automatically credit back any clicks they believe are fraudulent. However, sometimes clicks get through the engine's screening process.

Know the warning signs of click fraud.
Smaller marketers often lack the high-end web analytics to track and identify click fraud that the search engines would miss.

Watch for changes in click volume and conversion.
Including sudden increases in click volume (without changing bids or positions) with little change in conversion or post-click page views; sudden decreases in conversion; or sudden increases in paid clicks from overseas IP addresses.

Watch for changes in keywords and contextual portions of the search engine network.
Including sudden increases in clicks on a specific keyword in one engine without a similar increase in the other engine or sudden increases in click from the contextual portions of the research engine network (Google, AdSense, Yahoo Content Match, etc.).

Consider turning off the contextual network.
A quick fix, but effective over the short run.

Look for repetitive clicks from the same IP address over time.
Duplicate clicks from an IP might be due to a legitimate searcher when it happens within the same search session or due to an ISP or company using the same IP address for many users. However, it could also be a sign of competitive click fraud.

Consider auditing the clicks.
By hiring a firm that audits clicks or a campaign management agency that includes click fraud auditing in its service.

Kevin Lee, executive chairman of Did-it.com, a New York-based search engine market agency. Lee is also president of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) as well as sits on the Search Council of the Association of Interactive Marketing and the IAB Search Committee.