BLOG | 082619 | DIGITAL MARKETING
Click Fraud & Google Part IV
Final conclusions and recommendations:
- Protecting your marketing budget from being erased
- Stats on click frauds impact
- The multi-million dollar digital fraud industry
- Highest risk industries
The Cost Of Fraud
Highest Risk Industries
All industries are at risk from click fraud. There are no exceptions but there are industries that are more prone to competitors clicking on each others Ads over and over. They are:
- Law Firms – Yep. Law firms pretty much allow about 50% fraud for their click budget. With costs averaging $100 a click (about $30 a click in smaller markets) it’s easy to see how this can make advertising with Google a no win situation
- Contracting Services – Namely construction and cleaning are the hardest hit. Cleaning companies typically click each others Ads as they fight over scraps in a low margin industry – wow…
- Digital Marketing – We are a top target and have spent a lot of money and time to stop click fraud which is why these posts are published
Stopping Click Fraud
Well… More like slowing down click fraud which can reduce your fraud by 50% or more… Here is how it’s done:
- Make sure your Google Ads settings are specifically setup to prevent on outsider from a different market area from finding your ad by typing in the area your advertising in and your keywords. Tell Google Ads to only allow searchers from your market(s) only to see your ads.
- Consider using exact match keywords in your Google Ads setup where appropriate
- Stop bots from clicking on your Ads
- Set thresholds in Google Ads manager using the “rules” option to shutdown your Ad if it goes above a CTR of %15
The steps listed above will allow you to reduce click fraud without spending more on a third party interface … BUT.. with a 3rd party interface you’ll be able to:
- Automatically block abusive IP addresses and devices
- Hide your Ad from “bots”
- Block site visitors that only spend a second or two on your website once clicking your Ad
- Prevent the same IP address and device from accidentally or on purpose clicking on your Ad multiple times in a predefined time span.
What You Are Up Against
A Multi-million Dollar Industry
Black-hat industries in the digital world are big business offering click fraud services besides reputation ruining reviews. Click fraud resources expand past employees and owners clicking on competitors Ads:
- Click Farms – These are foreign (usually) resources hired out to click on your competitors Ads. They click from different IP addresses and devices making it hard to impossible to stop
- Bots – There are automated programs that, based on their parameters, click on Google Ads at random times and from random IP addresses and locations
Stats
This is debatable and different sources will give you alternate numbers but it’s probably the most accurate estimate:
- Average click fraud cost per $1000 spent: $377
- Google advertisers that can’t make a profit because of click fraud alone: 39%
- Percent of businesses that hire professionals that specialize in click frauding competitors: 22%
Conclusion
If you have any kind of budget for Google Ads consider – strongly – paying for a third party interface to drastically reduce click fraud.
Google claims they have built in click-fraud protection blocking invalid clicks on your Ad but … They actually don’t. It’s an absolute 100% flat out lie as Google profits tremendously from click fraud.
There are many options including Click Guard & Click Cease you can pay for monthly after you set them up. If you are looking for a fully managed Google Ads solution we offer that as well – you do zero as we manage your Ads and fraud protection. Either way it’s time to get serious about protecting your marketing budget.