Invalid clicks are those that are “illegitimate, such as unintentional clicks or clicks resulting from malicious software”, according to Google. And whether they stem from something accidental or more nefarious, they can be very frustrating. In fact, it’s thought that click fraud (the non-accidental type of invalid clicks) can cost PPC advertisers as much as 20% of their budget.
Unfortunately, you can’t totally prevent invalid clicks from occurring. In the same way that it’s impossible to entirely stop people stealing from shops all over the world, you’re never going to be able to mitigate invalid clicks entirely. But don’t despair, because there are several third-party apps you can use to help reduce your number of invalid clicks.
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Third-Party Software & Apps To Reduce Invalid Clicks
Invalid clicks (also known as click fraud) can be minimised using specialist third-party services like ClickCease by CHEQ, and Click Guardian. These platforms utilise a range of filters and rule-based protocols to determine whether a click is fraudulent or malicious. If they are, they’re then blocked. But these third-party companies aren’t the only ones trying to protect you from invalid clicks. Google is, too.
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Google’s Own Methods To Prevent Invalid Activity
Given that Google is the world’s biggest pay-per-click advertising platform, it’s no wonder that they’re proactive when it comes to rooting out invalid clicks (and other invalid activity like impressions or views). Using a large number of sophisticated algorithms, Google can spot a large proportion of ‘bad’ traffic, both in real-time (using its automated filters) and in near real-time.
Because of the sheer volume of traffic, Google has to monitor, its protective scope is understandably less than that of the specialist, third-party click fraud services we mentioned above. But if you’re working on a tight budget, it’s nice to know that Google at least does something to help with invalid clicks.
Written by Uzair Kharawala
Partner at SF Digital Studios, a Google Premier Partner agency. Uzair has been helping businesses grow with Google Ads since 2002 and teaches it every week on YouTube.
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