Monday 20 June 2011

Click Fraud: Is Your Account Protected?

Over the past few years the internet has significantly grown. This growth has not only boosted the online advertising industry but also in particular the PPC market.

Although great things have come out of the world wide web, the ugly issue of click fraud has come about.

Click fraud, also known as Invalid Clicks happens in Pay Per Click online advertising and is considered a type of internet crime.

Since the dawn of PPC in the early 2000s click fraud has been an issue for many online advertisers.

Click fraud occurs when a person, automated script or computer program imitates a continuous number of clicks. It can be for the financial gain of the clicker, or to deplete the funds of the advertiser.

Google is continuously worked on this problem but to keep your account protected, marketing expert, Waseem Saddique offers these useful tips.

“You should always track your campaigns. There is a very important relationship between managing and monitoring your account,” Says Waseem.

Google AdWords has two handy resources that can be used to track campaigns; Account Performance and Campaign Performance. These two resources will allow you to see the percentage of clicks that Google thinks are irrelevant or ‘not good’.

“In countries where there is a low labour rate, people are employed to power click fraud efforts. It is therefore wise to choose which countries your ads will be displayed.”

By limiting the locations where you have the ads displayed, you will automatically get more conversions due to target clicks, furthermore your website will be less prone to click fraud.

“You need to be meticulous in your approach. Completely analyze and go through all details that could relate to any suspicious activity.

“Last but not the least; carefully document all your traffic analysis through reports while running your PPC campaign.”

Click fraud is preventable if campaigns are monitored and managed carefully.