Top Click Fraud Detection Software in 2024

Click fraud is very simple: Someone clicks on your PPC ads with the intention of costing you money. Why are people doing this and what’s in it for them? There are two main types of click fraud.

How to Prevent Click Fraud?

Click fraud can be difficult to detect, but there are some steps you can take to help prevent it. There’s no surefire way of eliminating click fraud, but if you make it a priority, then you can limit its impact.

Here are five steps you can take to limit the impact of click fraud on your PPC ads.

1. Set Up IP Exclusions in Google Ads

If you’ve been through your data and decided that certain IP addresses are clicking your ads fraudulently, then you can block them through Google Ads. This will mean your ads aren’t shown to the IP addresses you’ve identified as fraudulent.

In your Ads account, go to the settings tab and choose IP exclusions.

Google provides a step-by-step process to exclude IP addresses. 

2. Think About How You Run Display Ads

According to PPC Protect, display ads are much more susceptible to click fraud. This makes sense because you’ve got the added element of publisher click fraud, which isn’t present with search ads.

You have control over how your display ads are shown, though, and one option is to focus on retargeting.

Whether you’re running retargeting ads, then they’re only visible to people who have visited your website in the past. This means the publisher won’t be able to see your ads on their site and isn’t able to keep clicking them.

Retargeting is an excellent way of targeting your audience at different stages of the customer journey, and it also has the added bonus of making it more difficult to click your ads fraudulently.

3. Concentrate on Ad Targeting

The more targeted your ads are, the more successful they’re likely to be. It’s also likely to make them less susceptible to click fraud.

Many of the click farms are concentrated in specific locations (generally low-income countries), so you might limit your risk by excluding these countries (and languages) from your targeting.

You want to get your ads in front of people who will take action, so it’s important you’re targeting your ads toward your audience. Not only might focusing your attention on a smaller geographic area make your ads more effective, but it might make it more difficult for people to click them fraudulently.

Again, this isn’t a science, and it’s very difficult to stop click fraud completely (if Google could, it would), but by following good PPC steps, you can improve your ROI while protecting yourself at the same time.

4. Focus on Social Media Ads

Social media ads are much less keyword-based than paid ads on search engines. This makes it much more difficult for people to type in a keyword and see your ad.

Platforms like Facebook have so much information on their users, which means it’s possible to be very targeted with the people you reach. This reduces the chance of click fraud and allows you to get a better return on your paid ads.

Unlike display ads, social media platforms don’t have third-party owners either, so this eliminates publisher click fraud, making your ads that little bit safer.

5. Use Click Fraud Protection Software

There are lots of different providers of click fraud protection services. Companies such as ClickCease, Clixtell, ClickGuard, and PPC Shield to monitor your ads using algorithms to detect fraud and quarantine fraudulent clicks.

These solutions tend to cost around $50 a month for a basic package and can save you thousands of dollars a month.

Whether you choose to invest in this kind of protection will depend on the scale of your PPC campaigns and if you think you’re suffering from click fraud. The nice thing is if these platforms work, then you should quickly start to see the results in your data.

You’re not tied into anything, so it’s worth testing these out and seeing if they make a difference for your campaigns.

Listed below are the top 4 click fraud prevention software. Read more about their company and in their words why you should choose them.

TL;DR: How to Prevent Click Fraud

There are some simple steps you can take to prevent click fraud. This is a complicated issue and no fix is a magic bullet, but these steps can help you spot click fraud on your ads and limit its impact on your PPC.

1. Set up IP exclusions on Google Ads

If you’ve analyzed your data and believe certain IP addresses to be fraudulently clicking your ads, then you should add them to an exclusion list in Google Ads.

2. Think about how you run display ads

A big part of click fraud is publishers clicking on your ads on their website. When you focus on retargeting with your display ads, then publishers are less likely to see your ads.

3. Concentrate on ad targeting

Focus on your target audiences and tighten your net as much as possible. The more people your ad gets shown to outside of your target audience, the more it’s likely to grab the attention of fraudsters.

4. Consider social media ads

Social media ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram are less keyword-focused, meaning they’re harder to search for. With intelligent targeting, these platforms still give you bang for your buck, they’re just harder for fraudsters to find.

5. Use click fraud protection software

If you believe click fraud is costing you big money, then it makes sense to invest in protecting your ads. Softwares like ClickCease are a great way to stop fraudulent clicks.

Conclusion

Click fraud is a complicated issue that could be affecting your PPC ads.

While Google and the other search engines are taking action to prevent click fraud and refund you for illegitimate clicks, it’s not a perfect science. This is why it’s sometimes worth taking a proactive approach to ensure you’re getting the most out of your PPC.

PPC advertising is a very important component of your marketing mix. Assuming that you understand the market and follow the above tips, it’s less likely that click fraud will happen to you. Here at Swell MKTG, we are we have a team of expert PPC managers to take your campaigns to the next level. Click here to connect with us!