Click Bots and Fake Traffic Cost Online Advertisers $35 Billion

The world of pay-per-click advertising depends on traffic to keep it running. But almost as long as there have been PPC ads, there have been bots to “click” them and game the system.

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An open secret, this problem is much more widespread than many digital marketers might assume, with some estimates claiming fake users make up almost 40% of all web traffic.

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A study by the University of Baltimore estimated ad fraud costs businesses $35 billion globally in 2020 alone.

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One of the most common ways it is perpetrated is via PPC fraud, in which website owners use an automated clicker, or click bot, to focus on Google Display, YouTube, or responsive text ads on their own site.

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If these clicks are not identified as fraudulent, and they often are not, the fraudster collects the payout for each click from the advertiser. This not only falsely inflates ad performance, but it siphons off money from advertisers’ digital ad budgets for nonexistent traffic.

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Google has the technology to detect and block bot traffic. Using the search engine’s automatic filter in Google Analytics, users can instruct it to “exclude all hits from known bots and spiders.”

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Click Bots and Fake Traffic Cost Online Advertisers $35 Billion

Studies show click bots and fraudulent traffic are widespread, but Google remains slow to react.

Brought to you by Trickyenough

The world of pay-per-click advertising depends on traffic to keep it running. But almost as long as there have been PPC ads, there have been bots to “click” them and game the system.

Brought to you by Trickyenough

An open secret, this problem is much more widespread than many digital marketers might assume, with some estimates claiming fake users make up almost 40% of all web traffic.

Brought to you by Trickyenough

A study by the University of Baltimore estimated ad fraud costs businesses $35 billion globally in 2020 alone.

Brought to you by Trickyenough

PPC Fraud is Big Business

One of the most common ways it is perpetrated is via PPC fraud, in which website owners use an automated clicker, or click bot, to focus on Google Display, YouTube, or responsive text ads on their own site.

Brought to you by Trickyenough

If these clicks are not identified as fraudulent, and they often are not, the fraudster collects the payout for each click from the advertiser. This not only falsely inflates ad performance, but it siphons off money from advertisers’ digital ad budgets for nonexistent traffic.

Brought to you by Trickyenough

Google has the technology to detect and block bot traffic. Using the search engine’s automatic filter in Google Analytics, users can instruct it to “exclude all hits from known bots and spiders.”

Brought to you by Trickyenough