How to Block Fake Clicks and Fraudulent Orders in Google Ads

Fake clicks and fraudulent orders are a major headache when advertising on Google. They can affect you whether you run ads yourself or use marketing services.

In this post, Optimus explains some ways to limit fake clicks and fraudulent orders in Google Ads.

This usually happens because competitors hire people to click on ads or place fraudulent orders (clicking manually or using tools to click automatically).

Although Google has a feature to detect and exclude fake clicks, in practice businesses' ads are still significantly affected.

Image from Clicktrackmarketing.

Here are some ways to address this:

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Lower bids

For SEM, you can first lower bids so ads appear in lower positions on Google. Positions 1–3 are often especially vulnerable to click fraud. Adjusting bids while monitoring traffic helps reduce fake clicks.

Analyze and change your approach

Analyze data by:

• Device

• Time of day

• Geographic location

Check which segments have spikes in fake clicks, then adjust bids accordingly or exclude those segments from the advertising campaign altogether

Use click fraud blocking software

This software detects click fraud behavior and proactively excludes it from ads. It is quite effective and can block a considerable number of fraudulent clickers. However, advertisers still need to monitor regularly and make more precise adjustments alongside the software's features. One tool Optimus recommends is NOVAON's Autoads.

Google Display Network (GDN)

Stop showing ads in apps

For GDN, exclude app placements. Mobile traffic is very high, and users can easily tap pop-up ads on phones by mistake. When parents let young children use their phones, unintentional ad clicks are also very likely.

Adjust how you run Performance Max

Fraudulent orders are quite common with Performance Max ads. This ad type relies on Google's algorithm to optimize ads automatically, making it difficult to control the audiences it reaches. To reduce fraudulent orders, try the following:

• Analyze fraudulent orders by geographic location and exclude areas with high fraudulent order rates from the campaign

• Monitor products frequently targeted by fraudulent orders and exclude them from the product feed

• Avoid setting ROAS bids too high, which can lead Google's machine learning to seek revenue from users who routinely place fraudulent orders. Continually monitor the fraudulent order rate to adjust ROAS gradually, usually changing bids once every 2 weeks

• Replace Performance Max with similar ad types, such as Shopping ads or Dynamic ads, for more control over ad optimization

Conclusion

These solutions will help reduce fake clicks and fraudulent orders on Google's advertising channel to some extent.

If you would rather not handle these problems yourself, consider Optimus's services for digital marketing. We continually research and apply new methods to ensure genuine clicks and orders for our customers.