Invalid Clicks Issues

Introduction to Invalid Clicks

Overview of Invalid Clicks

Invalid clicks are clicks on your ads that are generated by prohibited methods. Invalid clicks are sometimes intended to artificially or maliciously drive up an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings. Sources of invalid clicks may include:

• Repeated manual clicks
• Clicks by automated tools, robots, or other deceptive software

Invalid impressions are those generated by automated systems or users with malicious intent.

We closely monitor these and other scenarios to help protect your ads from receiving invalid clicks and invalid impressions.

Common Reasons for Multiple Clicks from One Source

You may also find in your web server logs that your ads sometimes receive multiple clicks from a single source. While this too may be an indication of invalid activity, please also consider the following legitimate potential causes:

Internet service provider: An Internet provider (such as AOL, Earthlink, or Comcast) may assign the same IP address to multiple users, especially users who live close by each other.

Comparison shopping: Individual users may legitimately click on your ad more than one time when comparison shopping or when returning to your site for more information.

How Google Combats Invalid Clicks

The security of AdWords advertisers is of the utmost importance to Google. We use a three-part system of both proactive and reactive review, which employs advanced technologies and a team of trained specialists, to protect advertisers from invalid clicks.

Proactive:

1. Real-time filters: Continually updated automated algorithms filter out invalid clicks as they occur. All clicks on AdWords ads are analyzed. These filters account for the vast majority of invalid click detection.

2. Further analysis: Using both automated algorithms and manual analysis by our Ad Traffic Quality Team, we investigate suspicious click patterns looking for invalid clicks that our real-time filters may have missed. This second wave of analysis accounts for a much smaller proportion of invalid clicks than that detected by our filters.

Reactive:

3. Investigations: All advertiser inquiries are investigated by our Ad Traffic Quality team. Reactive investigations are relatively rare, and the number of invalid clicks detected by investigations is negligible relative to the number detected by filters and other analysis.