Would you say this is Click Fraud?

Am I missing something?

[jtoddv]

Here are the stats... one term on exact match, no change of daily budget, no bid changes, and content match never used.

Daily Averages from May 1st-8th:
41.8 impressions
9.3 clicks
22.08% CTR
$1.11 CPC
$10.38 Cost
1.9 Position

Yesterday, May 9th:
207 impressions
34 clicks
16.4% CTR
$0.89 CPC
$30.15 Cost
1.2 Position

Today, May 10th (till 7 PM EST):
699 impressions
118 clicks
16.9% CTR
$0.86 CPC
$101.89 Cost
1.0 Position

The only real difference I see is the position moving from 1.9 to 1.0, however this should make for a change on the number impressions. Going from an average of 41.8 impressions to 699 is to me clear evidence. Plus the CTR seems to be holding steady around 16-17% the past two days which is very telling in my eyes. I am trying to get through my log files to see if there is anything I can rip from there as far as IP addresses.

Let me know if I am missing something.

jtoddv

[Cakkie]

The facts that your CTR remains somewhat the same makes me rather think that this is not click fraud going on.

If a competitor (or anyone else) wants to hit you, the CTR would probably be a lot higher.

My guess is that maybe some big advertizer put back his budget, making your ads show more.

[jtoddv]

Cakkie,
Given that my ads were already at position 1.9 prior to this, wouldn't the impressions still remain consistent?

Regarding your comment on CTR, I imagine that a script could set the CTR% so it wouldn't get over blown. Just sending out a bot to make as many clicks as possible would be a sure tell to click fraud in my eyes. In this instance, the bot just made to many impressions/clicks for me to easily notice. It might also be a bot to test my daily budget.

Also, please remember, this is just one term on exact match. Not a set of terms.

All,
Has anyone else witnessed an increase in the number of impressions you receive going from postion 2-3 to 1? I would think it wouldn't matter.

jtoddv

[jtoddv]

After looking through my log files from the 1st and comparing them to the 10th, I noticed the majority of clicks I received, which are directed to a unique landing page only used for adwords, had no referring URL. Where as on the 1st, 95% had a referring URL.

[bostonseo]

That is very strange - unless the term is somehow relevant to a current event,,,,like Britney Spears being pregnant again or say if you are bidding on the term 'gas prices'.

I have no idea why you would see such a large increase - I'm sure they won't divulge much info either. How are your conversions with the increased traffic?

[jtoddv]

bostonseo,
I could almost guarantee it is NOT attached to any news event.

Conversions have see NO increase over the norm what so ever.

Also, from the log files I can tell it began at 7-8PM PST on the 9th. Which is also the same time I notice a new referring url coming from domain "Search.in". And all queries coming from Search.in are for my exact phrase only... not a single different query.

[netmeg]

Sounds like Google picked up a new search partner (or an existing search partner picked up on you) and suddenly you have all these clicks. This is why I got rid of content search on a lot of my accounts, but now I'm seeing the same kind of thing with these search partners as well. I definitely think there's something weird here - I would send all this information over to Google if you haven't already. When I see something like this, specially if it seems to be coming from one source, and no conversions, then I complain about it.

You could also try opting out of the search network for a day or two and seeing what difference THAT makes.

[jtoddv]

I have dropped my ads max cpc and still my impressions remain high. Also, my CTR remains at 16.57%. God you have to love it.

I have now removed my ads from the search network. I wanted to verify this is the cause. I got halfway through the day when enough was enough. Google better start to monitor their search partners better. Especially when a search partner is screwing over the Google AdWords users. Sorry that might have been an assumption at the moment, but I think since I have turned off the search network, I am going to see big differences and a CTR% that is much more varied.

[jtoddv]

Netmeg,
I submitted it to Google's click fraud unit last night... still waiting for a response.

[jtoddv]

Have yet to hear back from the guys in the click fraud unit. But it clearly appears to be occuring on one of their search partners. I have removed the ads from the search network and halfway through today I am back down to levels I am used to. Levels are below averages from the May 1st-8th levels, but that is a given based on the fact that I am eliminating some decent search partners by removing my ads from the search partner network.

I think Google really needs to investigate this case to determine which partner flew off the handle on this one. I would advise others to make sure that your keywords are remaining steady.

Until Google gets back to me regarding the search partner who caused this mess, I will remain removed from the search partner network.

After I get more information, I will continue to post to this thread.