This Click Fraud Thing Keeps Me Up At Night

[internetheaven]

I spend a lot of time worrying about receiving "that email" saying that I've been booted for whatever reason and that I won't be receiving my $#*$!x cheque this month.

Most recently I have one site which is quite sticky, loads of people come back daily/weekly and I'm sure many will be clicking on more than one ad per day or making more than one search each time. So if Google sees 100 regular IP addresses clicking on ads/search results is that going to trip a fraud filter and get me kicked off? Is Adsense only really a safe revenue for fly-through sites that don't have repeat visitors?

e.g. if Webmasterworld had adsense ads, how long before they got accused of click fraud? We're the same people here every day and clicking more than one ad if they are relevant to what we are looking for.

[The Contractor]

I spend a lot of time worrying about receiving "that email" saying that I've been booted for whatever reason and that I won't be receiving my $#*$!x cheque this month.

I believe Google can/will disregard clicks it feels are not valid. I think they will only send the dreaded email when there is little doubt there is real click fraud going on (clicks from rotating proxies, not sending any referrer string to your pages, yet getting clicks etc.) Of course I am probably wrong ;)

If you worry too much about it, which means that you are depending on Google too much for your income - that in itself should scare you ...hehe

[ronburk]

It's a risk, nobody knows how high exactly but Google. Nobody but Google knows what trips their filters, but we do know that 100% automated publisher bannings are "on the rise".

Why not take some of that time spent worrying and devote it to reducing your exposure to this risk?

• Make sure you have tripwires in your log analysis that go off for "unusual" activity and notify you in less than 24 hours.
  
• Make sure you'll get likewise notified (e.g., via pager if on vacation) of "unusual" numbers in your AdSense stats.
  
• Have a printed listing of all the best "what to do if you're banned" postings from this forum sitting at your desk where you can find it.
  
• Make sure that you won't go more than 24 hours without viewing any email Google sends to the address you've told them to use for communications (e.g., use a reserved email address that you can have trigger a pager if you're on vacation).
  
• Regularly analyze your advertiser base, so you have a starting point if you lose AdSense and want to try to sell ads directly. If (like all too many AdSensers) you don't have a clue what advertisers are supplying most of your revenue, then that's what you should be worrying about instead of getting banned.
  
• Get at least one toe dipped in affiliate sales, so that losing AdSense doesn't mean going to $0 immediately.
  

[internetheaven]

If you worry too much about it, which means that you are depending on Google too much for your income - that in itself should scare you ...hehe

Yes, I do depend on them as they are the only ads currently on the pages. Of course I can replace them but that of course takes alot of time to get the right ads. They biggest concern is the with-holding of 1-2 months revenue because they have declared it fraud.

Two months revenue is alot to lose, that's the worry. I'm not dependant on Google for revenue full-stop (they can be replaced), just the money they keep if they turn on me!

Get at least one toe dipped in affiliate sales

yes, that is what we had prior to switching to Adsense. We can go back easy enough it is just the loss of the initial revenue and the then considerable time finding the best converting advertisers. Contextual advertising has worked well for us, we tripled ad revenue when we switched to adsense.

[ann]

There is a thing about fear. The more you concentrate with fear on a thing you actually bring that thing or situation onto you, much like the old saying: be careful what you wish for.

Live your regular life, check your stats when you feel like it, without worry and obsessing. You will be surprised how well that frees your mind up so you can again become productive.

:)

Ann

[andrewshim]

I believe Google can/will disregard clicks it feels are not valid. I think they will only send the dreaded email when there is little doubt there is real click fraud going on (clicks from rotating proxies, not sending any referrer string to your pages, yet getting clicks etc.) Of course I am probably wrong

Sorry, but you are wrong. I noticed a huge spike in number of clicks one day. I waited and since I didn't see any increase in earnings corresponding to that spike, I disregarded it, thinking Google had just held back said earnings from any invalid clicks.

Approximately 5 days later, the dreaded email came.

It shocked the **** out of me. I immediately knew it was this incident and responded, letting them know the exact date and number of clicks for that day (based on my stats). They replied to me saying they had taken note and reminded me to notify them of any suspicious spikes again.

After that, I installed an ad tracking software and have been keeping an eagle eye on it. Now, I know how many clicks were made and which IP it came from.

My point : No need to worry. Be a good boy / girl. If you notice a spike in clicks that seems suspect, just drop Adsense a note. They will appreciate your effort in being honest and helps to keep your account in good standing.

[The Contractor]

Sorry, but you are wrong. I noticed a huge spike in number of clicks one day. I waited and since I didn't see any increase in earnings corresponding to that spike, I disregarded it, thinking Google had just held back said earnings from any invalid clicks.

uhmm...so you know for a fact someone wasn't using the tactics I described on your site?