Invalid clicks on websearch

inflated statistics on several days this month

[Kimkia]

I've been having issues with Websearch on my site. On August 4 and 5, the CTR rate soared, effective CPM went to thousands, and earnings were in the triple digits, when usually it's a single digit figure.

I emailed Google and waited for their reply. August 6 and 7 were normal, with August 8 being messed again, then normal for a while, and huge soar in earnings on the 15th. Each time there was a problem, I emailed Google, and I sent them my site stats, with the channel breakdown, because I thought it might be one particular channel which I removed from my site pending their reply. That turned out to be incorrect, because the surge on the 15th was a different channel.

Google finally replied, said they had investigated and deducted a lot of cash generated by the invalid clicks. I was told my account was in good standing, but if I suspect invalid clicks again to inform them, and have my logs available. Well, it's happened again- this time on the 24th.

I will be emailing Google, of course, but I wanted to see what my logs contained. I downloaded a processed log from my server for August 22 to 25, but can't find a thing about Google Adsense or Websearch. Is that because I'm viewing "processed" logs as opposed to raw logs? I don't know much about logs really, and I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

Now, what would generate invalid clicks by the hundreds on a websearch? Does anyone have a clue what's happening here? This is worrying me a great deal, and I'd appreciate any help.

[blue_eagle]

Kimika, it could be robots, a competitor, or whatever. You never know. If I were you I would remove websearch from my pages since you say it is usually one digit earnings anyways. It doesn't worth risking for small amount of money, remove it and have a piece of mind IMO.

[Jenstar]

If you run an image on the top of your websearch, do a search in your logs to see whenever that image was called, - you will see the URL in the referring URL for the image, and can see what the search term was.

The URL that will contain the search term will be horrendously long, but will have google in it. I don't have my logs in front of my, but perhaps someone can post an examplified URL.

A business could be attempting to drain a competitors budget by clicking on an ad excessively. Or that business could even be experiencing tremendous conversion with content, and is trying to drive a competitor to turn off content, with fraudulent clicks which would obviously not convert at all.

If AdSense says not to worry, I wouldn't worry too much, but perhaps ask if they can supply an IP you could block from your site. Or consider removing it all together, especially if your daily earnings are in the low single digits, so you don't have to worry about invalid clicks at all. You could always add it back later, in hopes that the fraudulent clicker has moved on or been caught.

[Kimkia]

If you run an image on the top of your websearch, do a search in your logs to see whenever that image was called, - you will see the URL in the referring URL for the image, and can see what the search term was.

Thank you, Jenstar! That was helpful, because the logo I use for Websearch is a different one from my main logo, and I can actually find the Websearches now in my logs.

I am considering removing Websearch, but if it is a nasty competitor, they could start clicking on Adsense instead - and that idea is very unsettling. I'm going to see if I can trace the culprit, and block the IP, as suggested.

Thanks, again :)

[blue_eagle]

well it is different to be experienced :) <blush>that was a much better idea Jen. </blush> :)

[walrus]

<b>...if it is a nasty competitor, they could start clicking on Adsense instead - and that idea is very unsettling</b>

I think Adsense is aware of the potential for sabatoge and would work to track the abuser as they are not just messing with you but Adsense and all its clients as well.

I suggested to Adsense a few weeks ago they send all publishers emails with ips to block but they said not enough of the publishers know how to use it.

PS Sorry about the formatting! Dont know what am i doing wrong with the style code .Thought i could just add <b></b>

[walrus]

Doh!
I meant to say dont know how to use htaccess.

[blue_eagle]

Manual domain approval would work fine i guess. Also that would give confidence to advertisers also.

[Kimkia]

Just an update - I had one more day of strange stats, and duly informed Google.

I also reviewed my web logs - well, a whole lot of them (those files are humongous!) looking for something suspicious, which I did NOT find.

I offered to removed WebSearch, and as of the last email from them, they have suggested that because of the continued invalid click activity that I do, indeed, remove it.

I've done this - but boy, oh boy, oh boy, the pain would be relentless if it were Adsense itself instead of the "AdSense for Search."

Thanks for all the help and support. This AdSense forum is a wonderful resource, and I greatly value input from you all.

[yosemite]

I have nothing terribly relevant to add to this thread, other than to say that it's threads like these that prompted me to change web hosts. My old host had no way (that I know of) to access raw log files, nor could I edit htacccess files (it was an NT server). I am not savvy enough to figure this stuff out on my own, though I did do a little research on it.

I have new host(s) which have a cPanel (which allows IP blocking, access to logs, etc.), and I feel much better. Obviously, Kimkia has needed to use these things (and make this/her logs available to Google), and who knows, I may someday as well. Thanks for such an informative post, and good luck to you, Kimkia. It sounds like you've handled things very well.