Possible Clickbomb Help (Urgent)

[Grapetimes]

I’m not sure if I am being clickbombed but I am
Noticing my CTR is higher than usual by around 1 or 2 percent this happened after I got traffic from a different source in social media, but the strange thing is is that I’ve used it before without any noticeable difference in anything. Could it be that the users are just clicking the ads more or is it an attack? Please let me know

[keyplyr]

The only way to handle this is to research what is accessing your server.

Don't rely on stats reports or Google Analytics, which are not accurate and miss too much.

You'll need to manually look through your raw server access logs. Download the log every day and use a text editor to look at who/what is doing the mischief.

Look up the IP addresses of the perps. Look up the User Agents. Search through WW to see if we have discussed this IP range or UA before.

Helpful links:

Search Engine Spider & User Agent ID Forum [webmasterworld.com]

Server Farm IP Ranges [webmasterworld.com]

Blocking Methods [webmasterworld.com]

[Grapetimes]

Could it just be that my ads are receiving more clicks than usual and I need to rearrange them or should I look more into it being an attack?

[keyplyr]

Again, the only way to know is to examine your logs NOT "traffic reports."

You need to do the work. There is no short-cut.


fix typo

[edited by: keyplyr at 10:41 pm (utc) on Apr 9, 2018]

[Grapetimes]

I am going to test on a social media source that I know will not be attacked and if it is still higher I will look into tracking reports but if it is I’m certain that it has something to do with my placement and I am just getting more clicks now. I’ve witnessed where my clicks have gone down after changing nothing before, maybe it is just the exact opposite this time or they are going back to how they were before there was a decrease in CTR

[Grapetimes]

Ok. Is there a plugin through Wordpress I could use to do this? I’m not very familiar with tracking

[keyplyr]

Please read what I posted above.

Good luck.

[Grapetimes]

I honestly wouldn’t even know where to start when it comes to tracking server logs and how to do that but thanks for your prompt reply. If anyone else has experienced this or may have an idea of what’s going on based on the info I’ve supplied please let me know

[Grapetimes]

I just ran a test on the same social media source after removing a few ads where I noticed a higher CTR and it seems to be lowering significantly as I watch the stats. It may just be that more users are clicking my ads or more clicks are being counted for whatever reason, but what doesnt make sense is the previous layout I had of ads hadn’t been changed in months so I’m still not certain. Will be running more tests tonight and possibly looking into someone who can help me track IP’s.

[Grapetimes]

I am also going to install a click bomb protection plugin that tracks IP addresses clicking ads and blocks them from seeing them after they’ve been clicked a specific amount of times in a certain time frame

[keyplyr]

click bomb protection plugin

That's the worst idea yet. You'll block real users and you won't even know it. These plugins are written to sell to naive site owners like you (no offense intended.)

As I said, there is no quick fix to running a web site. Read through the discussions I gave you above. Learn what you're doing.

[Grapetimes]

It is a free plugin. And what if I set it to an abnormal amount of clicks like 10 in one minute or even an hour?

[Grapetimes]

I think it may just be my layout though. Something may have changed where I am getting more clicks because I removed the ad the was getting a high CTR and you would think if it was an attack they would only be clicking other ads at that point. I am still running tests now

[NickMNS]

I going to agree with most of what Keyplyr said with the exception of this:

Don't rely on stats reports or Google Analytics, which are not accurate and miss too much.

The discussion of accuracy is likely a topic for another thread, but in this case you will need to rely on Google Analytics to determine exactly which pages are getting the clicks. (This assumes that your Adsense and Analytics accounts are linked). Once you have found the affected pages or pattern where clicks are occurring. You can then go into your logs to find more specifically who or what is clicking on the ads. Is it always from a the IP or IPs, same or similar UA etc...? Unfortunately the logs don't show where and when ads have been clicked so you have no choice but to use GA.

[keyplyr]

Unfortunately the logs don't show where and when ads have been clicked so you have no choice but to use GA.

Access logs certainly do show that info, or at least they should; maybe yours don't.

A properly set up server access log will show every request an agent makes.

[Grapetimes]

I changed my domain to run a few others tests but with the new domain the CTR seems to be fine all around when I run tests through the social media source. Is there any reason it’s could’ve just been the domain? Does that make sense?

[Grapetimes]

I also tried with another site of mine and no problem. Not sure why

[keyplyr]

Regarding my above post - I sniff for adblockers, when ads load, when divs open/close.. so that info is available in logs although I can't usually tell which exact ad loads into any div.

By researching click-bots and blocking them and the ranges they're using, none of the above is even necessary. Everyone should be researching who & what is requesting files from your server. How else can you know?

[phranque]

Unfortunately the logs don't show where and when ads have been clicked so you have no choice but to use GA.

Access logs certainly do show that info, or at least they should; maybe yours don't.

A properly set up server access log will show every request an agent makes.

wouldn't requests for ad clicks be sent to the ad server rather than your site's server?

[keyplyr]

wouldn't requests for ad clicks be sent to the ad server rather than your site's server?

Yes of course. Read my next post.

You can tell "where" the click-bot is at. You can tell relatively "when" the click-bot was on that page. By tagging the encompassing div, you can tell if it was filled by an ad or not. You know what ad units are on which pages. That narrows it down pretty well I'd say.

[phranque]

so just to be clear, does the actual click show up in your logs as clearly stated above?
or do you collect enough information along the way, perhaps using javascript events or redirects, to do some forensics of a given click and make an educated guess as implied above?

[keyplyr]

I rarely have occasion to do any Adsense forensics regarding questionable clicks. Over the years I've developed a pretty effective system of who I allow to make requests at my server, what type, how fast and other behaviors. I rarely see any clawbacks. In fact, I think I've seen them just once or twice.

[Grapetimes]

How would go about fully blocking clickbots from your site?

[keyplyr]

@Grapetimes - All explained in the second post of this thread.

[Grapetimes]

For the time being I am trying a plugin for this issue right now that blocks any user that clicks an ad more than three times within three hours. I am also going to look more into logs when I talk to my developer but I think for the time being this should help and protect from potential culprits

[Grapetimes]

Would blocking the IP addresses through the htaccess file be effective?

[keyplyr]

Yes. I would consider all methods available from the links in the 2nd post.

Often a click-bot will use a fake browser User Agent to appear human and bypass any blocking you may already have for its true identity. These "fake humans" may be coming from server farms (which should be blocked anyway) or they may be coming from compromised user accounts at ISPs.

If you choose to block an IP address from an ISP, only block that specific address and not the entire range. These compromised IPs from ISPs will usually be detected fairly quickly (within a week or two) so keep watch and unblock that IP address after a short time, or you'll be blocking a real human.

All this is already discussed in the links I gave you. Read them so you are not continually asking the same questions that have already been answered.

[Grapetimes]

Alright thank you. What would you consider a CTR that would be possible only by clickbombing and if it is a clickbomb would they be clicking on every ad overall or only a specific ad?

[Grapetimes]

Also. I notice that I only see a higher CTR than usual when I post to this one source. I could be able to tell the culprits from this within one day if I watch closely. Would it still take a week or two to track if this is the case?

[keyplyr]

The Site Search is located in the upper-right of every page at WW. These are just a few of the discussions relating to Adsense & click-bots.

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