Click Fraud:
all you need to know in 2024-2025
Growing cybercrime
Click fraud is one of the fastest-growing cybercrimes. It’s highly profitable and it’s in huge demand, especially in highly competitive industries. Only few cases end up in prosecution and conviction, which makes it a low-risk form of digital crime – very attractive for cyber criminals.
are concerned about click fraud (eMarketer)
By 2030, ad fraud might become the biggest organized crime market, worth $50 billion
Why is click fraud dangerous for you?
Wasted Budget
Unless detected and blocked, bots waste your PPC budget. You might spend over 20% on irrelevant traffic.
Incorrect Data
The accuracy of your campaign data is affected and can lead you to wrong data-driven decisions.
Poor Conversion
Fake clicks have zero potential for sales, they drive your CTR up and push your conversion rate down.
Giant monetary losses
The % of Google ad budget wasted by click fraud differs by industry. In the highly competitive ones, yearly loss amounts can reach billions. Some of the most affected industries are: E-commerce, Finance, Travel, and Legal.
E-commerce sector has lost around
in 2020 (Report by the University of Baltimore)
Your competitors are the
attacks on your PPC campaigns
High Competition = High Click Fraud Risk
Highly competitive industries tend to suffer from click fraud more often. It’s in the interest of your competitors to deplete your advertising budget and weaken your position. Abusing your Google ad campaigns, they can benefit from more convenient bidding prices and better traffic for their own campaigns.
Bots and bot farms are your active clickers
Non-human traffic is destructive for your PPC campaigns, your ad budget and your main campaign metrics. It lowers the chances of your ad to be seen by real potential customers.
Fraudulent bot traffic
every year (Business Insider)
How can you know if your PPC ads are affected?
Watch out for these red flags of click fraud:
1. Extreme CTR
comparing to your previous campaigns or your expectations.
2. Low Engagement
with high bounce rates and low session times.
3. ROI drops
unexpected and significant decrease in your PPC campaigns.
