Is Click Fraud Hurting Your PPC Advertising Campaign?
Pay per click marketing is an attractive option for small businesses. After all, PPC advertising can be one of the fastest, most effective ways to boost rankings, generate traffic and increase conversions. And who isn't enticed by the pay per click promise that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad?
In fact, PPC advertising almost sounds too good to be true. But is it? The truth is, pay per click marketing can be a smart online solution for small business website promotion. But in order for your pay per click marketing campaign to be successful, you'll have to be vigilant about monitoring your PPC advertising activity – or risk becoming a victim of click fraud that can devastate your small business.
What is click fraud?
Click fraud is the intentional, malicious misuse of the search engine marketing platform. It occurs when a person, either manually or through automated software, repeatedly clicks on your PPC advertising with no intent to purchase your products or services. Their goal is simple: drive your costs up and drain your pay per click budget. It's a serious problem that threatens to negate the positive benefits you'll gain when you launch a pay per click campaign. Click fraud perpetrators may have a variety of reasons for abusing the pay per click system, including: competitors who want to gain an edge, disgruntled customers seeking revenge or even search engine advertising publishers who want to inflate their revenue.
How do the search engines handle pay per click fraud?
Search engines like Google® and Yahoo!® have teams in place to detect and filter invalid clicks in PPC advertising. Anyone caught committing click fraud will be banned from the search engine – and your PPC advertising budget will be reimbursed for the fraudulent clicks.
How can you protect your PPC advertising from click fraud?
Click fraud can have a devastating affect on your business, which is why it's not enough to rely on the search engines to catch and penalize click fraud in your pay per click marketing campaign. Whether you're monitoring your PPC advertising yourself or working with a reputable online marketing company, stay alert for the warning signs that your pay per click campaign may be experiencing click fraud, including:
- Sudden increase in click volume with little or no change in conversions
- Dramatic decrease in conversions despite no change in keyword bids
- A jump in clicks from a specific keyword in only one search engine
- Repetitive clicks from the same IP address
If you do suspect click fraud, alert the search engines immediately. Remain watchful, but don't allow the threat of click fraud to scare you away from PPC advertising, which can help you reach your website promotion goals. Instead, develop a balanced online marketing plan that includes pay per click marketing as part of a comprehensive strategy.
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