I think someone is doing click fraud on my site

[dcmginc]

I have a number of sites up with my Adsense code on it. On avergage I get about 20-30 clicks a day. This morning I checked my stats and the impressions were about the same, but I had 103 clicks.

I think someone is trying to cause problems for me?! Will Google just shut me down or will they take an honest look at the situation and see that this hasn't happened at all since signing up 5 months ago. I worry that they'll pull the plug on me for something I had no control over and hasn't happened before.

Anyone ever had to deal with something like this before?

Thanks!

[NewComputer]

I believe they will look at the IP Block of the clicks to determine fraud. Have a look at the logfiles to see where they are coming from. If you feel it is unwarranted clicking, just block the ip address.

G is very smart and I think they can decipher what is going on.

[Help Desk]

Google also applies an algorithm that lowers the price paid per click for the ads served to the same person. If these clicks are not valid, then you are probably not earning any money from them.

[dcmginc]

Google also applies an algorithm that lowers the price paid per click for the ads served to the same person. If these clicks are not valid, then you are probably not earning any money from them.

That would make sense.. my rev for the day was about $15-$20 higher then normal with the extra 70-80 clicks.

Have a look at the logfiles to see where they are coming from. If you feel it is unwarranted clicking, just block the ip address.

I looked at the stats, but I can't see anything that would tell me who might have done this or on what site it happened. I never bothered to use the channel option, so all my stats are lumped together for all my sites. Got any other suggestions that might help me out to find this person(s)?

Thanks!!

[NewComputer]

What are you using to read the logfiles? You should be able to get pretty accurate decriptions of where people were and what pages they left from and to.

I would definitely recommend setting up the channels, even though I dont think that would have helped you in this case.

Other than that, keep and eye on it. If it carries on for a few days, and you are not responsible, maybe just let G know that you feel this 'MAY' be happening. If they are real clicks, you don't want G to hold back valid payment.

[Fishing Forum]

If you need the money from Adsense - then give it another day and if it keeps up report it to them (remember to take copies of what you send and receive)

That way if there is a problem then you have covered yourself

As for tracking if you have a busy site and trying to find 100 more visits then forget it

Just monitor and go with what you think is best for the bank balance - short term or long term

[dcmginc]

This is really frustrating.... I see the stats are already showing above 30 clicks for the day and that's never hapened before.

[NewComputer]

OK DC, here is what you do. If you are sure it is not you or a friend that you suggested click on a few here and there, then I suggest you write Google and let them know you are concerned about the clicks and where they are coming from. Tell them it is not you and you do not want your account suspended due to either a 'click script' or a competitor clicking on your ads. State your case clearly and be respectful.

Has your site traffic increased in the last few days since this has been going on?

[dcmginc]

This isn't me or any friends... I haven't needed to go that route because the site has been doing just fine on it's own. I will contact Google tomorrow after I see what the stats end at for the day.

One other thing... (this might be a little out to lunch, but I'm not as smart about this stuff as most of you are)...

I have a site that has a forum on it and this is where most of my traffic comes from. I also suspect that this is where the problem was coming from. I was just into the admin area to look around to see if there was anything in there that might give me some sort of indication of what's happening. As soon as I logged in I noticed that there were about 20+ Guests online in different parts of the forum with the SAME IP address. The IP address was 207.46.98.39... when I use DNSStuff.com to find out who owns the IP I see that Microsoft owns it.. specifically, Hotmail.

Has anyone had anything or heard of anything like this and what I'm going through with the clicks? I might be grasping at straws.. but I thought it was worth a shot to toss it out for suggestions/ideas.

[dcmginc]

One other thing, NC... The reason I haven't contacted Google yet is because I was hoping that it was a 1 time thing and that it would go by without anyone at Google saying anything. I didn't want to stir the pot up if it was a 1 time thing. :)

[NewComputer]

hehe, you mean get paid for the clicks :) It is really up to you. It sounds like you are now into day 2 or 3 of this click pattern and if it was truly a concern, then you should call Google. You absolutely can take your chances, but remember, G is not as dumb as everyone makes them out to be.

[dcmginc]

It's been about 24 hours since this click mess started... I'm hoping that the 30 on my stats so far today are just left overs from yesterday... maybe the person doing this was doing it close to midnight and the left overs appear on todays stats?! I can hope... can't I?! :)

[dcmginc]

Just an update... seems things have calmed down. When I check first thing this morning (around 4am PST) there was 56 impressions and 1 click. This is the norm for this time of morning. Yesterday finished off with 88 clicks compared to the 100 and something the day before.

I did ban 1 IP that belonged to someone I had to remove from my sites forum because of their attitude. I wasn't sure if they had anything to do with it, but it was worth a shot to just outright band them from the server.

Thanks for all the help!

[jermaine]

well if you haven't click it yourself,

i am sure that google will be
able to know the whole situation
from their IP checks or whatever
they use to monitor everyone's clicks!

they are suppose to be
expert on these stuff!!

if i were you, ;) i would just wait it
out.
some of my site do "surge" during
certain season for no reasons at
all!!
i am just happy with the extra $$$!

[dcmginc]

well if you haven't click it yourself,

i am sure that google will be
able to know the whole situation
from their IP checks or whatever
they use to monitor everyone's clicks!

they are suppose to be
expert on these stuff!!

if i were you, ;) i would just wait it
out.
some of my site do "surge" during
certain season for no reasons at
all!!
i am just happy with the extra $$$!

Things finally did level out and are back to normal numbers after a couple of days. The more i've read on these forums the more I have heard that it could possibly be just a surge in clicks. I did contact google and they said that they are able to monitor the account and that they couldn't tell me about their system and how they monitor.

What I did notice about this forum is how quickly everyone like to think it was me or my friends. The day I got the 100-something clicks... I had a total of $5 for the day. Trust me.. if I was doing it or had friends doing it.. It would clicks on a mesothelioma or other high paying term website. ;)

[annasecond]

Yeah. I'm sure Google would pick this up. They've been pretty consistent in targeting any flaws in the system. I think its good advice to contact G first on this before they send you an "alert."

[TheVccMatey]

Complain. They will deduct the amount from your balance and refund the adwords

[Jimmy Short]

hello,
Please send me URL