There is no way that I can prove it, but for some time now, I've been of the opinion that my competitors have been clicking my AW ads so as to wipe out my ad budget on a daily basis. And I think they've been doing it with moderate sophistication, i.e. using various people/IP addresses to do all the fraudulent clicking. No way I can prove it, but whenever there's a convention related to a certain campaign of mine, my ROI with my AW ads goes through the roof. When the convention is over, the campaign in question returns to performing poorly. Coincidence? Maybe, but I highly doubt it. I haven't given up on AW altogether, but I have taken steps to combat this type of fraud, like serving my ads to all regions except the U.S., as most of my competitors are U.S.-based. So far, I've noticed an improvement in ROI, but I still don't like the idea of not serving ads to the world's richest marketplace. Can anyone offer any other ideas on what I can do to combat this type of fraud?
Do you take one of the top 3 spots or do you try to get a lower spot? Your competition may not bother you if you aren't too high on the list. This is an issue I feel I am battling on some searches on overture. It seems that ROI can be terrible on some searches that are very specific and I find the same site advertising on all of the questionably clicked search terms. No proof, but a suspicion.
I had the same thought some time ago, so I configured my max CPC to a level that places my ads in the middle of the pack on an average/typical day. *Sigh* Why can't people just compete fairly? Or am I just being naive asking such a question?
Ever tried adbrite? I guess it depends on the market but I am having amazing results. Generally finding 4-5cent clicks that convert pretty good
Shoemoney - are you using seperate sites or the RON ( run of network ). I have been thinking of giving them a try
I try to find the diamond in the ruff sites... like piratebay.org for instance with adbrite I was lucky enough to get in for 1500$ for 3 months (now they want almost 7k a month) so its like 3-4 cents per click and I run straight ringtone affiliates that pay 12$ per conversion. I have moved a lot of money into MSN adcenter though lately. MANY cheap clicks there. I am currenly doing a study $10,000.00 per adbrite, adcenter, adwords, overture and will post results for roi when I am done.
Shoemoney - is MSN adcenter open to the public yet?... I tried to signup but was told that it is not available as of now?. can you shed some light on this?
Is MSN adcenter open to the public (yes, I am behind the times...)? Do you happen to have a link? Do you get anything for referral? Thanks!
I got a email with a code and went to this page https://adcenter.msn.com/AuthorizeUser.aspx and that was that. I didnt even remember applying
Ok! I get it.. you got some connections, don't you how is your experience so far - money?? would you say satisfactory??
adcenter has been REALLY cheap to buy clicks on so at this time I would say its awesome. Soon though I imagine when they open up the flood gates it will not be such. Also I do not think I am special.... I must have applied or something when they asked for people to beta
If indeed the clicks are fraudulent, depending on the sophistication level of the party(s) doing it, it may be difficult to say. Checking the server logs would be the first step. Hopefully whatever stats program you run can show you the route your viewers take when visiting your site. Check the viewers that come to your site from an ad. If they're coming to your site, but don't go anywhere after they hit the main page, take note of it. You will of course receive some legitimate clicks that decide they're not interested once they reach your site, but if you're getting a *lot*, it could be fraudulent clicks. Check to see where your suspect clicks are coming from. If they're coming from search engine results, then check the ip adddress and see if the same IP is coming in each day. AFAIK, Google has methods in place to keep someone from clicking the same ad over and over to rack up your charges, but it's possible that if they come once a day every day, Google might not track that. If suspected clicks are coming from a site displaying your ads, you can just add that site to your list of sites that you don't want your ads to be displayed on. For the most part, you're really going to have to do a lot of the footwork yourself in determining whether clicks are fraudulent or not. Google does have measures in place to catch most fraudulent clicks, but it's impossible for them to catch them all, so you'll have to do your best to gather any evidence and then submit it to Google.
Well, I have felt simialr stuff of click fraud. But do not let that get you fustrated. Way back I started using policy of keeping my ads not at the top. These clickers may not be frauds. But they may click on your ads just in curiousity if you are at the top. I feel position #1 and 2 brinds most of the clicks. But it convert less. After I started using the Middle of the Pack policy, I am seeing a good ROI. Try this policy with a new campaign only for US region. tweak with thew ads and CPC to bring that in the Middle. Play with the Display URL and Test it very carefully. I am Sure it will work for you. Arvind Kumar
Yeah, Google may have had something in place, but it wasn't very effective. And that's probably why they decided to settle to the tune of $90 million--instead of fight--the law suit related to AW advertisers complaining about being charged for bogus clicks. Hopefully this means that big G will now have their talented programmers focus on the AW side of things. AmCy
Instead of excluding the entire USA you could target by regions/cities and try to exclude the geographic areas you feel the fradulant clicks are coming from. I wish Google would put frequency capping in place. Wouldn't entirely solve the problem but would just be one more thing to slow them down. Not to mention it should help overall ROI. There was an "open" signup on the 6th but it was only for one day. If you want access now you have to sign up and then wait for an invite.
Yup, capping is a great idea. But my guess is that G is resisting such measures because less clicks = less revenue. But I'm hoping they will see the light and implement something like capping. AmCy
Sweet - this is what I have been looking for. Thank you sir! GFC - are you using MSN AdCenter yet? Anyone else? Sounds like the Ringtones market is pretty good there - I am curious about other markets.