Like any other field of business, advertising can be affected by fraud. When it comes to fraud, there are many different types that you need to know about. Plus, you also need to know how to recognize the fraud so that it can be prevented.
In most cases, fraud involving PPC involves the use of a competitor and a fake publisher to carry out the fraud. When fraud occurs, it will be carried out by various methods such as the 5 methods below.
1. A Bot
Many fraudsters utilize a bot to carry out internet fraud. In fact, it is believed that close to half of the traffic online is made up of bots. However, there are more bad bots than there are good bots and you need to be aware of this. When a bot is launched to conduct fraud, it will imitate humans in the way that they interact.
Many of the fraudulent bots will conduct tasks that are repetitive and will commence making PPC fraud. Clicking on PPC will be done fast. When clicks to a PPC campaign are huge in number, then the budgets behind them will be depleted fast.
Besides exhausting the budgets of a PPC campaign, fraud can also make you pay more for the PPC. This will cause you to have a hard time earning any profit.
2. A Click Farm
Although a click farm is simple, it can also be very sophisticated. A good example of this is having many individuals sitting together and all they do is click on ads that will eventually eliminate a budget for a PPC campaign.
Many of the click farms used are of little sophistication and are initiated in areas that make it hard to prevent.
3. A Data Center
Many fraudsters take advantage of using hosting providers and data centers. By using these resources, the schemes are able to be conducted using networks and hardware that is on-demand.
Many times the fraudulent user will integrate a VPN to hide their location so that the fraud will remain uninterrupted. This will then allow them to have malware launched and software that is automated.
4. Spamming with Clicks
By spamming with clicks the fraudulent user can easily obtain the budget information of a PPC campaign. This will lead to an influx of clicks that are fraudulent. When this is done, a click is made for real users although the user has not made the clicks.
This will occur after users visit a fraudulent website. Once the site is visited, the fraudster is able to make clicks behind the scenes, have clicks sent to various vendors from a user’s device, and have clicks sent to ads that are invisible.
5. Geomasking
Using geomasking is a technique that commits PPC fraud by masking the location of the clicks made. A lot of advertisers may spend a certain amount depending on where they are located.
Conclusion
Knowing what PPC fraud is will help you to recognize the way a fraudster uses the methods above. If you feel like you have been the victim of PPC fraud, then you should get a hold of us today to take a look at your PPC campaign and see what’s going on.
