Concerned About PPC Fraud In Relation To Google Adwords? Here Are Some Helpful Tips To Steer Clear Of It

It has been reported that there is an increase of click frauds occurring with Google Adwords and other PPC campaigns. Many researchers have approximated that as of 2008, there were about more than $1.6 billion that occurred. Whenever a competitor would be clicking on your ads in order to break up your budget, or when a spider or a web robot would generate fraudulent clicks on your ads, click fraud happens.

Search engine companies and PPC providers, including Google, affirm that click fraud exists and are taking steps to correct the problem. Yes, tracking down where fraudulent ad campaigns come from may be hard, but there are ways that you may be able to do this and avoid such an event from happening. Here are some essential tips for preventing PPC fraud with your Google Adwords strategy:

1. Monitor your click-through rates regularly. Google makes it very easy for you to review your click-through rates and conversions. You can print out a weekly or daily report, and keep an eye out for any strange activity. It's also a good idea to match these to your web site traffic reports where you can see IP addresses and websites that are accessing your site regularly.

2. Maintain a daily budget. Make sure you're setting a budget to limit total costs on daily Adwords programs. You'll want to select a reasonable budget that you can maintain for at least several months. This can reduce the risk of click fraud and make it easier for you to track your expenditures for Google Adwords.

3. Set a daily click limit. Bruce C. Brown, the author of the book "The Complete Guide to Google Advertising" suggests that every Adwords manager set up a daily click limit. This allows you to monitor how many clicks are being generated over a period of time, so your ad isn't just 'left out in the open' for anyone to click on. Your ad will then disappear once the click limit is reached.

4. Use the geographic location feature. Limiting your ad to specific markets is one of the best ways to ensure that you're not making yourself vulnerable to fraudulent activities. Why waste your Adwords budget on countries that you never do business in? Do some research to find out where your best target market is, and focus on showing ads only in those countries or regions.

5. Don't sign up with PPC programs that offer something for free. There are several PPC companies that offer free products, services of downloadable tools as an incentive for you to sign up. Be cautious about these, especially if it involves downloading something to your computer that 'monitors' your keyword campaign. However, getting a Google Adwords 'credit' when you sign up with a hosting company or domain name registrar is safe; as long as you're working directly with Google Adwords, you don't have to worry about fraudulent actions that would affect your budget.

You have to report the problem to Google immediately if you think that you have been a victim of click fraud. You can get your Adwords campaign back on track through the help of the fraud protection team of Google.