Avoiding Google Adsense Click Fraud

Several web site owners have had their Google Adsense accounts terminated when they didn’t do anything wrong in order to deserve the punishment. Bearing in mind the money that they are getting from Adsense, they would certainly like to get back into it.

It is this same consideration that brought on the Google Adsense click fraud and could explain why many people are getting into it.

Click fraud can be seen as the act of clicking on ads for the purpose of costing the advertiser money. It is simply the same as paying out cash for false leads. Several website owners are aware of this fraud and are sharing the same sentiment that this is the one big problem that Adsense has been facing.

How do you prevent yourself from being involved in this fraud?

A majority of web hosts are offering access logs. Once this is offered to you, it is most necessary that you hand it over to Google as well. This will allows them to look for any suspicious activity on your site. Problems like this can be very serious and giving it to them is saying that you would want to help them in any way you can in solving the problem if it occurs.

It might also help if you have software for click monitoring. If you don’t have one yet, you should try to get one. There is absolutely no major factor that will prevent you from having one because most of this software is free of charge.

Of course, all the information you have received should be turned over to Google. This will show Google that you too are fighting against click frauds and that you are in no way a part of it.

Try to study your server logs and watch for any activity that might seem suspicious. Do report anything that you might find odd, whether it be big or small.

You might also want to think about disabling ads for your own IP address and local geographic area. This will certainly prevent accidents and will not make Google mistake another user for yourself. You can do this through an access file. This will avoid Google mistaking as clicking on your own ads and being kicked out because of it.

Try to keep your Adsense off on pop ups and pop unders. Your ads shouldn’t be displayed on content sites that tend to promote illegal activity or tampering of the legal rights of other people or business. Included in this is the content which is considered adult and gambling ones. If you think that you might be breaking this rule, try to immediately remove your content or Adsense from the web page.

Try to always be truthful and confess up to Google about times when you might have clicked on your own as, whether accidentally or unintentionally. Also, the times when you have done something that is against the Terms of Service that they are implementing. Always be honest about anything that you might have done which is wrong. Confessing is much better than Google finding out about it eventually. It would imply eventual termination and no getting back what you have worked so hard for up until this point.

Try not to tell your family or friends about Adsense on your website. The chances are that they might start clicking on them to help you make money without you ever knowing it. They might be doing more harm to you than help by trying it in the first place.

If ever someone you do know chanced upon your Adsense, make sure that they understand that they cannot click on your ads under any circumstances. It would be wise to brief them on important elements about Adsense and what must not be done.

The majority of pay per click networks have different measures in hand in order to protect website owners against click frauds. Other search engines are able to track more than 50 data points, IP address, browser’s information, user’s session info and pattern recognition. They also have certain “systems” available that will detect fraud. Not to mention the specialized teams that monitor how things are going and helping advertisers stop click frauds.

Google tends to offer suggestion on how to avoid click fraud. Using “negative keywords” can be used in order to keep your Adsense showing on products and services that might in no way be related to yours. Try to add some tracking URLs to your links so that you can track the traffic coming from Google.

Don’t get caught up in the Google click fraud. Always be aware, alert and wary.


James Reid is contributing editor at WebDesignArticles.net. This article may be reproduced provided that its complete content, links and author byline are kept intact and unchanged. No additional links permitted. Hyperlinks and/or URLs must remain both human clickable and search engine spiderable.