Click fraud is done either to increase an ad hosting website's revenue or to exhaust the advertiser's advertising budget. Cybercriminals also use click fraud to boost malicious websites higher in rankings, making them look more legitimate.
An organization's customers, competitors or website publishers can commit click fraud. A competing advertiser can click on an advertiser's ads in an attempt to increase the amount the advertiser pays for the term, which could push competing businesses out of the market if done effectively. Website publishers can click on ads displayed on their own websites to gain more revenue.
Large-scale click fraud is typically automated with the use of a bot or other program that appears to be a legitimate visitor on a webpage. The bot clicks on an ad repeatedly with the goal of tricking a platform into thinking it is a user with the intent to purchase whatever the ad is selling. A victim of click fraud is likely to notice a large number of clicks coming from one computer, and this traffic also appears suspicious to the advertising networks and advertisers. But fraudsters can get around this by routing bot traffic through different Internet Protocol addresses that continually change using a virtual private network ( VPN ). They can also carry out click fraud by using many computers in different geographic locations to avoid detection.
Instead of placing the ad on legitimate websites, the scammers might run a fraud campaign where they place the ad on websites created solely for that purpose. And a site like this likely will not have any real organic traffic, because there is no real content available for users. Once the ads are in place, bots generate large volumes of invalid traffic and fraudulent clicks, for which the scammer bills the owner of the affiliate program.
Malicious entities can also attempt to make it appear as if a publisher is clicking on its own ads to generate revenue. This is done with the intent of causing the advertising network to end its relationship with that publisher.
There are numerous types of click fraud that different entities with different end goals can commit. Types of click fraud include the following:
These click fraud types can overlap, depending on who is committing the fraudulent activity and how they are doing it.
Signs that can indicate click fraud include the following:
These three signs may be noticeable if an organization continuously keeps track of its ad performance.
To help prevent click fraud, organizations should take the following steps:
Ad networks also implement measures to prevent click fraud. For example, Google's automated detection system uses different algorithms and machine learning to analyze potential instances of click fraud. If the system detects an issue, Google reviews the instance manually.
According to ClickCease, a provider of click fraud detection software, the industries that click fraud affects the most include photography, pest control, locksmithing and plumbing -- though click fraud affects almost every industry.
Click fraud is illegal in several countries. For example, in the U.S., the District of Delaware maintains that click fraud is in violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act . Violating this law carries a penalty of one to 10 years in prison.
Most countries do not have laws specifically click fraud, however. For example, Germany does not have a specific law against click fraud, but fraud-related laws could apply to this type of fraud. Specifically, organizations could fight against competitor click fraud in Germany with cybersecurity or other possible legislation.
Learn how the COVID-19 pandemic and the pivot from brick-and-mortar retail stores to online advertising affected click fraud .
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