Should Pay-Per-Click Fraud Really Be a Concern?

Pay-per-click fraud: it sounds like something only big businesses with big advertising budgets should be concerned about, right? Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth. If you invest any of your resources into pay-per-click advertising—no matter how little—you should be concerned about click fraud.

Why You Should Worry About Pay-Per-Click Fraud
There are many problems that arise from fraudulent clicks, one of them being the money they cost you. Most online advertising platforms operate on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, so the more clicks your ads get, the more you have to pay. While this works in theory (those clicks should lead to sales and other returns on your investment), when the clicks are fraudulent, it’s just a waste of your cash.

To make matters worse, if you have a daily limit and/or monthly budget set up, these rising CPC costs can quickly eat into it. Once those funds are gone, your ads turn off. That gives the upper hand to any of your competitors looking to win over customers during that time.

Another big problem with click fraud is that it causes keyword prices to spike. As your ads get more and more clicks, it looks like the keywords themselves are rising in popularity. As a result, costs for using those keywords will rise, too. That takes even more out of your pocket in the long run.

Click fraud ultimately impacts your ability to reach potential customers and cultivate leads through your advertising. It depletes your resources and gives your competition a leg up in the marketplace. For these reasons (and many more), you should be taking every step possible to prevent click fraud on your pay per click ads.

Stop Pay-Per-Click Fraud
Want to stop pay-per-click fraud from affecting your campaigns? Contact Distil Networks today. Our solutions can stop fraud and theft bots in their tracks. 

About the Author

Courtney Brady is the Director of Marketing at Distil Networks. She comes to Distil Networks from a variety of start-up companies, routed in SaaS and DaaS solutions. Formerly the global communications manager at multiple companies, Courtney is responsible for developing the company’s marketing strategy and branding campaign.

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