Advertising With Google

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Reports of click fraud with PPC campaigns, especially with Google Adwords, are on the rise, and researchers estimate the numbers are in excess of $1.6 billion as of 2008. Click fraud occurs when a competitor may be clicking on your ads to break your ad budget, or when someone installs a web robot or spider to generate fraudulent clicks on your ads.

Search engine companies and PPC providers, including Google, affirm that click fraud exists and are taking steps to correct the problem. Even though it can be hard to track down the source of fraudulent activities, there are several ways to reduce the risk of it happening with your campaign. 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. Impose a daily ad budget. Select a sensible budget for your campaign that you can fund for at least a few months. Imposing a budget limits your exposure to click fraud and it makes it easier for you track your Adwords expenditures.

3. Lay down a daily click limit. Adwords managers would do well to setup a daily click limit, according to Bruce C. Brown, author of the book "The Complete Guide to Google Advertising". This allows you to track the number of clicks on your ads. Once the click limit has been reached, your ad will disappear from the Adwords network.

4. Specify the countries or regions to run your ads on. You can do this by using Adwords' geographic location feature. This is one of the most effective ways to protect your campaigns from click fraud. Don't run ads on countries that your business does not serve. Run ads only in countries or regions where your target market resides.

5. Be careful in singing up with PPC programs that give away free stuff. As a rule, don't sign up with programs that are too good to be true. Most fraudsters entice people to sign up with them by offering free downloadable products and services. Look out for programs that 'monitor' your keyword campaign. Nevertheless, a lot of hosting companies give out legitimate Google Adwords credit when you sign up with them. Just make sure you'll be dealing with Google directly to get these credits.

You need to report your experience directly to Google if you think you were a victim of click fraud. Google investigates click fraud cases with their own fraud protection team. Report your case as soon as possible to get your campaign back on course.

Marketing with Google Adwords is a powerful technique that most online-businesses can use to find more sales. Creating quality Google Ads is one of the most important skills to have when using Adwords - and there are many quality training guides available online.