{"id":428,"date":"2009-08-05T10:13:59","date_gmt":"2009-08-05T10:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rocketclicks.com\/blog\/?p=428"},"modified":"2009-08-05T10:13:59","modified_gmt":"2009-08-05T10:13:59","slug":"watch-for-this-fraud-tactic-on-googles-content-network-ad-substitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocketclicks.com\/industry-news\/watch-for-this-fraud-tactic-on-googles-content-network-ad-substitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch For This Fraud Tactic on Google\u2019s Content Network: Ad Substitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s much more motive for click fraud with contextual advertising than with search advertising, because revenue is shared between the site displaying advertising and the ad platform.\u00a0 Recently we\u2019ve encountered a novel approach to Content Network click fraud worthy of your attention.<\/p>\n

As a preface, know that Google uses many tools and data points to check for and eliminate click fraud.\u00a0 While we\u2019re highlighting an unusual fraud tactic we\u2019ve seen recently, we do not mean to suggest that fraud is the norm.\u00a0 It undeniably exists, but ROI on the Content Network undeniably exists as well in our experience.<\/p>\n

How This Fraud Tactic Works: Ad Substitution<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The \u201cad substitution\u201d click fraud approach is a novel approach to click fraud because fraudulent sites are harnessing unsuspecting everyday people without a fraud motive to click on ads charged to you, as opposed to the normal primary methods for carrying out click fraud attacks \u2013 using clickbot programs or hijacked botnet computers, farms of individuals paid to click on ads, or pyramid scheme incentives.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it works:\u00a0 You post an ad on the Content Network to get attention for your product, service, or information. The fraud site uses a hack to change the ad that\u2019s displayed to something that\u2019s much more clickable (and perhaps R-rated as well) but unrelated to your business.\u00a0\u00a0 Unsuspecting traffic clicks on the irresistible ad, charging your account on a CPC basis.\u00a0 Increased AdSense traffic still goes to your site, but the the odds of that traffic being interested in your product is greatly diminished because your ad is no longer filtering for interested parties.<\/p>\n

How To Check Your AdWords Display Ad or Content Campaign For Ad Substitution Click Fraud<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Run your placement report in the AdWords report center and review the top sites receiving your Content ad spend. Highlight where your CPA is unusually high or where there\u2019s significant spend and zero conversions. \u00a0(This much you should be doing on a regular basis already to keep your Content campaign optimized.)<\/p>\n

Now, go the extra step to call up the sites that are performing poorly, and find your advertisement.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t see your ad, but you do see something suspicious, do some click fraud detective work and see where suspicious images and ads lead to.\u00a0 You may be surprised to find that they do<\/em> go to your landing page.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, contact your AdWords rep and report the situation.\u00a0 Not only will you likely get a refund, that fraudulent advertiser will at minimum have to change sites and AdSense accounts.<\/p>\n

By Rob Sieracki<\/em><\/p>\n

Director of Paid Search<\/em><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.google.com\/adwords\/adtrafficquality\/<\/a> and\u00a0http:\/\/googleblog.blogspot.com\/2008\/03\/using-data-to-help-prevent-fraud.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently we\u2019ve encountered a novel approach to click fraud on the AdWords Content Network worthy of your attention. This post explains how ad substitution click fraud works, and what you can do about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"tax_19014":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWatch For This Fraud Tactic on Google\u2019s Content Network: Ad Substitution | Rocket Clicks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rocketclicks.com\/industry-news\/watch-for-this-fraud-tactic-on-googles-content-network-ad-substitution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Watch For This Fraud Tactic on Google\u2019s Content Network: Ad Substitution | Rocket Clicks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently we\u2019ve encountered a novel approach to click fraud on the AdWords Content Network worthy of your attention. 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