ClickPatrol vs. Lunio vs. ClickCease: An Analysis of Click Fraud Protection Solutions

Abisola Tanzako | May 30, 2024

Click fraud has become a severe problem for website owners. These companies utilize pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and digital marketers. This illicit conduct could compromise the security of websites, deplete advertising revenue, and skew data. The surge in click fraud has catalyzed the development of the click fraud protection software (tools) industry. Various unique click fraud protection solutions are available to tackle this escalating problem.

Tools such as ClickPatrol, Lunio, and ClickCease have become indispensable in the fight against click fraud. They act as first-line defenders in preserving the integrity of online advertising campaigns. These solutions safeguard websites from the adverse effects of invalid clicks by employing cutting-edge technologies and effective features.

ClickPatrol vs. Lunio vs. ClickCease: Who provides better protection?

ClickPatrol

ClickPatrol is an innovative solution to safeguard your digital advertisements from click fraud. It employs sophisticated machine learning algorithms and comprehensive analytics to identify and stop invalid clicks. This advanced click fraud protection system is instrumental in preserving your ad budget by eliminating all invalid clicks, including those originating from bots, scrapers, and competitors.

The platform is a strong barrier against various threats to your advertising budget. It prevents competitors from depleting your ad budget, shields your campaigns from fraudulent networks and untrustworthy publishers who might supply invalid clicks, and, most importantly, blocks bot traffic that doesn’t lead to conversions from accessing your ads. This way, ClickPatrol protects your ads and ensures cost-effectiveness for your business.

ClickPatrol’s solution, including its Pay-Per-Click (PPC) protection tool, guarantees complete adherence to the regulations set forth by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requirements. More than 4,000 companies throughout Europe and Africa rely on this trusted platform, which provides a reliable shield for their digital advertising and legal compliance.

The features ClickPatrol offers

1. Real-time fraud detection and blocking: This feature allows ClickPatrol to identify and stop fraudulent activities as they occur. It uses advanced algorithms to analyze click patterns and behaviors, blocking suspicious or fraudulent clicks.

2. Advanced IP tracking and geo-location targeting: ClickPatrol logs the IP addresses of people who click on your ads. It also uses geo-location data to target or exclude specific locations, enhancing the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.

3. Ad fraud protection for Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Facebook Ads: ClickPatrol provides comprehensive protection against ad fraud across multiple platforms. Whether you’re running campaigns on Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or Facebook Ads, ClickPatrol ensures that your ads are protected from invalid clicks.

4. Integration with popular ad networks and platforms: ClickPatrol can be easily integrated with various ad networks and platforms. This allows seamless data flow and enhanced ad fraud detection across all advertising channels.

5. Customizable dashboards and reports: ClickPatrol provides customizable dashboards and reports, allowing you to monitor your ad campaigns effectively. You can monitor key metrics, access detailed reports, and obtain valuable insights into your ad performance.

6. Automated blocking: ClickPatrol’s real-time detection capabilities enable it to spot and block invalid clicks promptly. This feature ensures the efficient utilization of your advertising budget, preventing the wastage of invalid activities.

7. Behavior analysis mitigation: ClickPatrol utilizes sophisticated algorithms to scrutinize user behavior patterns to detect abnormalities.

8. Advanced reporting: ClickPatrol provides scheduled and on-demand reporting options, allowing advertisers to oversee their campaigns as required. This feature empowers advertisers to delve into the data, giving them valuable insights into any suspicious activities that could potentially jeopardize their campaigns.

Additional features

Marketers are more likely to choose ClickPatrol over ClickCease for the following reasons

Superior Algorithm: 

ClickPatrol’s algorithm is significantly more advanced than Clickcease’s with both predictive and reactive blocking where known invalid IPs are automatically blocked upon sign-up. ClickPatrol’s screening is more thorough and done on over 800 characteristics per IP giving more adequate results and making it less likely to block valid clicks

Availability of Data:

We have extensive data collected from around Europe. Our team collected some of these data over the last eight years, in addition to additional data we get from trusted data sources across Europe and Africa.

European Law Compliant:

Our Superior algorithm is based on European laws and data, unlike other software based on American laws and American data. All our data collection partners are European law compliant.

Deep Understanding of The European Landscape:

As a major European team, with vast experience in the European advertising landscape, we deeply understand the European landscape, the different countries, languages, and laws. 

Affordability

Our tool is significantly cheaper (starting at $59/month) and offers more flexibility, in-depth reports, and comprehensive protection. You pay less and get more.

Pricing:

ClickPatrol presents a flexible pricing model tailored to meet diverse needs and budgets. The model is structured into three tiers.

  • The first tier, “Insights,” is designed for a single account, offering basic reporting features and a 7-day free trial.
  • The second tier, “Protect PRO,” priced at $71 per month, is the most popular. It caters to unlimited accounts and provides advanced reports.
  • The final tier, “Agency,” is custom-priced for larger deployments. This three-tiered pricing structure ensures that ClickPatrol’s services are accessible to many customers, regardless of their financial capacity.

Lunio

Lunio is a cloud-based solution that provides robust protection against click fraud. It leverages advanced AI technology to identify and prevent fraudulent activities. The platform has many features to safeguard digital marketing efforts and end wasted ad budgets. Utilizing Lunio allows your business to spend more efficiently, not harder. It enables you to stop paying for clicks that never convert, overcome static revenue growth, and progress toward quarterly targets faster.

Lunio assists you in making better decisions with accurate marketing data. It uncovers fake data points and excludes invalid traffic from your campaign reporting. Lunio is designed to offer comprehensive protection across your advertising stack by combining audience-led exclusions with IP blocking. 

The features Lunio offers

Lunio functions by offering instantaneous safeguards against click fraud. Lunio’s distinctive features make it a preferred choice for click fraud protection. These features include:

1. Current analytics and reporting: Lunio provides analytics and reporting, allowing businesses to monitor their ad performance. This feature enables immediate insights into ad campaigns, helping companies to make data-driven decisions quickly.

2. Customizable fraud rules and filters: Lunio offers customizable fraud rules and filters. This means businesses can set their parameters for what constitutes invalid activity. This flexibility allows companies to tailor their fraud detection efforts to their needs and industry standards.

3. Integration with popular ad platforms and networks: Lunio integrates seamlessly with popular ad platforms and networks. This allows businesses to manage their ad campaigns across multiple platforms from one central location, saving time and improving efficiency.

4. Advanced click bot detection using machine learning models: Lunio uses advanced machine learning models to detect click bots. These models are trained on large datasets to identify patterns of fraudulent activity, making them highly effective at detecting and blocking click bots.

5. Visitor risk scoring based on multi-factor analysis: Lunio assigns each visitor a risk score based on a multi-factor analysis. The score is calculated using the visitor’s location, device, browsing behavior, etc.

6. Traffic monitoring across websites and mobile apps: Lunio monitors traffic across websites and mobile apps. This comprehensive coverage ensures businesses have a complete picture of their ad performance and can detect invalid activity regardless of the platform.

7. Ad fraud defense for search, display, and video ads: Lunio provides ad fraud defense for all ads, including search, display, and video ads. This ensures that businesses are protected against ad fraud, no matter what kind of ads they’re running.

8. Automated blocking of high-risk threats: Lunio automatically blocks high-risk threats. This means that as soon as a threat is detected, it is immediately blocked, protecting businesses from potential harm.

Pricing:

Lunio offers a pricing model tailored to your specific needs, primarily based on the traffic volume your website receives. To provide an accurate pricing proposal, Lunio must understand certain factors unique to your situation. The pricing is structured so that a small percentage of your advertising spend is safeguarded. Complete a form to initiate this process and receive your customized proposal.

ClickCease

ClickCease now rebranded as CHEQ Essentials, is a renowned click fraud protection solution that shields websites from invalid activities. It addresses the issue of invalid, fake, and bot traffic, thereby helping to increase the return on ad spend (ROAS) by ensuring the accuracy of reporting data and maximizing genuine human clicks on ads.  ClickCease operates across Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and WordPress websites, providing security to more than 15,000 companies globally.

It is designed to detect and block invalid traffic from clicking on your Google ads and viewing your Facebook ads. It safeguards your ads and websites against harmful sources, enabling you to make the most efficient decisions based on 100% accurate data, eliminating uncertainty from your data insights.

The features ClickCease offers

1. Immediate fraud detection and blocking: ClickCease operates in real-time, analyzing each click’s data and behavior. If a click is identified as fraudulent, it is immediately blocked, ensuring your ad budget is spent on genuine traffic.

2. Customizable rules and filters for fraud prevention: ClickCease allows you to tailor your fraud filters according to your specific industry, enabling you to adopt a more focused strategy for preventing invalid activities. This customization enhances the effectiveness of your fraud prevention measures, ensuring a safer online environment for your business operations.

3. Safeguard against click fraud: ClickCease monitors every visitor to your website and identifies and blocks invalid activities, ensuring the security of your advertisements across various advertising platforms.

4. Comprehensive analytics for informed decision-making: ClickCease offers an in-depth analysis of your clicks, encompassing various aspects such as the types of devices used, reasons for blocking, keywords that receive the most clicks, and video replays of site visitors.

5. Compatibility with renowned advertising networks and platforms: ClickCease is designed to integrate effortlessly with widely-used advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads. It also features tag management for straightforward setup, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free user experience.

6. Sophisticated IP tracking intelligence from a Global Honeypot Network: ClickCease employs cutting-edge IP tracking intelligence from a worldwide honeypot network to detect and prevent invalid clicks.

7. Click and conversion monitoring: ClickCease provides the functionality to track clicks and conversions based on different parameters, such as geographical location, specific device, and individual campaigns. This allows for detailed monitoring and analysis.

8. Traffic quality scoring and whitelisting: ClickCease evaluates the quality of your website traffic using a scoring system and offers the feature to whitelist reliable sources. This ensures that only high-quality traffic is considered, enhancing the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Pricing:

ClickCease provides a pricing strategy that is adaptable and can be customized. Your package can be designed to fit your specific protection needs in three simple steps:

  • Determine the number of websites you intend to safeguard.
  • Estimate the annual visits you receive from paid platforms.
  • Identify the platforms where you run your advertisement.

In addition to its customizable strategy, ClickCease offers three distinct plans, each tailored to meet various needs. Each plan is carefully crafted with unique features to provide thorough protection against click fraud:

  1. Core: This plan begins with a free trial and includes protection for up to 5 domains, up to 1M yearly paid visits, and protection for advertising platforms such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
  2. Advanced: This plan also begins with a free trial and protects up to 30 domains, covers up to 1M yearly paid visits, and offers protection for advertising platforms such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
  3. Enterprise: The Enterprise plan offers various benefits, including unlimited yearly paid visits, robust domain security, and compatibility with 13 marketing platforms. To enable this plan, you must contact ClickCease directly.

Conclusion

Clickpatrol, Lunio, and Clickcease are all solutions that offer various features and technologies designed to protect websites from click fraud. Clickpatrol distinguishes itself with its advanced machine-learning algorithms, offering a sophisticated approach to fraud detection. On the other hand, Lunio shines with its AI-powered bot detection capabilities, providing a cutting-edge solution for identifying and blocking invalid activity. Clickcease offers an affordable starter plan, making it an attractive option for those on a tighter budget.

When deciding on a click fraud protection solution, consider your website’s traffic volume, advertising spend, and specific security needs. Each solution has unique strengths; the best choice depends on your requirements.

FAQs

Q:1 What is the optimal solution for my website?

Determining the optimal solution for your website hinges on several factors. These include the volume of traffic your website receives, the amount you spend on advertising, and your website’s specific security needs. It’s crucial to assess these aspects according to your unique requirements. By doing so, you can effectively compare the features and pricing of each solution to identify the one that best aligns with your needs.

Q:2 Is it possible to utilize several click fraud protection solutions simultaneously?

Yes, utilizing several click fraud protection solutions concurrently by combining tracking templates is possible. This approach lets you layer your protective measures, enhancing your security to the maximum extent possible. It’s a strategy that can provide comprehensive coverage against various types of click fraud threats.

ClickPatrol © 2024. All rights reserved.
* For dutch registerd companies excluding VAT