Dealing with Click Spam in 2024

Click spam can be highly costly for advertisers and even fly under the radar for a long time, seemingly undetected by the ad platforms.

The digital marketing industry is growing fast due to the efficiency of its multiple marketing channels, allowing companies to reach a diverse consumer base. This growth is expected to increase even more. It is projected to reach an estimated market size of $786.2 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 13.9% in the US, and forecasted to reach an estimated market size of $254.9 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 18.4% in China over the analysis period.

It has become essential for marketers running digital ads to be aware of how digital ad fraud, particularly click spam, can affect their marketing efforts and businesses. This article will explain click spam, its motivations, and how to detect and mitigate it to help marketers level up their digital efforts.

What is Click Spam?

Click spam, often called click flooding, is a form of click fraud. It is a deceptive tactic used by fraudsters to flood sites with ads or download links automatically by using applications, mobile websites, and malware-infected bots to create a huge number of invalid clicks on links or ads. According to DataDome, click spam involves the deployment of automated scripts or bots that click on ads or links at a volume and speed unattainable by humans. These bots are often designed to mimic genuine user behavior, making it difficult for rudimentary detection systems to differentiate between legitimate traffic and click fraud.

Types of click spamming

Here are the types of click spam;

1. Clickjacking

Clickjacking, often referred to as interface redressing, is a form of click spam attack in which users are tricked into clicking unseen or deceptively disguised ads or webpage elements by automated programs, such as bots. As a result, users may unintentionally click on links or download malware or click to make purchases online.

2. Ad stacking

Ad stacking is a form of click spam in which several ads are arranged or stacked within a single ad placement. Although the viewer only sees the top ad, every ad in the stack usually receives a click or impression, forcing marketers to pay for invalid impressions or clicks.

3. Click farms

Click farms, sometimes known as fraud farms, are groups of individuals that assist in large-scale fraud campaigns. They are often low-skilled, low-paid resources deployed to carry out large-scale click attacks on ads while minimizing expenses and protecting return on investment (ROI).

4. Click injection

Click injection is an invalid method malicious actors use to target mobile app users, mostly those who get in-app advertising. This kind of attack involves fraudsters injecting invalid code into the application, resulting in a high volume of ad clicks every time the application is launched.

5. Spam clicks by competitors

This form of click spamming occurs when competitors click on rivals’ links or deliberately click on rivals’ ads to deplete their campaign budgets and reduce their ads’ visibility. This can be done manually or through automated tools, distorting performance metrics and creating unfair market advantages.

6. Spam clicks by affiliates

Affiliate click spam occurs when dishonest affiliates intentionally boost their performance when running advertising programs. They implement bots, paid clickers (click farms), or other invalid strategies to produce invalid clicks on sponsored links to raise commissions or improve their program’s profile.

Motivations behind click spamming

Exploring the motivations behind click spam sheds light on why individuals and entities engage in this disruptive behavior.

1. Financial gain: Click spam can be used by fraudsters to benefit from pay-per-click (PPC) marketing strategies. By producing invalid clicks, they can profit from ad networks or drain rival expenditures.
2. Sabotage of competitors: Competitor companies can use click spam to deplete the advertising budgets of their rivals by removing their marketing campaigns from ad networks and obtaining an unfair advantage.
3. Inflating website traffic: To draw in advertisers or raise ad revenue, website owners may use click spam to artificially inflate their site’s traffic numbers, making it look more popular.
4. Manipulating search engine ranks: Some individuals employ click spam to raise their websites’ search engine rankings to create the appearance of strong interaction with their ads or content.
5. Testing ad systems: Some click spam can have unintentional harmful effects; researchers and interested people may use it to test the boundaries and weaknesses of an advertising network.
6. Malicious intent: Click spam occasionally is a component of a bigger cyberattack plan that may aim to take down companies, collect information, or exploit the vulnerabilities of an advertising network.

How click spamming threatens ad campaigns

Examining how click spam threatens ad campaigns reveals its impact on ad effectiveness and budget efficiency:

• Inflated costs: Click spam artificially raises the number of ad clicks, forcing advertisers to compensate for false interactions. This drives up campaign expenses without producing any real interest or conversions.
• Skewed analytics: Invalid Clicks distorts campaign performance indicators, making it challenging for marketers to determine the true impact of their advertising and to make well-informed decisions.
• Depletion of ad spending: Rapid click-spam can quickly deplete daily or campaign funds, blocking ads from reaching potential customers.
• Diminished ROI: Click spam can significantly reduce the return on investment for advertising efforts as it raises the expenses of ads without producing actual conversions.
• Brand reputation damage: Advertisers may need to make correct analytics based on exaggerated metrics resulting from click spam, causing their brand to suffer from misplaced marketing efforts.
• Competitive disadvantage: Click-spam competitors might unfairly gain an edge in digital advertising by manipulating their rivals’ budgets or ad positions.

How to detect click spam

Identifying how to detect click spam is crucial for maintaining the integrity and performance of your advertising efforts.

• Abnormal click-through rates (CTR): Click spam activity can be detected by abnormally high CTRs for certain ads, campaigns, or time periods.
• IP address analysis: If several clicks are made from the same IP address or a range of addresses, extremely fast, one after another, this might be a sign of invalid activity due to click spamming.
• Click timestamp patterns: Clicks at strange hours or regular intervals between clicks may be signs of automated click spam.
• Geographic inconsistencies: An abrupt increase in clicks from unanticipated places or places unrelated to the intended audience may cause concern.
• User behaviour analysis: Strangely brief sessions, significant bounce rates, or inactivity following clicks may indicate invalid or non-human activities resulting from click spam.
• Traffic source inconsistencies: Click spam can be identified by inconsistencies between the reported traffic sources and the real user behavior, as well as by unexpected increases in traffic from certain sources.

Click spam mitigation measures

Measures to mitigate click spamming include:

1. Use click fraud detection software: Employ specialized tools to protect ad budgets and improve data accuracy by quickly identifying and filtering out suspicious clicks.
2. Set up IP exclusions: Prevent repeat invalid interactions by blocking or limiting clicks from IP addresses or ranges that consistently show suspicious activity.
3. Use negative keywords: Prevent ads from appearing in irrelevant searches by using negative keywords, which lowers the probability of attracting click-fraudulent clicks.
4. Adjust campaign settings: Restrict ad serving to specific geographic areas, times of day, or devices to minimize exposure to potential click spam sources.
5. Monitor and Analyze Traffic Quality: Monitor traffic sources, user behavior, and conversion rates regularly to identify and promptly address any potential click spam issues.
6. Diversify ad platforms: Ad platforms should be diversified to evaluate performance indicators and lessen the influence of click spam on a single channel.

The essence of understanding click spamming and its threat to ad campaigns

Click spam has several underlying motives, and fraudsters may be aiming for several of these motives at once, such as damaging confidence in digital advertising, wasting advertising revenue, and manipulating performance metrics. Advertisers can more effectively safeguard their campaigns against click spam and ensure that their advertising funds are allocated effectively by being aware of its threats, detection methods, and mitigation solutions; as click spam methods change, it is important to be alert and adjust tactics accordingly.
When click spam is suspected on a website, the approaches mentioned above can be useful in detecting it. However, investing resources in anti-fraud programs is a more proactive way to combat click spam.

FAQs

Q.1 How common is click spamming?
Click spam poses a major problem in online advertising. Some reports indicate that invalid clicks might make up 14% of all clicks on ads.

Q.2 Can click spamming affect small businesses?
Yes, click spam can affect small businesses. It can harm businesses of all sizes, but small businesses might be hit harder due to their smaller ad budgets.

Q.3 Is click spamming illegal?
No, click spam is not always explicitly illegal but is generally considered unethical. The legality of click spam varies depending on the jurisdiction. Many countries have anti-fraud laws that could be applied to click spam, even if click spam itself is not explicitly mentioned in the statutes.