Developing a proactive prevention plan against automated ad clicks in 2026

Automated ad clicks are fake or non-human clicks on online ads generated by software, scripts, or bots rather than real people.

Global ad fraud losses are expected to reach $172 billion by 2028, making this a growing threat to advertisers.

Beyond financial losses, automated ad clicks also affect campaign performance and optimization.

For instance, bots can imitate real users by repeatedly clicking ads to earn CPC payments without producing any real conversions.

This underscores the importance of businesses and agencies adopting robust prevention strategies against automated invalid traffic.

In this article, we will explore automated ad clicks and how ClickPatrol helps protect ad budgets by blocking invalid clicks at the source.

What are automated ad clicks and why they matter for ad performance

Basically, automatic clicks in online advertising are clicks made by automated software or a series of bots rather than humans.

They are usually invalid clicks intended to either waste the advertising budget or misinterpret analytics results.

Automated ad clicks are a form of broader digital advertising fraud. Other kinds of invalid traffic include non-human ad impressions, click farms, and bot-driven engagements.

Automated ad clicks are especially troublesome because they often model human behavior. Bots can effectively navigate to sites or click on links. All of these can only be detected using specialized solutions.

The real cost of bot-generated fake clicks on ad spend

Advertisers tend to underestimate the level of their non-human click-throughs. It has been found that:

• Third-party bots make up around 38% of total web traffic. Among these bots, almost a quarter are considered “bad bots” intended for illicit activities, such as simulating click-throughs on online ads.
• For those running paid search campaigns, an average of 14% of clicks have been found to be non-genuine, likely from bots or fraud-driven activity.
• Global studies have shown that the total amount of digital ad spend lost to fraud in 2023 was at least 22% for clicked ads, reflecting the extent to which invalid clicks have been draining ad budgets.
• Internet traffic research indicates that approximately half of web traffic may be bot traffic, further underscoring the role of non-human interactions on the web.

Common sources of automated ad clicks

To develop an effective prevention strategy, it is necessary to identify the sources of automated ad clicks. A few of the most prevalent origins include:

Harmful botnets

A botnet consists of compromised computers that a fraudster remotely controls. The bots will act as users would, clicking on ads, visiting web pages, and engaging in other activities, all intended to drain budgets or manipulate analytics.

Competitor sabotage

In certain industries, competitors may use automated scripts or services to click on your ads, draining the budget with invalid clicks that never convert.

Click farms

Click farms are operations run by real individuals in low-cost regions solely to repeatedly click ads.

Even though click farms involve real individuals, their ultimate intent remains fraudulent and is thus classified as invalid traffic.

Programatica misallocation

In some programmatic advertising channels, low-quality inventory can lead to high bot impressions in campaigns.

This is due to lower-quality ad networks that direct campaigns to areas with high bot penetration.

Why traditional defenses aren’t enough

Some advertisers believe that large advertising platforms, such as Google or social media sites, completely protect against automated ad clicks.

But depending solely on these guards may not be enough because:

• Within the platforms, filtering of obvious invalid traffic occurs while sophisticated invalid traffic remains undetected.
• Bots can simulate human patterns, including click timing, session length, and path information.
• Invalid traffic can also arrive in batches rather than at a steady rate, making it challenging for standard analytics to correctly separate actual from malicious clicks.

How to build a proactive prevention plan against automated ad clicks

A good automated ad clicks prevention strategy is a combination of several strategies:

Real-time detection and blocking

Detecting and blocking invalid traffic in real time, before budgets are billed, is the basis of any prevention plan.

ClickPatrol uses behavioral analytics, machine learning, and signature-based detection to classify bot-generated clicks in real-time.

Multi-layered traffic filtering

Effective prevention should not rely on a single signal. By combining multiple filters such as device fingerprints, IP reputation, and user behavior, ClickPatrol accurately separates real users from bots while minimizing false positives and accidental blocks.

Geographic and device tracking

Many bot attacks are region-specific or use device patterns that don’t match the target audience. By tracking geographic and device trends, abnormal traffic can be identified.

For example, a North American-focused campaign that suddenly sees spikes in traffic from high-bot regions may signal automated activity.

Frequency and velocity tests

Normal human interaction tends to follow predictable patterns. Bots, however, produce high-frequency or high-velocity clicks that are not prevalent amongst ordinary users.

ClickPatrol uses metrics such as rapid consecutive clicks, unusually low dwell time, or repeated activity within a single session to identify and block automated activity.

Analytics and reporting integration

When visibility is high, prevention is more effective. ClickPatrol will integrate with your analytics and advertising platforms to report transparently on identified invalid traffic, click patterns, and blocked threats.

How ClickPatrol blocks automated invalid traffic at the source

The core value of ClickPatrol lies in its ability to detect and block invalid traffic at its source, preventing automated ad clicks from wasting ad spend or distorting analytics signals. Here’s how it does that:

Behavior-based detection

Rather than relying solely on static rules, ClickPatrol observes traffic patterns over time.

It learns what normal user behavior looks like and flags interactions that deviate significantly, including those such as very fast click sequences or identical navigation patterns across sessions.

Real-time intervention

Once suspicious activity is detected, ClickPatrol immediately acts on it: blocking the click or engagement in real-time so it doesn’t charge your campaign.

This proactive defense will prevent budget leaks and keep campaign metrics clean.

Actionable insights and reporting

ClickPatrol doesn’t block invalid traffic, but it provides detailed insights that support strategic decision-making.

You can see which country the fraud originated in, which types of clicks were blocked, and how your campaign performance would differ without invalid interactions.

Lifelong learning

Fraud tactics move very fast. ClickPatrol’s machine learning models dynamically adapt to new patterns, enabling the detection of even sophisticated bot behavior that emulates human actions.

Long-term protection against threats as they evolve.

Implementing your automated ad click prevention plan

To successfully realize a prevention plan, observe the following practical steps:

Audit your existing campaign data

Begin by assessing the amount of invalid traffic you are currently receiving by analyzing engagement, bounce, and outlier metrics.

Implement real-time defense software

Install ClickPatrol within your campaign workflow to detect and block invalid traffic as your advertisements run.

Implement surveillance boards

Design dashboards to display essential indicators – including click velocity, geographic anomalies, and IP distribution to expose the early signs of bot activity.

Set rules and thresholds

Establish suspicious behavior thresholds aligned with your business objectives and traffic projections. Early outlier filtering can reduce automated ad clicks.

Review and refine regularly

Fraudsters are always evolving. Periodically update your prevention plan and tune your filters, rules, and models to keep ahead of new automated attack vectors.

Stop ad fraud: How to prevent automated clicks and maximize ad spend ROI

One of the biggest threats to the efficient use of online advertising funds is automated ad clicks.

Also known as bot traffic or non-human traffic, automated ad clicks are generated by automated programs such as bots or scripts, and they are projected to drive advertising fraud costs well into the hundreds of billions of dollars, with non-human traffic constituting a substantial portion of online behavior.

Preventing invalid ad clicks requires more than monitoring data; it needs real-time detection and smart blocking.

ClickPatrol tackles this by stopping invalid clicks at the source, offering an effective solution to protect campaigns.

By putting an effective prevention strategy in place, powered by ClickPatrol, they can be assured that they are safeguarding their campaign against fraudulent use while getting the greatest possible return for each dollar they spend on advertising.

Abisola

Meet Abisola! As the content manager at ClickPatrol, she’s the go-to expert on all things fake traffic. From bot clicks to ad fraud, Abisola knows how to spot, stop, and educate others about the sneaky tactics that inflate numbers but don’t bring real results.

View all posts by Abisola (Abisola)

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