It’s a sad world when people have to worry about fraud, but companies face it every day where their marketing campaigns are concerned. Pay-Per-Click methods have received a lot of bad press over the past few years because of fraudulent activities, but there are reputable PPC companies out there who are completely legitimate. When marketers pay for a click service, they expect results to help their business, not a scheme that will take their hard earned money.
Combatting Click Fraud with Preventative Measures
Click fraud can happen in a couple of ways. It can be done by electronic means, or it can be done by actual humans who click the ads over and over. This is very hard for most businesses to take, because they have to pay every single time their link is clicked. When humans are doing the clicking, it is really hard to even tell that a fraud is being committed, because they are usually in locations spread out across the world, and they each have different IP addresses. Since the people are so spread out, it is hard to distinguish a pattern of activity to catch them. They treat it like a job, because they actually get paid for clicking the links. A Pay-Per-Click campaign is a great thing if you need to market your business, but you have to stay vigilant to ensure that you are not being defrauded. Below is a list of tips you should consider to ensure that you get a company who will be on your side.
- If the PPC Company promises a certain number of clicks, then find out exactly where those clicks are coming from, because you want quality clicks.
- Always monitor your website. If you are paying for supposed clicks, then your unique visitor count should reflect that number of clicks. If it doesn’t even come close, then you will know that fraud is occurring in some way.
- If you are considering a particular company for your PPC campaign, then check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) first, to ensure that the company does not have any unresolved complaints against them. The BBB is online, so this information can be checked easily. This will give you an idea on if the company offers quality services or not.
- Ask the company that you are considering if they have any site restrictions with pop-ups or not. If they don’t have any restrictions in place, then it could be because they are utilizing some sort of automated clicking system that isn’t compatible with pop-ups.
Final Thoughts for Success
Major search engines such as Google have put measures in place to combat clicking fraud, but it is still pervasive nevertheless. Improvements are constantly being made to stop offenders in their tracks. If you do go with a PPC campaign, make sure that the company has good reviews by reading what others have to say about them. There are some reputable companies that will guarantee no fraud services. The key is to find a great company that you can have a lasting relationship with.
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