Calculating the true cost of ad fraud is not easy. Still, according to estimates, the global cost of digital ad fraud in 2021 was around $65 billion. Ad fraud is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with losses now comparable to the revenues of large companies or national GDP figures. Bot accounts make up approximately 18% of traffic in the digital marketing Some alarming stats about Google Ads Click fraud:

In year 2023, approximately 22% of all online advertising spending is lost due to advertising fraud.

30% of mobile ad spending goes to fraud

By 2028, estimated ad fraud losses will reach $172 billion.

To prevent ad click fraud, it is important to understand its types. Common types are as follows: 

Malicious Click Fraud: This is often driven by intense industry rivalry. Competitors may deliberately engage in click fraud to exhaust your daily budget early in the day. By draining your funds, they remove your ads from the search results, allowing their own ads to take the top spot at a lower cost.

Bot Traffic: This is the most scalable one. Automated scripts ranging from simple browsers to sophisticated artificial intelligence interact with advertisements. Since these bots can now mimic mouse movements, scrolling behavior, and visit time, standard analyses often accept them as valid users. 

Click Farms: These are physical operations typically located in underdeveloped or developing countries, where low-wage workers are hired to sit at dozens of phones or computers. These workers are paid to repeatedly click on ads. Since these clicks come from real people, they usually bypass basic filters and are not easy to detect.

Data Distortion Fraud This occurs when bots create fake impressions while gathering content or data without directly targeting ads, lowering your site's performance and distorting your data. 

Here are actionable steps to combat click fraud effectively:

Use Specialized Click Fraud Prevention Software

Manual monitoring is impossible at scale. The most effective solution is specialized software designed to prevent ad click fraud. These tools sit between your ad network and your website, analyzing each visit with real-time bot traffic detection. They instantly block fake visits by checking thousands of data points with the help of such as device fingerprinting and behavioral data.

Improve Your Targeting

Effectively narrowing your target audience reduces your risk of exposure to click fraud.

IP Exclusion Lists

Blocking suspicious IP addresses is a fundamental form of defense. You can prevent them from seeing your ads by manually excluding the IP addresses you identify. However, sophisticated scammers use dynamic IPs, so protection based solely on manual lists is insufficient.  

Choose Reliable Ad Networks

Larger networks are more capable of providing better ad fraud protection measures.

Get Professional Support for Audits and Refunds

Sometimes, software alone isn't enough. If you suspect you have been the victim of an attack, contacting experts such as ClickSambo is an important step. These types of services perform in-depth checks using advanced bot traffic detection technology to identify complex patterns.

They can help you compile the necessary evidence records to file refund claims for Google Ads click fraud. Recovering the budget spent on fake traffic may not be easy, but a professionally prepared data file significantly increases your chances of receiving a refund.