ClickSambo gives you full control over how you detect and block suspicious or fraudulent traffic. Below are the available detection rules and how they work:
Blocks browsers that have JavaScript disabled — a common tactic used by bots and automation tools to avoid detection.
Enabling this feature ensures that only real users with standard browser settings can interact with your site or ads, helping to prevent fraudulent behavior.
When this setting is toggled ON, the following occurs:
Blocks browsers that have JavaScript disabled. This is a common tactic used by bots and automation tools to avoid detection and manipulate tracking scripts.
Enabling this feature ensures that only visitors with standard, modern browser capabilities can interact with your site and ads. This creates a strong barrier against many forms of automated fraudulent behavior.
When a visitor with a JavaScript-disabled browser attempts to access your site, ClickSambo will immediately block their IP address.
When this setting is toggled ON, the following occurs:
What It Does: Detects and blocks IP addresses that are using VPNs, proxies, or the Tor network to hide their true location. These services are frequently used to disguise fraudulent activity.
How It Protects You: This feature prevents clicks from anonymous or geographically masked sources. It ensures your ads are served to users in your targeted locations and helps maintain the integrity of your campaign data, leading to more accurate reporting and better ROI.
The Result: When a visitor attempts to access your site using a known VPN, proxy, or the Tor network, ClickSambo will immediately block their IP address.
ClickSambo's advanced Bot Detection engine is your primary defense against automated and fraudulent traffic. This guide provides a detailed look at how our system works, from initial analysis to the settings you can control.
Our system doesn't just look at a single metric; it uses a multi-layered approach to analyze every single visit to your website, regardless of the traffic source (organic, paid, social, etc.).
Layer 1: The Real-Time Analysis Engine
For every visit, our machine learning algorithms perform a deep, real-time analysis of dozens of behavioral and technical signals. This goes far beyond a simple IP check. Key indicators include:
Behavioral Analysis: The sequence, speed, and timing of actions on your site. Are pages visited inhumanly fast? Are clicks happening without any time for content to be read?
Device & Browser Fingerprinting: Verifying the consistency of a visitor's digital fingerprint. Does the browser have JavaScript disabled? Are there inconsistencies in screen resolution, fonts, or user agents?
Mouse & Interaction Analysis: Tracking mouse movements and click patterns. Is there organic, human-like movement, or is it robotic and linear?
Network & IP Reputation: Checking the visitor's IP against our comprehensive database of known data centers, proxies, VPNs, and malicious sources.
Layer 2: The Bot Probability Score & Risk Levels
Based on the analysis, every visitor is assigned a Bot Probability Score from 1 to 100. To make this score easier to interpret, we automatically classify it into a simple Risk Level:
Medium Risk (Score 50-79): These visitors show some suspicious traits but aren't definitively bots. They could be real users with unusual setups or low-quality traffic. This group is typically monitored but not blocked by default.
High Risk (Score 80-89): Visitors in this range show multiple strong indicators of automated behavior. There is a high probability that this is non-human traffic. The default settings are designed to block this category.
Critical (Score 90-100): This category is for visitors that are almost certainly bots. They exhibit undeniable signs of automation and malicious intent. This traffic should always be blocked.
Layer 3: The Bot Type
Classification
To give you even more context, we also assign a Bot Type
label that explains why a visitor was flagged. Common types include:
potential_bot
: Shows 1-2 suspicious traits (e.g., data center IP) but behavior is not aggressively robotic.
suspicious_automation
: Displays clear signs of automated behavior (e.g., inhuman speed) but the intent is not necessarily malicious.
pattern_automation
: Follows a highly repetitive and predictable sequence of actions, indicating a programmed bot.
click_fraud_bot
: The most critical type. The bot's behavior is directly related to fraudulently interacting with your ads.
You can fine-tune the Bot Detection engine to perfectly match your business needs and risk tolerance.
The Bot Detection Master Switch In your Settings screen, you will find the main Bot Detection toggle. When this is ON, the entire analysis engine described above is active for all your traffic.
The Bot Score Threshold Once Bot Detection is ON, you can set your Bot Score Threshold (from 1-100). This is the most important setting you control.
How it Works: Any visitor with a Bot Probability Score higher than your set threshold will be automatically blocked.
The Default Score (80): We provide a default threshold of 80. This provides a balanced approach, blocking all traffic classified as High Risk and Critical while allowing Medium Risk traffic.
Adjusting Sensitivity:
A Lower Threshold (e.g., 70) is MORE sensitive and aggressive. It will block more suspicious traffic.
A Higher Threshold (e.g., 90) is LESS sensitive and more conservative. It will only block the most obvious bots (Critical
risk).
By adjusting this single number, you have complete control over how aggressively the system protects your campaigns.