Does click-fraud affect my CPA campaigns?

If you are running CPA campaigns you might think that fraudulent clicks are not something to be concerned about, since theoretically, you are paying per action and not per click. But get this, you are paying per click, and here is why:

The actions you are paying for, come from clicks on your ads. Someone or something clicks on your ad and completes a desired action which translates as a conversion. For example filling in a form (and becoming a lead), leaving a comment, subscribing to a newsletter, clicking to download an article, even scrolling down to read more, etc.

So let’s say for example you are running a Google Ads campaign with a bidding strategy Target CPA = $100. Your conversion rate is 10%, which means it takes 10 clicks to generate a single conversion at a price of $100, so far so good. A single click costs you $10.
Now imagine that 5 of those 10 clicks are fraudulent. What would the impact be for you?

• • Your real conversion rate is 20% and not 10%
  • Your real CPA is $50 and not $100 
  • You will never see any ROI from 50% of the clicks you are paying for. 
  • If all the clicks would be coming from healthy, legitimate traffic, you could potentially have double up on conversions with the same budget. 
  • The accuracy of your campaign data is affected and can lead you to wrong data-driven decisions.
  • The main beneficiaries are your competitors. Think about it, they have not changed their budget and yet their conversions are getting better. The legitimate clicks that aren’t reaching your Google Ads are reaching theirs!   
  • Another really important thing to consider is that, if your conversion rate is lower than your competitors, Google will probably prioritize sending more traffic/impressions to them.

The list is long, but you get it right? Click-fraud cyberattacks have an enormous negative impact on your CPA campaigns and we, at PPC Shield, are here to protect your Google Ads from all the bad guys trying to hurt you and your budget.