Google Ads Click Fraud – Have Google Laid Off the Team?

It’s no secret that Google’s parent company Alphabet has laid off over 10,000 people redundant in the last month but have they parted with their click fraud team?

Of these, nearing 12,00 layoffs, it has been speculated that a large amount of those redundancies targeted their invalid traffic department.

Whilst Google itself hasn’t confirmed the redundancies, they have confirmed that it will no longer be supporting queries in relation to invalid traffic on Google Ads campaign. Currently, this means no resolution to charges related to Google Ads Click Fraud.

Click fraud is when someone, a computer program or a generated script which aims to exploit online advertisers by repeatedly clicking on a PPC ad in order to generate fraudulent clicks. In 2021, it was found that click fraud remained consistent at 14.08% of clicks.

Google was known for being one of the strongest click fraud protection systems. The search engine’s system of detection uses a three-pronged approach that begins with filters that are automatic. Their advanced algorithms have the ability to filter out any invalid clicks in real time and on many occasions before users are charged. However, fraud clicks can slip through the cracks and are normally managed by Google’s Ad Traffic Quality Team – this is no longer the case.

There are many third-party ad fraud protection applications available to users to strengthen their ad and budget protection.

Third-party click fraud applications are vital for converting wasted budget into revenue growth. Fraud protection software detects any potential malicious or suspicious activity within your Google Ads. They aim to block any fraudulent or bad traffic sources for you automatically. This results in a lack of wasted budget and can ensure that your PPC ads are being clicked on by honest people only. After all, you want to sell to actual individuals, not bots or spammy humans with no interests.

Google Ads click fraud can have significant negative repercussions on your PPC efforts as it will waste your budget on fake clicks that aren’t from potential customers. Click fraud is a tactic most often used by ad hosts, who will generate a large number of fake clicks to make a profit.

The click fraud protection team at Google is vital as it allows advertisers to state their case and, if able to, prove if traffic is fraudulent and receive a refund. This will no longer be the case. Since the redundancies, Google is not entertaining any refunds for advertisers, which is huge when it comes to budgeting.

This puts advertisers at risk of spending a budget on bot clicks and fraudulent activity on their ads. When aiming for actual leads, and actual human clicks, this puts advertisers at risk of spending with no reward.

Since the redundancies, Google is not entertaining any refunds for advertisers, with speculation that there is simply no one available to process these. This will result in a considerable backlog of requests shall their support queries in relation to click fraud open up again.

As Google attempts to minimise costs whilst maximising its profits, advertisers are susceptible to financial loss across their Google Advertising costs.

For full support with PPC you can trust, speak to ROAR today to stay ahead of the curve. We can create and implement targeted PPC advertisements that reach your intended audience.