Should Click Fraud Keep You from Advertising with Google Adwords?

I talk to many business owners who are afraid to go with a pay per click advertising campaign because they’ve heard of so many issues with click fraud. The truth is, click fraud is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be. In fact, according to Google, it’s under 2%. That’s quite a discreptancy from other reports on click fraud which estimate click fraud between 15-30%. Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim recently interviewed Google’s business manager for trust and safety, specifically talking about click fraud.  It’s definitely worth reading if you’ve been considering using Google Adwords to advertise. The big discrepancy seems to come from what the click fraud detection companies identify as click fraud. Read his post to find out more.

So, should click fraud keep you from advertsiging with Google Adwords? In my opinion, no but every case is different. As with any form of advertising, the bottom line is what kind of ROI (Return on Investment for the cavemen from Geico out there) are you getting? It’s absolutely crucial in my opinion to be able to understand if you’re getting results from your advertising. Whether it’s your SEO campaign, pay-per-click, or your print advertising, you need to be able to determine the advertising that’s most effective for you. When it comes to the web, the use of analytics is crucial to understanding the performance of any website. With Google’s analytics, you can identify your paid traffic from your organic traffic. If you’re spending $5,000 a month on search engine optimization, and it’s bringing in $10,000 in business each month that may be good. What if your pay per click advertising of $2,500 is also averaging $10,000 worth of business each month? That may be a more effective way to advertise. Double your ad spend and make $20,000 a month. Of course, the reverse also applies. If you’re overspending on your pay per click campaign, and ignoring the organic results, you may be missing out as well since the majority of website users click on organic results before clicking on any sponsored listings. A good search engine optimization company can help you with this. The bottom line is that you need to be able to track what is working for you and web analytics can help you do exactly that. If you are going to use the Google Adwords system, don’t even think about it without first installing some type of analytics plan. Test it out, track your results and that will tell you if pay-per-click is right for you.