Investigating Suspected Click Fraud and Bot Traffic

Suspected click fraud requires evidence about invalid activity. Repeated clicks, unusual networks and weak conversions can justify an investigation, but none individually proves that a visitor is a bot or that a competitor caused a loss.

Establish what was actually counted

Distinguish ad clicks, landing-page requests, sessions and tracked button clicks. Compare the same campaign, dates and timezone. Check whether duplicate tags, retries, consent choices or a recent release can explain the change. SearchBastion observes its own tracked interactions; that is not the advertising platform's final billing record.

Build a reviewable evidence set

1. Identify the campaign and time window where the anomaly began.
2. Examine repeated requests, timing, navigation and the actions completed after arrival.
3. Treat IP type and user-agent matches as supporting signals. Corporate networks, privacy tools and shared IPs produce legitimate traffic too.
4. Compare suspected activity with valid leads and conversions from the same period.
5. Record alternative explanations before applying a restriction.

Example: a repeated burst from one network

Imagine a campaign receives 60 repeated tracked clicks within a short period, with the same request pattern. This is an illustrative case. Check for a tag firing multiple times and legitimate retry behavior first. If application evidence supports automated abuse, test a narrowly scoped rate limit or challenge. Monitor whether valid users are affected and retain a rollback path. An IP-wide permanent ban may block many unrelated people.

Keep billing decisions separate

Google Ads filters activity it determines to be invalid and can apply later adjustments. A third-party risk flag is not proof that the interaction was charged or qualifies for a refund. Use the platform's invalid-traffic reporting process with a factual timeline; do not name an alleged attacker without evidence.

Inspect an IP as one part of the investigation. Review Google Ads' invalid-click definition before comparing estimates with billing. Keep raw identifying data in access-controlled operational records, not public reports.