Sudden Spike In Clicks? What Should You Do?

Writing by Brick Marketing on Friday, 20 of June , 2008 at 10:28 am

If you see a sudden spike in clicks or impressions on your pay per click ads, it could mean that your latest campaign is working or it could mean that you are are experiencing click fraud. What should you do?

Well, first, try to find out why you are seeing a spike in click. The Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog recently reported that you could see a spike in clicks for any of the following reasons:

• Changes to an ad’s ranking in search results
• A change to the match type used for your ads
• Keyword seasonality
• A new distribution partner added to the Yahoo! network
• Yahoo! Buzz placement, where searches on certain popular keywords can be performed directly from the page content.
• Yahoo! Front Page placement, where searches on certain popular keywords can be performed directly from the page content

If a placement of your ad changes for any reason then you could see a spike in the number of clicks that you get. For instance, let’s say your number 1 competitor pauses his ads and that causes you to rise in your ranking a few places. That could increase the number of clicks that you are getting. You can always adjust your keyword bid temporarily until you see yourself suddenly decline then adjust them upwards again. But what if there is click fraud? What should you do?

Yahoo! has a Traffic Quality Center that lets you report sudden spikes and ask for an investigation. Their report will tell you why your clicks have suddenly gone up and you’ll be able to act accordingly. Each of the search engines has a similar service and all you have to do is report what you see and they’ll let you know what they see happening. Most likely, if you see a sudden rise in clicks, there is a logical explanation for it and it’s not always click fraud.

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Category: Click Fraud, PPC Management

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