Someone's been on a clicking spree - worrying!

1. 93

   Susana Sposted 13 years ago

   Was just doing my normal morning check of earnings and my adsense account is showing about 75% more clicks than normal for yesterday. This hasn't equated to any more earnings than usual and I haven't had a surge in traffic, so it looks like someone's been on a clicking spree on my hubs/blogs/websites - not sure which as I can't actually see what's been clicked.
   
   Should I be worried?

   replyreport
   1. 64

      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      contact google and convey to them..let them decide..dont worry...they would handle this...

      replyreport
      1. 93

         Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         Thanks piscean - Yep I did contact google.

         replyreport
2. 73

   Hauntyposted 13 years ago

   Not sure if this is helpful, but it's called 'click fraud' and if you do a Google search on it you may find something that interests you.

   replyreport
   1. 70

      sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      click fraud, implies intent by the publisher.
      
      Susana is more in the land of "click-bomb"
      
      I wouldnt be worried if this is the first event.
      
      Some publishers like to send a report to google when they see suspicious activity, in order to cover their bases.
      
      
      were the clicks rewarded earnings?

      replyreport
      1. 73

         Hauntyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for clarifying.

         replyreport
      2. 93

         Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         Thanks sunforged I was hoping you would respond with some advice Hadn't heard the phrase "click bomb", but yeah that sums it up. I can't see where the clicks are from except on the total in my adsense channels but it doesn't look like they got any earnings. When I look through each channel I can't see the actual clicks anywhere, nor in analytics, but I don't have all the google stuff linked with my blog and website so I can only see the click data with my hubpages.
         
         I was wondering whether I should drop google an email to cover my arse - you think this is a good idea?

         replyreport
         1. 70

            sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            It seems Google auto-flagged the activity.
            
            It doesnt hurt to show that you are an aware publisher.
            
            https://www.google.com/support/adsense/ … ks_contact

            replyreport
3. 58

   TerryGlposted 13 years ago

   Should you be worried? Holly cow, is it just me or what.
   
   Adsense returns huge numbers, its a business in reality. If your earnings are $50 or $50,000 you need to take this seriously. This is not mickey mouses schoolhouse.
   
   Everyone should pay the money to have tracking software on their website to show logs of you or what ip is visiting your website.
   
   The minute you lose your account is the minute to send your logs to the Adsense Team to prove you have suffered from fraudulent clicks.
   
   You insure your house, your business and your home. Insure your adsense account.

   replyreport
4. 70

   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   From:
   
   https://www.google.com/adsense/support/ … r=62472#q2
   
   TerryGi is  correct, Google does expect us to have some level of tracking on our end and provides free tools to do that.
   
   If Hp is the site in question, then you would be at least able to figure that out by the tracking in your other locations and may be able to contact HP and ask them to check logs / block an IP.
   
   It could have been a fan who thought they were helping or worse a competitor who wanted to remove your purpose for competing!

   replyreport
5. 70

   thisisoliposted 13 years ago

   I would just email Google and mention that you have noticed a rise of 75% in clicks without a notable increase in traffic, say that these clicks are not yours, and that you are worried about malicious activity.

   replyreport
6. 93

   Susana Sposted 13 years ago

   Thanks everyone Your replies have been most helpful! I did email google and I'll also be looking into those tracking tools.
   
   On a related point - today my clicks and earnings are higher than normal and I'm thinking they're probably fromm my HP sign ups. Is there any way of tracking that data?

   replyreport
   1. 70

      thisisoliposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      you can find a lot through Google Analytics, find out if it is yourself first.
      
      Check the new Adsense interface as well, has some great graphs tracking different aspects of earnings!

      replyreport
      1. 93

         Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         Yep, I'm using analytics and adsense channels I can't find anything anywhere to account for extra clicks or earnings which is a real puzzle! This is the third day in a row that I've had a surprise when I looked at my adsense account.
         
         The first day was a shock and looked like something was not right: a huge increase in clicks but no increase in earnings or traffic. The last two days have been nice surprises with about double the amount of clicks, double the earnings and a minimal traffic increase.
         
         I can't see where these extra clicks are coming from so I think they must be from my sign ups.

         replyreport
7. 70

   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   After checking the content/adsense tab in analytics if I cant discover "how" some earnings arrive, i often chock it up to referrals.
   
   Its does seem like analytics and adsense ids are both shared inthe referral impression- as I have seen keyword strings of known referrals topics..that I never cover in my hubs or link to show up in my own adsense content reports via analytics.
   
   but it could be a reoccurring fluke -

   replyreport
   1. 93

      Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      Hmmm, I wish there was some way of tracking data from my referrals. I can't find anything in my analytics to give me a clue to what's going on.
      
      I kept wondering why I was selling so many ipad accessories through amazon, until I realised that one of my sign ups had written quite a few hubs on that topic!

      replyreport
8. 70

   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   am I your referral?
   
   I have the same problem but my referral is into digital photography equipment - he is a photographer  so his stuff is not just rehashes of product reviews,but  it seems to go over well with other photographers and more advanced hobbyists who have credit cards in hand.

   replyreport
   1. 93

      Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I wish! LOL No it's a newbie who seems to know what s/he is doing (unless of course it's another of your accounts? )

      replyreport