How do I contest suspected invalid clicks?

After two days of increased traffic to my site, I've received 9 clicks on one day and 10 clicks on the next day for a total earnings of $0.05
Here are a few considerations:
My CTR is relatively high at 1% to 3%. The articles on my blog getting traffic (via Twitter and Stumbleupon NOT Google, which is not the center of my traffic universe) are short and sweet (6-7 sentences) and readers are likely going to exit fast (especially when an ad with a really tasty looking cupcake pops up).

Reporting on pageviews for ads has been unreliable. Only the first ad shown on the page is accurate. Each of the 1 or 2 other ads on the page have about 1 or 2 page views. On the first day when I got 9 clicks the ad clicked was the second ad and therefore had fewer pageviews reported than clicks.

I feel that the reporting system is inaccurately detecting invalid clicks. My account is not suspended but is there a process by which I can contest this? I'm tired of working hard to drive traffic that clicks on ads for nothing.



Here are a few considerations:
My CTR is relatively high at 1% to 3%. The articles on my blog getting traffic (via Twitter and Stumbleupon NOT Google, which is not the center of my traffic universe) are short and sweet (6-7 sentences) and readers are likely going to exit fast (especially when an ad with a really tasty looking cupcake pops up).

Reporting on pageviews for ads has been unreliable. Only the first ad shown on the page is accurate. Each of the 1 or 2 other ads on the page have about 1 or 2 page views. On the first day when I got 9 clicks the ad clicked was the second ad and therefore had fewer pageviews reported than clicks.

I feel that the reporting system is inaccurately detecting invalid clicks. My account is not suspended but is there a process by which I can contest this? I'm tired of working hard to drive traffic that clicks on ads for nothing.


Replies 1 - 2 of 2      PeggyK Top Contributor
6:59 AM
Top Contributor
6:59 AM

>> Only the first ad shown on the page is accurate. Each of the 1 or 2 other ads on the page have about 1 or 2 page view

That's how the stats work. A "page view" is only recorded for the first ad unit on a page.

If you are looking at individual ad unit stats, you should be viewing "Ad Impressions" not "Page Views"

The issue of "valid" clicks has to do with whether the visitors to your site seem to be clicking the ads out of genuine interest.  That is determined algorithmically.

Unless you have an intimate technical understanding of how Google's invalid activity detection algorithms work, then there is nothing you can "contest."

It's fairly unusual to be getting the bulk of your traffic from Twitter and Stumbleupon. How are you promoting your site on Twitter? could it be considered spammy?

You also don't have much traffic yet, so the stats may not be that meaningful.   Are you sure there aren't multiple clicks from individuals?

The articles below are likely of relevance.
References: [1]    Why do my reports show clicks with no associated earnings?(Help Articles)
www.google.com
Query used: clicks earnings
[2]    How does Google detect invalid clicks? - AdWords Help(Help Articles)
adwords.google.com
Query used: invalid clicks
[3]    What is an invalid click? - AdSense Help - Google(Help Articles)
www.google.com
Query used: invalid clicks

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No  Report abuse      djensen47 Level 1
9:55 AM
Level 1
9:55 AM

Those familiar with Stumbleupon know that you can get a surge of "stumbles" in a day ranging from 300 to 1000+ visits. The problem is that you never know when and for which article the surge will come.
As for Twitter, I have 34k followers and a Klout score of 60, which basically means that I'm engaging int he conversation and not acting spammy. If I tweet a blog post 3 times in one day (which is roughly one less than the Guy Kawaski team), I can get 250 - 500 visits. Google only sends me 20-40 visits per day. The articles that I am posting are not spamming. I have unique and interesting beer photos. The news articles that I'm summarizing is completely unique content that folks on Twitter retweet.

It could be a single user clicking the ad multiple times but somehow I doubt it. Even if it were just one user, what's the deal with $0.01 clicks? I run another hobby site, with much more traffic, and the lowest I've seen is $0.10 per click.

As for Twitter, I have 34k followers and a Klout score of 60, which basically means that I'm engaging int he conversation and not acting spammy. If I tweet a blog post 3 times in one day (which is roughly one less than the Guy Kawaski team), I can get 250 - 500 visits. Google only sends me 20-40 visits per day. The articles that I am posting are not spamming. I have unique and interesting beer photos. The news articles that I'm summarizing is completely unique content that folks on Twitter retweet.

It could be a single user clicking the ad multiple times but somehow I doubt it. Even if it were just one user, what's the deal with $0.01 clicks? I run another hobby site, with much more traffic, and the lowest I've seen is $0.10 per click.
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