Google has updated its Traffic Quality site with new text and policy visuals
One example of invalid traffic is the use of deceptive elements on a web page in a way that a user is tricked into clicking on an ad that they didn't expect to click on.
Google has just announced an update to their Invalid Traffic site.
What is Invalid Traffic. Invalid Traffic is “any activity that doesn’t come from a real user with genuine interest. It can include accidental clicks caused by intrusive ad implementations, fraudulent clicking by competing advertisers, advertising botnets and more.”
What Google says. The site revamp was announced on Twitter by Google Policy Transparency staff member Aurora Morales.
Invalid Traffic examples. In their update, Google provides 12 examples of Invalid Traffic but adds that this is not an exhaustive list.
- Accidental clicks
- Ad hiding
- Ad stacking
- Clickjacking
- Pop-under ad
Why we care. Invalid traffic affect Google AdSense, Ads Manager, and mobile apps. Advertisers who consistently see increased clicks, lower CTR, or suspect that their ads are being clicked by bots or competitors may see their ad spend decrease as Google works to stop the fraud and lessen the costs to account holders.
Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.
Related stories
About the author
