Why is the number of clicks reported by ad platform higher than the number of visits to my site?
Ads are sometimes targets of so-called “ghost clicks”. This is traffic generated by bots that either don’t follow through with loading a page after triggering the click, or that load the page with deactivated code, flying under the radar of most analytics systems, including ours. The problem is well understood and widely discussed on the internet.
We see these ghost clicks all the time across all ad types, industries, and audiences. Their percentage is usually below 15%.
Why does this happen?
Incentives for distorting traffic metrics include:
Large players trying to make the game harder for their competition
Bots attempting to influence certain topics going rogue
Platforms trying to boost their own revenue
What can be done about it?
There is a tendency for ghost clicks to happen more often with broader targeting / less specific audiences. You might try to steer away from large countries and very popular search terms or interests.
We see these ghost clicks all the time across all ad types, industries, and audiences. Their percentage is usually below 15%.
Why does this happen?
Incentives for distorting traffic metrics include:
Large players trying to make the game harder for their competition
Bots attempting to influence certain topics going rogue
Platforms trying to boost their own revenue
What can be done about it?
There is a tendency for ghost clicks to happen more often with broader targeting / less specific audiences. You might try to steer away from large countries and very popular search terms or interests.
Updated on: 16/02/2023
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