Case Study: How Digital Lens Stopped Click Fraud and Boosted Leads by 25%

When a bathroom refinishing firm approached Digital Lens, they were facing a critical marketing dilemma. Despite investing heavily in their PPC advertising campaigns, they weren't seeing the return on investment they expected. Their website traffic numbers looked impressive on paper, but actual qualified leads remained frustratingly low. Adding to their concern, their monthly ad spend had been steadily increasing despite minimal growth in business.

Data Driven Approach

Our team at Digital Lens began with a comprehensive digital audit, examining everything from the client's website performance to their Google Ads campaigns. While we identified several technical issues with their site that needed addressing, one pattern in their advertising data immediately raised red flags.

We noticed:

• Abnormally high click-through rates on specific high-value keywords

• A pattern of clicks occurring at consistent times of day

• Unusually short session durations for ad clicks

• Multiple clicks from the same or similar IP addresses

These indicators pointed to a serious case of click fraud—someone was deliberately clicking on their ads with no intention of becoming a customer. Our team implemented advanced IP tracking and monitoring systems on all of our client's PPC campaigns. By analyzing the data over a one-month period, we were able to identify a pattern of suspicious activity originating from a specific set of IP addresses.

The investigation revealed something disturbing: a local competitor was systematically depleting their ad budget by having employees and a contracted click farm repeatedly click on their ads throughout the day. This fraudulent activity was causing its daily budget to be exhausted early, removing their ads from search results and allowing the competitor's ads to display without competition.

What made this situation even more problematic was the payment structure with their previous agency—who earned 15% of the total ad spend. This created a misaligned incentive structure where the agency had little motivation to identify or stop fraudulent clicks that were artificially inflating the budget.

Our Solution

Digital Lens took immediate action with a multi-faceted approach:

1. Website Redesign: We rebuilt their website with improved technical SEO, faster loading times, and better conversion optimization.

2. Click Fraud Prevention: We implemented sophisticated IP tracking and blocking systems to identify and prevent fraudulent clicks.

3. Evidence Collection: We meticulously documented all instances of click fraud with timestamps, IP addresses, and patterns of behavior.

4. Legal Action: We helped the client draft a cease-and-desist letter with the collected evidence, which was sent to the competitor.

5. Campaign Restructuring: We completely rebuilt their Google Ads campaigns with tighter geographic targeting, negative keyword lists, and dayparting strategies.

The Results

Within three months of implementing our solutions, ABC Plumbing saw dramatic improvements:

• 60% reduction in monthly ad spend without reducing campaign reach

• 25% increase in qualified leads coming through their website

• Complete cessation of fraudulent clicking activity after the demand letter

• 142% improvement in cost-per-acquisition across all campaigns

• First-page rankings for 17 key local service keywords

Key Takeaways

This case highlights several important lessons for businesses investing in digital advertising:

1. Monitor Your Analytics Closely: Unusual patterns in your advertising data could indicate fraud.

2. Question Agency Incentives: Agencies that earn a percentage of ad spend may not be motivated to reduce wasteful spending.

3. Track IP Addresses: Implementing IP monitoring can help identify suspicious click activity.

4. Document Everything: If you suspect click fraud, maintain detailed records that could be used if legal action becomes necessary.

5. Combine Paid and Organic Strategies: A balanced approach provides more sustainable results than relying exclusively on paid advertising.

Is Click Fraud Affecting Your Business?

If your PPC campaigns are generating high costs but few conversions, you might be a victim of click fraud. Digital Lens offers comprehensive digital marketing audits to identify potential fraud and optimize your marketing performance.

Contact us today at 508-631-7451 or info@diglens.com to learn how we can help your business achieve better results while reducing wasteful ad spend.