What is click fraud protection?

Software that checks the clicks on your paid ads, works out which came from bots, competitors or repeat clickers, and stops those sources seeing your ads again, so your budget goes on people who might buy.

How does ClickTrap stop click fraud on Google Ads?

A small tracking code on your website checks every visit from your ads: the device, the network, how often it clicks and how the visitor behaves. Sources that break your rules are added to your Google Ads IP exclusions within minutes, so they stop seeing your ads.

Which ad platforms are covered?

Protection covers Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta and LinkedIn.

Does it work with Performance Max and YouTube?

Yes. Those campaigns don’t take IP exclusions of their own, so blocked sources also go on your Google Ads account’s own exclusion list, which reaches every campaign.

Will it block my real customers?

Anyone who reaches your thank-you page, or taps your number or email, is treated as a customer and never blocked. Every block shows its reason, you can allowlist addresses, and you can undo any block.

How long does it take to set up?

About 10 minutes: add one line of code to your website, connect Google Ads and check the rules, which start with sensible defaults.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. Every plan has a 30-day free trial, and you can cancel at any time.

You pay for every click. Not every click is a customer.

ClickTrap checks each paid visit to your website. Competitors, bots and people who keep clicking get blocked in your Google Ads account, usually before they click again.

Try it free for 30 days Watch the 37-second tour

Set up in about 10 minutes. Plans from £30 a month. Cancel at any time.

Case 0417 · example

“emergency roofer london”Cost per click £6.40

09:14:02Ad clicked. £6.40 charged.
09:14:04Left after 2 seconds. No scroll, no movement.
10:41:37Same phone, new IP address. £6.40 charged.
10:41:39Left after 2 seconds again. Second short visit today.
10:41:52Rule matched: 2 short visits in 24 hours. Excluded in Google Ads.

Charged before the block£12.80

Blocked

Protecting Google AdsMicrosoft AdvertisingMetaLinkedIn Installs on WordPressShopifyWixSquarespaceGoogle Tag ManagerAny website

An example morning

Google charges for the click, not for who made it.

Four clicks from one morning on a roofer’s account, with our notes. Only one of them was a customer.

Paid for clicks that were never customers£19.20

08:02roof repair near me£6.40

81.2.•••.•• · Desktop · Croydon · 0 pages

CompetitorClicks the ad most weekdays at 8am, from the same business broadband. Never scrolls.

08:47emergency roofer£6.40

104.28.••.• · Headless Chrome · data centre

BotA server, not a home or a phone. The page loaded but nothing on it was ever seen.

09:14emergency roofer london£6.40

2a00:23c:••••:••••:: · Android · mobile network · 2s

Repeat clickerFourth visit this week from this phone, each time on a new IP address.

09:31flat roof replacement cost£6.40

86.13.••.••• · iPhone · Bromley · 4 pages, 3m 12s

Customer, keptRead the prices, opened the gallery and sent the quote form.

How a visit is judged

Some bots look real. Until they do nothing.

We don’t judge from an IP address alone. Each visit is followed from the ad to the moment the visitor leaves, and only then judged.

0.0s

The ad click

Google’s click ID, the keyword and the campaign are recorded.

0.4s

The device

Phone, computer or server? A real browser, or a script pretending to be one?

0.4s

The network

Home broadband, mobile, a VPN or a data centre.

until they leave

What they do

Scrolling, moving, tapping, typing. Or nothing at all.

when your rules match

The block

The source is excluded in Google Ads. Customers are never blocked.

See how it works

Your own figures

How much are fake clicks costing you?

I run , I spend £ a month on Google Ads, and I pay about £ a click.

Invalid clicks for this kind of business: about %

Typical UK figures for each kind of business are filled in. Change any of them to match your own Google Ads account.

Your ads run all day, but the first 2 hours 15 minutes (until about 9:15am) of every day’s budget goes on clicks that were never customers.

Your Google Ads one month, estimated

Paid for nothing£14,400 a year

2,353 clicks × £3.40£8,000

real visitors (2,000)£6,800

bots, competitors, repeat clickers (353)£1,200

ClickTrap Patrol− £60

You keep£1,140

a month, back in your budget20× the plan

Try it free for 30 days See the plans →

Estimate only. Industry figures are typical UK ranges; outside the UK, enter your own cost per click. Your real figures show in your dashboard within days.

Free Google Ads scan

Swap the estimate for your own figures.

Connect Google Ads once and get a report on your last 30 days, from Google’s own figures. We change nothing, and remove our access as soon as it’s done.

Scan my account free

No account needed, no card.

Scan reportLast 30 days

The clicks Google already filtered as invalid
Spend and conversions by campaign
Networks and devices compared
The hours your clicks convert, and when they don’t

Read-only access, removed when the report is ready

What you get

Less talk about protection. Here’s what actually turns up.

Google Ads exclusions example

104.28.••.•bot
81.2.•••.••competitor
2a00:23c:••••::/64repeat
185.220.•••.0/24VPN
92.40.••.••repeat
45.153.•••.0/24data centre
31.94.••.•competitor

An exclusion list that keeps itself

Sources are added the moment your rules match, and rotated so you never hit Google’s limit.

#google-ads Slack

ClickTrap11:02

Suspicious clicks are up on Roofing – London: 14 in the last hour, against 3 on a normal Tuesday. 9 already excluded.

Alerts where you already look

By email, in Slack or in Teams. Also when your tracking stops working.

Refund evidence example month

Invalid clicks212

Charged£1,356.80

Already credited− £84.20

To claim£1,272.60

clicks.csvreasons.pdf

A pack for Google support

Every invalid click with its click ID and reason, ready to send with a refund request.

Analytics: Every paid click sorted into valid, suspicious or invalid, with what the blocked ones were costing you, by day, campaign and country. See the analytics
Fake enquiries: See which leads came from genuine visitors, or stop invalid ones before their form is sent.
Customers stay safe: Anyone who reaches your thank-you page is treated as a customer and never blocked.
For agencies: On Garrison and Fortress: every client in its own account, one login to switch between them, and your logo on their reports. Agencies

See everything that’s included

Every campaign type

Each one lets bad clicks in a different way.

So each is protected in the way it accepts.

Campaign	How it’s protected	More
Search and Shopping	Blocked sources go straight into each campaign’s IP exclusions, up to 500 per campaign.	More
Performance Max	It refuses campaign exclusions, so blocked sources go on your account’s own list, which it respects.	More
Demand Gen	Feeds full of accidental taps and engagement bots, judged by what each visitor does next.	More
YouTube	App clicks without the usual click ID are checked too, and bad sources kept out.	More
Smart Bidding	Only verified conversions go to Google, so bidding learns from real customers.	More
Microsoft Advertising	Every click checked with the same rules, and a block list ready to paste.	More

Advanced protection

When excluding addresses isn’t enough.

Some attacks move faster than any block list. These step in where an exclusion can’t.

Keyword example

emergency roofer londonPaused

14 suspicious clicks in 10 minutes. Back on in 5 minutes.

Tripwire

When fake clicks pile onto one keyword, device type or town, it’s paused in Google Ads for a few minutes, then switched back on by itself.

On Patrol, Garrison and Fortress

How Tripwire works

Your contact details real visitor

Phone020 7946 0321

WhatsApp07700 900418

Quote formSend

Gatekeeper

Visitors from blocked sources can still see your website, but not your phone number, email or WhatsApp, and your forms won’t send.

On Patrol, Garrison and Fortress

How Gatekeeper works

Collective Shield 45.153.•••.••

Plumber, Leedscaught
Solicitor, Bristolcaught
Locksmith, Manchestercaught
Your accountblocked before its first click

Collective Shield

An address caught by several of our customers is blocked for you the first time it clicks your ads, before it costs you anything.

Included on Patrol, Garrison and Fortress

How it works

Click fraud in your line of work.

All industries

Typical UK cost per click · share of invalid clicks

Guides

Click fraud research

Questions people ask first

All questions

What is click fraud protection?: Software that checks the clicks on your paid ads, works out which came from bots, competitors or repeat clickers, and stops those sources seeing your ads again, so your budget goes on people who might buy.
How does ClickTrap stop click fraud on Google Ads?: A small tracking code on your website checks every visit from your ads: the device, the network, how often it clicks and how the visitor behaves. Sources that break your rules are added to your Google Ads IP exclusions within minutes, so they stop seeing your ads.
Which ad platforms are covered?: Protection covers Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta and LinkedIn.
Does it work with Performance Max and YouTube?: Yes. Those campaigns don’t take IP exclusions of their own, so blocked sources also go on your Google Ads account’s own exclusion list, which reaches every campaign.
Will it block my real customers?: Anyone who reaches your thank-you page, or taps your number or email, is treated as a customer and never blocked. Every block shows its reason, you can allowlist addresses, and you can undo any block.
How long does it take to set up?: About 10 minutes: add one line of code to your website, connect Google Ads and check the rules, which start with sensible defaults.
Is there a free trial?: Yes. Every plan has a 30-day free trial, and you can cancel at any time.