How Does Google AdSense Track Fake Clicks?

Background

Google's AdSense program is a pay-per-click advertising models through which advertisers pay a certain amount of money each time a person clicks on an advertisement. The amount paid per click is based on the popularity of the keyword and how frequently the ad is clicked compared to competitors. With Google AdSense, the ads appear on specific Web pages relevant to the ad content. Businesses who advertise through Google depend on the fact that a certain percentage of those people who click on their advertisement will make a purchase.

Click Fraud

Click fraud occurs when someone clicks on an advertisement -- often a large number of times -- without any intention of making a purchase. The intention of this is to make an ad campaign appear more effective than it actually is. Websites that host ads through Google's AdSense program earn a commission each time an ad is clicked, which means that publishers of such websites can repeatedly click on an ad appearing on their website to keep increasing its commission. According to PC Magazine, some websites have paid workers in third-world countries a few cents per hour to sit at a computer and click ads on their websites.

Monitoring

Google monitors clicks on Google AdSense ads to detect unusual activity. The company uses a proprietary technology to detect whether there is any unusual activity intended to drive up an advertiser's clicks. Numerous data points are analyzed on each click, including the IP address of the person who clicked on the ad, the time of the click, duplicate clicks, and other click patterns. If there are 'excessively repetitive' clicks, those are filtered out by Google's system. If there are known sources of invalid activity, such as an IP address, those are automatically discarded, according to Google's advertising guide. Advertisers are not charged for clicks that Google determines to be invalid.

Legal Issues

Click fraud is a multi-million dollar annual problem for advertisers. In March 2006, Google agreed to pay a $90 million settlement to a group of its advertisers, including Lane's Gifts & Collectibles, which advertised through Google and headed a class-action lawsuit claiming it was being improperly charged by Google for fraudulent clicks. The lawsuit claimed that Google's technology to detect invalid clicks was not effective. Google has repeatedly said that it's not possible for its automatic filters to catch 100 percent of the invalid clicks, but that a very small number of clicks are fraudulent.

How to Set Up Your YouTube Partnership Program Account

1. Create a YouTube user account by clicking the 'Create Account' link in the upper right-hand corner of the YouTube home page and following the prompts. Select a user name and password and supply your e-mail address, country, date of birth and sex before accepting YouTube's terms of service.

2. Upload videos to your YouTube account. Your videos must be original. If they are popular, your likelihood of getting approved for a partner account will improve.

3. Apply for a YouTube partner account. You must supply details about yourself and the videos you have uploaded to your user account. You must also supply your reason for applying to the partnership program.

4. Create a Google AdSense account. The YouTube partnership account application process allows you an opportunity to do this. You must supply your name, age, and nationality, and identify whether you represent a business. Google will send you an e-mail containing your AdSense account number.

5. Link your partner account to your AdSense account. Use your AdSense 'My Account' tab and follow the prompts. Open your YouTube user account, click on the link in the notification box of the YouTube home page and enter your AdSense account information.

How to Make Money Online with Google Adsense

1. Sign up for a Google AdSense account. From in your account you will be able to set the options that you want in regards to the ads that will display, the number of ads that will show at one time, and the colors and layout that your advertising boxes will use. The HTML code for these advertisement boxes will be automatically generated by the Adsense website for you to copy and paste onto your website or blog.

2. Place the AdSense code wherever you want it to display on your website or in your blog. Keep in mind that AdSense ads rely on the text that is located on your site in order to display ads that are relevant to the content of that text. If your page is made primarily of images, there will be very little for the ad code to pick up on and you may not get ads that will count toward your AdSense account.

3. If you have a specific theme to your website or blog, make sure that the text that appears on the page with the ads has keywords specific to that theme mentioned 3-8 times. This will help the ad code to recognize those keywords as important so that it will display ads that are relevant to those keywords so that visitors will be more likely to click on them.

4. Monitor the hits and clicks that your AdSense code registers by using the report functions that your AdSense account features. This will let you monitor your earnings while also helping you to keep better track of the amount of traffic your website is getting and how effective your advertising has been.

How to Add a Social Network to TypePad

1. Log in to your TypePad Dashboard and click 'Account.'

2. Click 'Other Accounts' in the sidebar.

3. Select a social networking site such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace from the drop-down menu and click 'Add.'

4. Sign in to the network when prompted if you're not already signed in, then click 'Allow' or 'Authorize.'

5. Click 'Save' to confirm, if prompted.

6. Click 'Edit' next to any social network in your list to view settings. Click the checkboxes to turn sharing on or off and hide or display your social networks in your TypePad profile.

7. Click 'Other Accounts' in the 'Modules' section, then click 'Add This Module.'

8. Click a button to select a layout in the pop-up window, then click 'OK.' Your social networking accounts are now added to the sidebar. Click, hold and drag any module to move it to another position on the page layout.

How to Change an AdSense Account

1. Change the email address or login associated with your AdSense account by logging into the AdSense account. Click 'My Account.' If you see a link that reads 'Edit in Google Accounts,' you may change your login information. If you are using a Gmail address, you are unable to change this.

2. Make changes to your payee name in the event of a misspelling or a name change. Under 'My Account,' navigate to the 'Payee Information' section. Click on 'Edit Payee name.' Click the button to accept the terms and conditions and enter a new payee name. From here, you may also change your address, if necessary. Click 'Save.'

3. Pick a new country as your home location by signing in to your AdSense account. Click on 'Try the New AdSense Interface,' located in the top corner of the screen. Click the 'Home' tab and select 'Account Settings.' Navigate to 'Account Information,' and click 'Change Country.' Use the drop-down menu to choose a new country.

4. Enter a new password from your account by clicking the 'Login Information [Edit]' link. Input your current password and type a new one. Click 'Save Settings.'

5. Change your preferred language by logging into your account, clicking 'My Account' and selecting 'Language and Contact Preferences [Edit].' Click on the 'Display Language' drop-down menu to choose your preferred language. Click 'Save Settings.'From the 'Language and Contract Preferences [Edit]' page, you can also change what types of email AdSense sends you.

How to Insert an Ad into Every WordPress Post

Manual Method

1. Access your advertisement management system and retrieve the HTML or JavaScript code to display your ad. For example, if you use Google Adsense, log in to Adsense to retrieve the ad. Copy the ad code to your clipboard.

2. Paste the ad code into a Notepad file. Save the file to your desktop. Name it 'Ad.php.' Make sure you save the file format as 'All Files' instead of the default 'TXT' format.

3. Access your website's file manager. The process depends on which Web host you use. Most Web hosts have browser-based file managers you can access from your account. Click on the 'WP-Content' folder on your server. Click on 'Themes.'

4. Click on the WordPress theme you are currently using. Upload the 'Ad.php' file to the directory using the on-screen tools. Save the changes.

5. Log in to your WordPress administration page. Click on 'Edit' beneath 'Appearance' to bring up the theme editor. You'll see the list of template files on the right. You should see the 'Ad.php' file.

6. Click on the 'Single.php' template file. This is the page template used for WordPress posts.

7. Type the following code where you want your ad to appear in the post template:

8. Click 'Update.' Visit your site to make sure the ad shows up.

Plug-in Method

9. Log in to your WordPress administration page. Click on 'Add New' beneath 'Plug-ins.'

10. Search for 'Smart Ads.' Click 'Install' and then click 'OK.'

11. Click 'Smart Ads' under the 'Settings' bar.

12. Paste your advertisement code into one of the ad boxes. You can use the 'Top of Content' or 'Beneath Content' box. You can also insert the code into the 'Custom' box. When adding the code to the custom box, type '[smartads]' inside the post editor where you want the ad to appear. Click 'Save.'

How to Make Money Online with NING

1. JOIN NING TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE. Register for your free Ning account at Ning.com (see Resources for direct link).

2. CREATE YOUR NING NETWORK. Starting a network to make money online with Ning is super easy. Simply follow their easy instructions to create a network with a unique name and url. Ning provides templates and easy modification tools so you won't have to know any coding to get your network up, running, and ready to make money online.

3. FRIENDS HELP MAKE MONEY ONLINE. No matter how you choose to monetize your Ning network to make money online, you won't actually make any unless you have friends in your Ning network. Invite your existing friends to join your Ning network. Make more friends by joining other Ning networks, or including a link to your Ning account in your signature for other forums. Also, submit your Ning url to search engines, like Google, so searchers can find you and join.

4. PLAN TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE WITH ADSENSE. There are many ways to monetize your Ning network. Ning allows network managers (you) to pay for exclusive control and rights to Adsense advertising. This may be a way to generate lots of profit, but it's best to hold off on paying for these controls until you have built a robust network of friends who will help support the costs. Also, controlling your Adsense element on Ning might be better left until you have mastered advertising through an affiliate program (next step).

5. MAKE MONEY ONLINE AS AN AFFILIATE. One great way to turn your Ning network into a source of income is to become an affiliate for Amazon. Join the Amazon affiliate program (see Resources below for direct link), and choose topical, relevant products to promote. For instance, if your Ning Network is about parenting, choose to promote Amazon products that parents are likely to be interested in. Whenever a member clicks on one of your affiliate links to purchase a product, you'll receive earnings from Amazon. Look also to Ebay for affiliate opportunities.