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Fake clicks from bing ads?

by foreverstray
11 replies
  • PPC/SEM
    • |
I checked on google analytics and apparently I had been receiving clicks from bing/yahoo and their average time on my site about 15 seconds from yahoo/organic search and 0 on Bing.

What the heck is going on? Bing in particular gave me 5 clicks from their search and their combined time on my site was an big fat 0 seconds. How is this even possible? What is going on here?

Has anyone ever experienced something like this?
#ads #bing #clicks #fake
  • Profile picture of the author foreverstray
    I looked around and apparently bing admit they use bots that do click links but they do not charge for them. Hmm. That could be what has been recorded. The numbers don't add up though as I have been charged for quite a few clicks.

    I am pretty confused right now. I think I might just let it run a bit longer and investigate this some more. I am currently still using the coupon money so I have nothing to lose. If it gets to the point where I straight up don't trust bing I think I will try to move to adwords.
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    • Profile picture of the author foreverstray
      This surely cannot be right? I got 15 clicks on my ads, and the exact number are represented in my analytics. With almost no time spent on the page.



      No wonder I have had 0 conversions so far. I have actually spent a further £7 on clicks today before I found this.

      Anybody experience this before?
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      • Profile picture of the author foreverstray
        Could just be their bot traffic messing up my stats. Which is why I can't see legitimate clicks. Maybe its a innocent misunderstanding.

        We'll find out soon enough I think.
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        • Profile picture of the author foreverstray
          Another 18 clicks (that I paid for from bing ads) I had just gotten today for a new page I just created today, are all recorded as spending no time on the page. So so weird.

          Sorry for the multiple posts, should have just put it all in one post but I am all over the place trying to uncover this whole thing layer by layer.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cash37
    Send it to Bing and ask for a refund.
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    • Profile picture of the author foreverstray
      Originally Posted by Cash37 View Post

      Send it to Bing and ask for a refund.

      Thanks I will try to do that. Have you had experience of this or even heard of this happening before?
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      • Profile picture of the author dburk
        Hi foreverstray,

        I think you may misunderstand how Session Duration tracking works in Google Analytics.

        If a user visits your landing page, reads the page for 10 minutes, and then leaves your website the total session duration will typically be zero. That is because there are no other page hits to calculate the the total session duration. A visitor must visit multiple pages, or trigger user engagement hits on your page to measure a session duration beyond zero

        Here's a link that explains how session duration is measured:
        https://support.google.com/analytics.../1006253?hl=en

        If you do not have event tracking enabled, and have no engagement events setup for the landing page, then all of your bounce visits will be recorded as zero session duration, no matter how long they spend on the landing page.

        While the amount of data in your report isn't enough to make any valid conclusions, I would say there doesn't seem to be a problem with Bing, but your data points to a problem with your landing page, and/or your targeting. Having an average of 92% bounce rate is an indication of low user engagement, it could be for many reasons, I would look for the reason you are having low engagement rates.

        If you have a landing page that doesn't prompt users to visit other pages of your website then consider adding in-page engagement events to get a better idea of the real session duration average. You could add scroll depth events, videos, and other engagement widgets, that show you much more information about user behavior and ore accurate session duration data.
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        * Get Results - Outsource Your PPC Management |
        *         Don Burk Advertising & Marketing - www.donburk.com

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        • Profile picture of the author foreverstray
          Originally Posted by dburk View Post

          Hi foreverstray,

          I think you may misunderstand how Session Duration tracking works in Google Analytics.

          If a user visits your landing page, reads the page for 10 minutes, and then leaves your website the total session duration will typically be zero. That is because there are no other page hits to calculate the the total session duration. A visitor must visit multiple pages, or trigger user engagement hits on your page to measure a session duration beyond zero

          Here's a link that explains how session duration is measured:
          https://support.google.com/analytics.../1006253?hl=en

          If you do not have event tracking enabled, and have no engagement events setup for the landing page, then all of your bounce visits will be recorded as zero session duration, no matter how long they spend on the landing page.

          While the amount of data in your report isn't enough to make any valid conclusions, I would say there doesn't seem to be a problem with Bing, but your data points to a problem with your landing page, and/or your targeting. Having an average of 92% bounce rate is an indication of low user engagement, it could be for many reasons, I would look for the reason you are having low engagement rates.

          If you have a landing page that doesn't prompt users to visit other pages of your website then consider adding in-page engagement events to get a better idea of the real session duration average. You could add scroll depth events, videos, and other engagement widgets, that show you much more information about user behavior and ore accurate session duration data.
          Well that changes everything.

          This landing page I am currently working with is the first one I have ever used with just a single page. Usually I build sites with multiple pages. That is probably where the confusion came from.

          I have actually told Bing I was worried about the session duration and they told me they will look into it just in case. If it turns out I was just mistaken will there be any kind of negative reaction towards me as a customer? Because I told them I would want a refund for invalid clicks. I hope they don't think I was just trying to scam them out of money if the clicks were actually legitimate.
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  • Profile picture of the author fasteasysuccess
    Yup...

    Years ago i questioned google and bing on this and they explained it was the old one page visit thing so quick 2 options...

    Simply add one more page, first being optin second offer or give away or...

    Throw other service like heatmap sources like crazy egg and that way not only can you catch time on site but also physically see where scrolled to and stopped on site before leaving,
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    • Profile picture of the author streamerguy
      Originally Posted by fasteasysuccess View Post

      Yup...

      Years ago i questioned google and bing on this and they explained it was the old one page visit thing so quick 2 options...

      Simply add one more page, first being optin second offer or give away or...

      Throw other service like heatmap sources like crazy egg and that way not only can you catch time on site but also physically see where scrolled to and stopped on site before leaving,
      Hope OP would try this and report back. Some people might confuse.
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  • Profile picture of the author CpvTrafficPro
    I have always had a high bounce rate for organic traffic. I prefer using paid methods. Me personally, I feel like you have more control. Just my 2c

    It could also be that your page takes to long to load? That might be worth looking into idk
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