As awareness around the threat of click fraud has gained traction, we’ve seen more and more vendors offering protection. And, with marketers increasingly aware that they’re losing both money and customers without blocking click fraud, it’s becoming ever more important to choose a good protection package.
The problem is, these days it’s not that simple. A quick search for click fraud software highlights the problem, with around six paid results on the SERPs, not to mention the organic results.
If you’re looking at industry leaders ClickCease, the increasingly popular PPC Protect, new arrivals Cheq for PPC and upstarts ClickGuard, this article should help you cut through the noise.
ClickCease vs PPC Protect vs ClickGuard
Blocking click fraud normally comes down to one of the three big options. It can be hard choosing based on their own information as they obviously push their credentials over the others.
So what do each of these software providers offer, and which one is best?
We’ll take an objective view of the offers available.
ClickCease
The original click fraud prevention software and the industry leader, ClickCease is often seen as the benchmark for fraud blocking vendors.
Interesting stat; ClickCease protects nearly five times as many advertisers as the next three competitors combined!
Does this mean that ClickCease is right for you?
Like all of the providers on this list, they use AI to analyse click traffic on your PPC ads in real time. ClickCease then blocks based on their own blacklists and analysis of fraudulent behaviour. This might be in the form of bots, competitors clicking your ads or suspicious sources such as VPNs or custom browsers.
What makes them unique is their use of device fingerprinting, which helps them to spot if a single device is acting suspiciously. Google’s in-house fraud prevention is based on filtering IP addresses which can easily be changed by bots and VPNs – meaning a single device can change its appearance to Google Adwords.
Another nice unique touch for ClickCease is their use of screen recordings of site visitors. Allowing you to take a look and see touches and scrolling on your landing pages to see if anything looks fishy.
And, two extra USPs: ClickCease also comes bundled with AdSpy which can help you track competitors bidding on your ad keywords; And, Facebook Ads protection is now available through ClickCease which includes Instagram, Messenger and the Audience Network.
Add in real-time blocking, plenty of customisation features, a recommended filter based on your industry and a nice easy to understand dashboard – it’s easy to see why ClickCease is the most trusted option.
Like all of the best click fraud protection software, there is also a free trial available to run an audit and see if they’re right for you.
Pricing
Packages start from $50 a month for ClickCease’s standard package, which is ideal for anyone with up to 5,000 ad clicks a month.
For those operating multiple campaigns, or clients, such as marketing agencies or large companies, the pro level account is $75. Over 10,000 clicks a month, you’ll need to contact them for a price.
ClickCease USP
- Device fingerprinting
- Video playback of site visitors
- AdSpy competitor keyword tracking
- Recommended fraud filter settings by industry
- Also blocks Facebook Ads (including Instagram) and Bing Ads
- Simple pricing and a free trial too
PPC Protect
The second biggest player in click fraud prevention is PPC Protect. This UK based company have quickly established themselves as a user-friendly option, with their relatively simple to use package.
Like ClickCease, they provide real time blocking based on an ever growing blacklist and machine analysis of fraudulent activity. Technically, there are a lot of similarities, with both offering custom settings to block fraud and an intuitive dashboard. PPC Protect lacks ClickCease’s video playback of site visits, but they do have an easy to use analytics dashboard and some nifty insights such as most targeted keywords.
The thing that separates PPC Protect from ClickCease, apart from the relatively simplified functionality, is the pricing and the free trial.
With a 14 day free trial, PPC Protect are hoping to tempt marketers with a longer free package.
Their pricing too is much simpler. Just one level of protection at $70, for any ad budgets up to $10,000. Beyond this, you’ll need to discuss your requirements with their sales team.
Pricing
$70 per month up to $10,000 ad spend. Or, speak to them for more details.
PPC Protect USP
- Real time invalid traffic and click fraud blocking using AI
- 14 day free trial is very tempting
- Simple pricing at $70 per month
- Easy to install and get up and running
ClickGuard
The upstarts on the block, ClickGuard are a relatively new addition to the click fraud prevention line-up. So what do they bring to the party?
Like our previous two fraud blockers, ClickGuard provides real time fraud blocking using AI. Their USP is that they offer extensive customisation, allowing business owners and marketers to really tweak their fraud blocking settings.
ClickGuard also features a list on their site which compares them to their rivals mentioned above, which seems to mis-sell their advantages.
They claim that they are the only click fraud provider to block fraudulent Google Display Network placements, to offer both oAuth and MCC account access, to offer customisation options to block devices and levels of fraud, changes to rules at ad group and campaign level and to offer real time blocking.
A look at both ClickCease and PPC Protect basically singles these claims out as both incorrect and misleading, which is a bit of a red flag.
ClickCease does offer GDN blocking, as well as YouTube, Facebook and Bing, and both PPC Protect and ClickCease allow customisation to their settings, although ClickGuard is a little more in-depth.
So, what is ClickGuard’s USP?
Their customisation is indeed quite in-depth, which may be useful for expert marketers. And they do also offer a more broad range of pricing for different businesses, including a package starting at $15 a month.
ClickGuard does also offer a click forensics tool, which is also similar to what PPC Protect and ClickCease offer.
Compared to their rivals, there isn’t much to set them apart from the pack apart from the pricing.
Pricing
For $15 a month, you can use their Audit Guard which is basically an analysis tool to look at fraud on your site. Prices for protection start at $47 per month, up to $79 per month for the more hands on packages.
ClickGuard USP
- Extensive custom settings for fraud blocking and ad campaigns
- Pricing structure is more flexible
- Click forensics tool can be very useful
Which is the Best Click Fraud Software?
Choosing the best software to prevent click fraud does mean choosing between one of these three. It’s easy to see why ClickCease have become the industry leaders, with several unique features over their rivals including video playback of site visits and Facebook Ad protection.
If price is an issue, then ClickGuard offer the entry level option at $15. Their fully featured packages also undercut their rivals by $3.
From an independent perspective, it’s a choice between ClickCease as market leaders, or PPC Protect as the second best option. If you believe