Networks reverse revenue attributed to traffic they judge non-human or non-genuine. Most publishers hit it accidentally through bots, a bad traffic source, or their own clicks, and the fix is knowing where your traffic comes from.

What is being detected

Traffic that did not represent a person who might buy something.

Two broad categories. The first is straightforwardly automated: crawlers, scrapers, monitoring services, and bots of varying sophistication.

The second is human and non-genuine: clicks that were incentivised, accidental, encouraged, or made by the publisher.

Detection runs after the fact, which is why the deduction arrives weeks later rather than the traffic simply not counting at the time.

Advertisers are refunded, and the publisher's earnings are reversed. From the network's side it is a correction rather than a penalty, which is why the explanation is usually thin.

How ordinary publishers hit it

Almost never deliberately.

Your own visits

Loading your own pages repeatedly while working on them, and occasionally clicking an ad to see where it goes. That last one is the clearest possible violation and publishers do it without thinking.

Bots you did not notice

Scrapers, uptime monitors, preview generators and security scanners all load pages. Most are filtered and some are not.

A sudden traffic increase with no corresponding change in engagement is the pattern to look for.

A traffic source that turned out to be poor

Paid traffic, exchange arrangements, or a partner sending visitors. If the source is not genuine, the network attributes that to you regardless of your intent.

Ad placement that produces accidents

An ad adjacent to a button, or one that shifts into place as the page settles, generates clicks nobody meant. High click rates with no conversions are how that surfaces.

Asking people to click

Including anything that reads as encouragement. Supporting the site by clicking ads is a violation however it is phrased.

What it costs beyond the deduction

Worth understanding, because the money is the smaller problem.

Repeated findings affect the network's assessment of your inventory, which affects what buyers pay for it.

Sustained or serious cases lead to suspension, and a suspended publisher account is difficult to reinstate and sometimes permanent.

Which means a single deduction is a signal to investigate rather than an amount to absorb.

Reducing the exposure

  1. Never click your own ads, for any reason.
  2. Exclude your own traffic from the site, by address where possible.
  3. Know where your traffic comes from, and be able to explain any spike.
  4. Do not buy traffic, which is the fastest route to a problem.
  5. Keep placements away from controls, and reserve their space so nothing shifts.
  6. Never encourage clicks, in any wording.

The third is the substantive one. A publisher who can account for their traffic sources is in a position to spot a problem early; one who cannot is waiting to be told.

When a spike appears

The response worth having ready, since a sudden increase is as likely to be a problem as an opportunity.

Check where it came from and whether the engagement matches. Real visitors read something; automated ones bounce immediately and in unnatural patterns.

Check the geography against your usual audience, since a spike from a region you have no content for is a signal.

If the traffic looks non-genuine, most networks provide a way to report it proactively, and doing so is treated considerably better than waiting for detection.

That last point is under-used. A publisher who reports a suspicious spike themselves is demonstrating the opposite of intent.

If you receive a deduction

Do not assume it was a mistake and do not ignore it.

Look at the period it covers and what was happening then: a campaign, a new traffic source, a placement change, a spike.

Fix what you find, document what you changed, and keep the record. If a second finding follows, being able to show you investigated the first matters.

Appeals exist and succeed occasionally, generally where the publisher can demonstrate a specific external cause rather than assert that the traffic was fine.

The underlying discipline is knowing your traffic sources well enough to notice when they change, which is covered in traffic seasonality: planning around patterns you cannot control.

Frequently asked questions

What is being detected?

Traffic that did not represent a person who might buy: automated visits, and human clicks that were incentivised, accidental, encouraged or made by the publisher.

Why does the deduction arrive late?

Detection runs after the fact, so earnings appear first and are reversed weeks later once advertisers are refunded.

How do ordinary publishers hit it?

Their own visits and clicks, unnoticed bots, a poor traffic source, placements adjacent to controls that produce accidental clicks, or encouraging clicks in any wording.

What does it cost beyond the money?

Repeated findings affect how buyers value your inventory, and sustained cases lead to suspension, which is difficult to reverse.

What should I do about a traffic spike?

Check the source, whether engagement matches, and the geography. If it looks non-genuine, report it proactively, which is treated far better than waiting for detection.

What if I receive a deduction?

Look at what changed in that period, fix it, and document it. A second finding is judged partly on whether you investigated the first.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Revenue adjusted downward with no explanation?

We look at what changed in that period, which is usually a traffic source or a placement rather than anything deliberate.

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