Is a Competitor Clicking Your Ads? How to Check the Hunch

Clicks keep coming and the phone stays quiet, so you start wondering about the rival down the road. The suspicion isn't silly: Google names competitors who click to raise your spend as an example of invalid traffic. But a loose keyword or a broken page can produce the same symptoms.

So rule out your own settings, then run the 30-minute check below. If a pattern survives, report it to Google with evidence. Only then spend on anything else.

What Google counts as invalid

Google's definition is wide: clicks that don't represent genuine interest in your business. Its examples include accidental clicks from poor ad placement, bots and automated software, and real people clicking with no interest, competitors included. Whatever its filters catch before the billing cycle closes comes out of your reports and your bill, and the cost returns to your campaign budget. Anything found after invoicing gets a credit "where appropriate and possible".

Where to see it in Google Ads

Go to Campaigns and click the Columns icon above the table. Search for Invalid clicks and apply it, then do the same for Invalid click rate. This is traffic Google already filtered and didn't charge you for, so a higher number means the filter caught more. It won't show what got past the filter.

Credits sit elsewhere: under Billing, then Summary, look in the Adjustments drop-down on the Month card for a line labelled Invalid activity.

Rule out the likelier causes first

Google's FAQ says a spike or a fast-spending budget doesn't always mean invalid traffic. Seasonal demand and your own edits can do it. So can a rival pausing ads, because yours then show more. Open Change history first, then check these:

• Searches. Broad match, the default, can show your ad on related searches. The search terms report shows what people typed; the negative keywords piece covers the fix.
• Location. The default option also reaches people merely interested in your area. See Matched locations in the Locations report, and the location targeting piece.
• Other inventory. Search partners are on by default. Segment by Network (with search partners) to compare them with Google Search and Display; for Performance Max, use the channel performance report.
• Accidental taps. If the Device segment puts the jump on phones, and on app or Display placements, suspect thumbs before rivals. On Meta, the placements article covers Audience Network.
• Phones and pages. A tap on your number is charged like a website click but won't show as a site visit; the Click type segment separates these. A click also counts if your site is temporarily down. Test the landing page on a phone and check calls were answered.

The 30-minute check

1. Pick the days you're worried about and the same number of days before them, all inside the last 60. Note clicks, impressions, cost and conversions for each.
2. Segment both periods by Device, then Network, then Hour of day. Compare the Locations report, then sort search terms by cost.
3. Pull analytics or server logs for the same dates, plus your enquiry sheet and call log (Google's call reporting omits the caller's number in India).

You're looking for a jump your own changes can't explain, concentrated somewhere odd: clicks up while impressions stay flat, on one keyword or device, at the same late-night hours, with no extra calls.

Say a hypothetical travel desk's usual 20 clicks a day (₹800) jump to about 50 a day (₹2,000) for five days, with impressions and enquiries flat. That's worth sending to Google.

A zero-second visit or a repeated address isn't proof alone. Google says many analytics tools need a second click to time a visit, and one public address can cover hundreds or thousands of devices. Analytics can also record clicks Google already filtered.

Report it to Google with evidence

If the pattern survives, request an investigation through the Click Quality Form. Google limits these to the past 60 days, so don't sit on it. Gather this first:

• Your 10-digit customer ID, exact dates, campaign and ad group names, and the keywords involved.
• Web server logs showing IP addresses, device details and GCLIDs (Google's click identifiers).
• For junk leads, a spreadsheet of GCLIDs with the result of calling or emailing each one.
• A short note on why it looks wrong, such as a spike in clicks with no more conversions.

Check now that auto-tagging is on, because that's how GCLIDs reach your site, and ask your host whether you can get raw logs. Google says a review typically takes several business days, with findings by email and notice of any credits.

Meta says much less

Meta has a short help page on invalid clicks. It covers clicks from people with no genuine interest in the ad, repetitive or accidental ones included, and clicks from fake accounts or bots. Competitors aren't named. If Meta detects or is alerted to suspicious activity, it says a manual review follows, and you won't be charged for clicks it finds invalid.

Its Self-Serve Ad Terms are colder: Meta's systems attempt to detect and filter certain click activity, but Meta is "not responsible for click fraud" or other potentially invalid clicks that may affect your costs.

The nearest thing to Google's column is comparing Gross impressions with Impressions, which shows how often ads were on screen for invalid or non-human traffic. Meta says it doesn't charge for invalid traffic, though this comparison counts impressions, not clicks. We couldn't find a Meta form, evidence list, deadline or credit process for clicks.

Some checks still help in Ads Manager:

• See how you're charged. Meta says that's usually on impressions unless you chose otherwise, so an extra click on those ads shouldn't add a charge by itself.
• Read Link clicks, because Clicks (all) also counts reactions and profile taps. Compare them with Website landing page views: Meta says the gap shows how often people may have left before your site loaded.
• Break results down by placement and device, then time of day.

For billing questions, Meta points to Contact support in Business Support Home, so raise it there with what you'd send Google.

IP exclusions are a narrow tool

An exclusion blocks a campaign's ads from the computers and networks on that address. You can add up to 500 per campaign, under Settings, then Additional settings. Google says this isn't available for video, hotel, App, Performance Max or Smart Display campaigns, though a separate account-level list does reach Performance Max.

Google's example is your office network. Against a rival it's weak. You usually won't know which address is theirs, and addresses on mobile networks are commonly shared and change, so you may block real customers. Google says some internet providers rotate addresses constantly and it can't guarantee no clicks from an excluded address.

Click protection tools: not by default

Paid click fraud tools generally watch visits to your site for patterns such as repeat addresses, and often add them to your exclusions. Don't buy one by default. Google says these tools often flag traffic it has already filtered and not billed, and that it can't evaluate their reports. Any tool built on IP exclusions inherits those weaknesses.

Try one only when your settings are clean, the pattern has come back, Google's review hasn't settled it, and the money at risk clearly exceeds the fee. Judge it on cost per answered call, not the tool's count of blocked clicks.

Don't test by clicking

Don't click your own ads to see what happens, and never click a rival's. Google lists manual clicks that raise an advertiser's costs as invalid, so retaliation is the behaviour you're complaining about. Your own clicks just pollute your numbers, and Meta's page lists clicks showing signs of ad testing as invalid.

To check your ad, use Ad preview and diagnosis, under Tools, then Troubleshooting. Google says it avoids the impressions a manual search adds, and warns that if you keep searching for your ad without clicking, you may stop seeing it. So an ad missing from your phone proves nothing.

FAQ

Can Google tell me if a competitor is behind the clicks?

Don't expect it. Google keeps specific invalid traffic sources confidential and won't confirm individual clicks, so you get findings and any credits, no name. Don't accuse a named business on the strength of a log.

What is a normal invalid click rate?

Google says there is no industry standard. Watch your own trend.

The check found nothing. Why are there still no enquiries?

Then the clicks are probably real and the gap sits after the click, in the offer or in how fast someone responds. The fix-the-offer article is the next read.