We already know about phishing links, malware, and scams hidden in text messages and emails. But how about the ad links on your Google search’s top? Have you ever heard about fake Google ads? Many of our clients have discovered some sponsored links that appear to direct users to their website but then redirect to a fraud one.
This article will walk you through everything you should know about these fake links, including their impacts on brands and ways to shield your business from those fraudulence.
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What Are Fake Ads On Google?
Fake ads on Google are ads created by fraudsters who pretend to be legitimate businesses to deceive online consumers. These ads are against Google’s policies but are challenging to identify and stop without reports.
Using Google’s ad creation system, scammers quickly create and publish fake ads, which then appear at the top of relevant search results. These ads closely resemble legitimate business ads, making it easy for consumers and Google to mistake them.
When a consumer clicks on a fake ad, they are often redirected to a phishing website. These websites are used by scammers for various fraudulent activities, such as selling counterfeit products or stealing confidential information from unsuspecting consumers.
5 Types Of Fake Google Ads
These are the 5 most popular types of scam ads on Google that advertisers and users should be aware of:
Counterfeit products
Counterfeit products are a type of fake Google that is to lure consumers to websites selling imitation goods. While scammers may not impersonate an entire brand, they still infringe on the brand’s identity and deceive consumers.
Counterfeit goods are often of lower quality than the genuine items, as they are made with cheaper materials. This not only reflects poorly on the authentic brand but also results in financial loss and disappointment for unsuspecting consumers.
In worse cases, users may get angry, turn back to your brand, and mistakenly report it with Google for false advertising. And, as you know, false advertising is one of the reasons why your Google ads account gets suspended.
Scraped content
Scraped content is where fraudsters use a deceptive technique to trick Google. They conceal scraped, but readable, content, like articles or tutorials, underneath an iframe displaying explicit material.
This fake page, filled with Google Ads, continuously refreshes its content, cycling through new articles hidden behind the explicit overlay, all without the user’s awareness. These scams often involve full blogs with various topics and feature articles maliciously scraped from other websites.
Stolen ad impressions and clicks
Stolen ad impressions and clicks are a producty by malicious actors. These fraudsters use sophisticated coding techniques to evade detection.
They create fraudulent iframes pointing to legitimate adult content sites, importing adult content while hiding behind articles, tutorials, and guides stolen from live websites.
These fake pages continuously refresh with new content and ads and generate multiple fraudulent ad impressions if left open. The invisible pop-under nature of the page makes it elusive to users, who may unknowingly trigger real clicks on Google Ads embedded within the fake news page.
Additionally, users may encounter clickjacking, where clicking anywhere on the page inadvertently triggers a real click on a Google Ad instead of accessing intended content.
Brand impersonation
This type of fake Google ad is where scammers pretend to be existing brands to deceive consumers – a trick that has a heavy bearing on a brand’s reputation and revenues.
They steal product photos and other intellectual property from the brand to make their advertisement appear legitimate. When consumers search for the brand online, they may encounter these fake Google ads, leading to potential scams.
Phishing scams
Phishing scams target unsuspecting consumers, particularly in the cryptocurrency industry. These scams involve fraudulent ads promoting digital crypto wallets, often impersonating well-known brands, like MetaMask or Phantom.
Scammers use domain spoofing to create websites with similar URLs to the legitimate brands, tricking consumers into believing they are interacting with the real company.
When consumers provide their confidential financial and login information to these fraudulent websites, it is stolen by the scammers. This is an escalating problem in the cryptocurrency industry, with reports of consumers losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to these Google ads scams.
How Do Fraudsters Affect Your Google Advertising?
Fraudsters do have an adverse bearing on brands who are running ads on Google, either their reputation or costs on their ad strategies, like PPC Google ads, or Google SEO.
When potential customers encounter fraudulent sponsored ads while searching for your brand, they may mistakenly engage with them and become victims of scams. Consequently, they lose trust in your brand, bringing about a decline in customer loyalty and brand reputation damage.
Also, fraudsters bidding on keywords relevant to your brand drive up customer acquisition costs. As a result, the return on investment for digital marketing efforts diminishes, making advertising less effective.
What’s more, consumers lose trust in the ads they see due to the prevalence of fraudulent activity, resulting in decreased click-through rates.
When consumers click on fake ads, they are directed to scam websites, leading to lost opportunities for engagement with potential prospects.
How Do Brands Prevent Fake Google Ads?
To mitigate the dangerous rise of scam Google ads, businesses need to prove with Google they’re the real ones and report the frauds to take them down. What’s else? Below are the essential steps you should do to prevent the negative impacts of fraudsters in the future.
Register your trademark with Google
Registering your trademark with Google is a crucial step for brands to prevent fake Google ads. This way, you obtain the ability to report ads that abuse your brand.
Once you establish a clear ownership of your brand’s trademark, you can protect it from misuse in Google ads. This ensures that Google takes appropriate action against fraudulent advertisements using your brand’s identity.
To register your trademark with Google, visit https://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_tmauth and follow the instructions provided. We want to labor the point that it’s a proactive measure that helps safeguard your brand’s reputation and integrity in the online marketplace.
Report fraudulent ads on Google
Once you identify fraud ads related to your brand or products, report them promply to deter them from causing harms. You can search your brand name or product name on Google regularly to detect any ads that are not yours. These ads could be from scammers or competitors.
If you come across a fraudulent ad, collect its “clickstring” and report it using Google’s ad/listing reporting form. You can access this form at https://support.google.com/ads/troubleshooter/4578507?sjid=14272532859836924271-NA.
Google provides separate forms for different types of complaints:
- For trademark complaints, use this link: https://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_tmcomplaint.
- For reporting counterfeit goods, use this link: https://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_counterfeit.
- For copyright violations, use this link: https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905.
Give customers a clear idea of your brand image & policies
Don’t forget to communicate openly and usually with your customers. Through constant social media posts or warning messages, you can educate them about the risks associated with fake Google ads and how to identify legitimate ads from the brand.
To be specific, businesses need to ensure that customers have a clear idea of what their brand represents and how to recognize authentic advertisements. Also, inform customers about the steps they can take to report any fraudulent ads they encounter.
Work with an ad fraud detection company
Working with an ad fraud detection company helps make it easier to elimitate fake Google ads. These companies specialize in detecting automated bots and fraudulent activities within ad campaigns, providing brands with accurate insights and protection.
Given the complexity of mobile ad fraud, a reputable ad fraud detection company ensures a high level of expertise and specialization in detecting fraudulent activities. They help you monitor key metrics and user behavior to ensure the quality of traffic and ad placements, combat malware, and safeguard the brand’s inventory.
Some reputable ad fraud detection names are Pixalate, Clean.io, Fraud Blocker, and Performcb.
These companies help gain valuable insights and protection against fraudulent activities, guaranteeing the sustainable health and success of their advertising campaigns.
Bottom Line
Imagine when you’re buying from a company. You choose them only when you feel that you can engage with them confidently and securely, right? Knowing different types of fake Google ads and the critical steps to protecting your brand from them help you maintain trust with your customers and safeguard your brand’s reputation.
Your brand is more than a product; it’s a promise. If you’re facing difficulties in keeping that promise, contact SpeedX agency. We can give you helpful advice on creating a secure and trustworthy environment for your consumers.