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Click Fraud & Invalid Traffic Estimator

A meaningful slice of every paid budget goes to clicks that were never real customers. Estimate what invalid and fraudulent traffic is likely costing you each month, and see exactly how to defend against it.

By the Digital Success paid-media team · Updated September 2026 · Free, results in seconds

The short version: studies put invalid or fraudulent clicks at roughly one in seven paid-search clicks, higher in expensive, competitive verticals. This estimator applies industry-based invalid-traffic rates to your spend and CPC to size the likely monthly and yearly cost, and gives you a protection checklist to claw it back. It is an estimate to size the risk, not a measurement of your exact accounts.
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Estimate what invalid clicks are costing you

Enter your paid spend and CPC and pick your industry. We apply a research-based invalid-traffic rate to size the likely cost. It is an estimate, not a measurement of your specific accounts.

What you get

A clear-eyed estimate of what you are probably losing to clicks that were never going to buy, bots, click farms, competitors draining your budget, and accidental taps, sized to your own spend and CPC and to how bad the problem tends to be in your industry. You will see the likely wasted dollars per month and per year, how many of your clicks are suspect, and, most usefully, a concrete checklist to start cutting it down. It is the fraud story turned into a number you can act on and, frankly, a number worth screenshotting for whoever holds the budget.

How it works

  1. Enter your monthly paid spend and average CPC.
  2. Pick your industry to set a realistic invalid-traffic rate, or enter your own.
  3. See your estimated wasted clicks and dollars, monthly and annualized.
  4. Open the protection checklist and start closing the gaps.

Why this matters more in expensive verticals

Invalid traffic is a percentage game, so the more you pay per click, the more each bad click hurts. In competitive, high-CPC verticals, legal, home services, finance, a single fraudulent or competitor click can cost many dollars, and the rate of bad clicks tends to run higher precisely because there is more money to skim and more incentive for rivals to click. Google filters and refunds some of it automatically, but its detection is deliberately conservative, so a real slice still gets charged to you. The good news is that most of the exposure is addressable with settings and monitoring you control, which is exactly what the checklist here walks through.

Frequently asked questions

What is click fraud and invalid traffic?
Any click that is not a genuine potential customer: bots, click farms, accidental clicks, and competitors clicking to drain your budget. Google filters and refunds some, but a meaningful share still gets charged.
How much is really lost to it?
Studies commonly estimate around 14% of paid-search clicks are invalid, and more in expensive, competitive verticals. This tool applies an industry-based rate to your numbers to size the likely cost.
Is this an exact measurement?
No, it is a grounded estimate to show the scale of the risk. Measuring your true rate takes click-level monitoring on your live accounts, part of a fraud-protection setup.
How do I protect my account?
Exclude Search Partners and Display where unproven, add IP exclusions, tighten geo-targeting, watch for click spikes, use Google's invalid-traffic protections, and add third-party detection on high-spend accounts. The gated checklist details each step.
Will Google refund fraudulent clicks?
It credits some automatically, but conservatively, so a portion still gets charged. Independent monitoring catches more and gives you evidence to dispute it.
Is it free?
Yes, free with no login, calculated in your browser. Share your details once to open the full breakdown and protection checklist.

Further reading from Digital Success

Think fraud is eating your budget?

We set up the exclusions, monitoring and protection that keep invalid traffic off your accounts, and refund what Google will. Digital Success manages paid media for US businesses with fraud protection built in. Talk to a specialist.

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