Click fraud glossary

Click fraud glossary

Terms you will see in search and in the panel. Shield does not replace Google refunds; definitions are informational.

Click fraud

Clicks with no purchase intent: bots, click farms, rivals or deceptive software. They burn CPC and pollute conversion data.

Invalid click

Google’s term for non-genuine clicks, including fraud, accidents and duplicates. Detected ones are credited on the bill.

GIVT

General Invalid Traffic — known bots, empty UAs, obvious datacenters. Filters catch this more easily.

SIVT

Sophisticated Invalid Traffic — residential IPs, slow automation, human mimicry. Third-party scoring targets this gap.

IP exclusion

Stopping listed IPs from seeing or clicking your Google Ads. There is a per-campaign cap; the list must be managed.

VPN / proxy click

Traffic that hides location or a prior block via an exit IP. It can look “local” while sitting outside the target country.

Datacenter IP

Cloud or hosting ranges. Most automation originates here. Not a residential ISP.

Click farm

Cheap, dense, non-converting click clusters, often piled on one campaign or keyword.

Competitor clicks

A rival clicking your ads on purpose to drain budget. Residential IPs often do not look like bots.

Risk score

Shield’s combined number from IP, device, behaviour and repeats. You set the threshold.

gclid

Google Click Identifier — maps an Ads click to the on-site session.

Invalid-click credit

The negative line Google posts for activity it classified as invalid. Shield does not replace that credit.

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