Click Fraud and Invalid Clicks on Google Ads: What Google Refunds

What counts as an invalid click on Google Ads

Google's glossary defines invalid clicks as clicks on your ads that don't represent genuine interest in your business. Its invalid traffic help page lists the main types:

Google says its ad traffic quality team uses automated filters, machine learning and manual reviews, and usually detects this traffic as it happens or shortly after.

Does Google refund invalid clicks?

There are two routes, and neither needs you to ask:

• Filtered before billing. Invalid clicks, impressions and conversions found before the end of the billing month are removed from your campaign metrics and your bill. Google's page says no refund is needed because you were never charged.
• Credited after billing. Some patterns take longer to spot. When Google finds invalid traffic you were already billed for, it issues a credit on a later invoice "where appropriate and possible", labelled Invalid activity.

These two numbers are not directly related. A high count in the Invalid clicks column with a small credit is normal, because the column shows traffic filtered before billing, while credits only cover activity detected after the billing cycle closed.

Where to see invalid clicks and credits in your account

Check both places once a month, especially after a sudden spike in clicks.

1. 1

   Add the Invalid clicks column

   Go to Campaigns, click the Columns icon above the table, search for "Invalid clicks" and apply.

2. 2

   Compare the spike with your own data

   Look at the same dates in Google Analytics or your server logs: sessions, bounce, form submissions and calls.

3. 3

   Open Billing, then Summary

   In the Month card, open the Adjustments dropdown. Credits for past invalid traffic show as "Invalid activity".

4. 4

   Run the Invalid Activity Credit Report

   In Report Editor, this report shows adjusted clicks, cost and conversion rate, plus a Credited clicks column.

A rising Invalid clicks number is not bad news in itself. Google's help page reads it as its filters catching and removing more traffic from your bill.

IP exclusions: when they help and when they don't

If you can see that one office or one network keeps clicking (your own staff included), you can stop ads from showing to it. Google's IP exclusion help page says you can exclude up to 500 IP addresses per campaign, and use an asterisk in place of the last block to cover a range.

Account-level IP exclusions (Admin, Account settings, IP exclusions) now cover all campaigns, including Performance Max, according to the same page. Campaign-level exclusions are not available for Performance Max, video, hotel, App and Smart Display campaigns.

Two other settings cut a lot of unwanted clicks. Location targeting set to Presence shows ads only to people in or regularly in your target area, rather than anyone showing interest in it (Google's location targeting page). And a tight negative keyword list stops clicks from searches that were never going to buy; see our guide to negative keywords on a small budget.

How to ask Google to investigate click fraud

If you believe invalid clicks were not filtered, Google accepts investigation requests through the Click Quality Form for activity within the last 60 days. Specialists review the data manually, which Google says usually takes several business days, and you get the findings by email.

Set expectations: Google says the investigation won't confirm whether specific clicks were judged valid or invalid, because that would reveal how its detection works. If it finds more invalid traffic, it tells you about any credit.

Fake leads are a different problem from fake clicks

Many Singapore businesses notice the problem as junk enquiries rather than strange click numbers. Google's filters run after an ad is served and cannot stop a visitor from filling in your form, so lead quality is a shared job. Google's own advice on its invalid traffic page:

• Protect forms with reCAPTCHA and server-side validation, and consider a double opt-in email for sign-ups.
• Use lead-focused conversion goals (qualified lead, booked appointment, quote requested) instead of counting every form submission.
• Send first-party data back with the Google tag and enhanced conversions so bidding learns from real customers.

If bidding is optimising for raw form fills, junk forms teach it to find more junk. Our guide to conversion tracking and enhanced conversions covers sending only real leads back to Google Ads.

Do it yourself or get help?

You can do most of this in an afternoon: add the Invalid clicks column, check the Billing adjustments, set location targeting to Presence, exclude your office IP and review the search terms report. If clicks still look wrong, collect the logs and file the Click Quality Form yourself.

If you'd like a second opinion, our Ad Account Audit (S$290) reviews up to two ad accounts: tracking, structure, budgets and the search terms and placements that cost money without results, with a prioritised fix list and a recorded walkthrough. It does not include making the changes. If you are deciding whether to hand the account over entirely, read how to choose Google Ads management in Singapore.