Competitor using up my ad spend

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pmike6068

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Hi all - Ive been in a niche in our country for a while and a competitor has recently stepped up their spend while we have seen our clicks and spend go up while our conversion rate has crashed. There is no proof they are clicking our ads, however they have a reputation in our industry for less than reputable tactics.

So, what are my options? I figure fight fire with fire as there isnt much else we can do. What services should I look for the chew up their spend? Is there any SEO tactics we can employ that may damage their reputation?

Sorry for the negative post, however this is really damaging to our business.
 
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Happened to me twice already.

I’m not affiliated with them, but I grab ClickCease or PPC Protect the same day (free trial) and switch on aggressive mode.

I pull the search terms, filter 0 conv + high cost and negative every variation they’re abusing.

I export the IPs from ClickCease and any IP with 5+ clicks and no sales goes straight into Google exclusions.

Then I slash bids 40–60% on the poisoned keywords for about a week so the attack becomes pointless.

I move that budget into branded exact + RLSA which actually converts.

Last time they burned ~14k and quit, and Google credited most of it back.

Don’t click them back and don’t touch negative SEO.

Just block, wait, and
they disappear.

Give it a try brother
 
Thanks, thats a great strategy, we will try that! I would prefer not to stoop to their level.
 
pmike6068 said:
Hi all - Ive been in a niche in our country for a while and a competitor has recently stepped up their spend while we have seen our clicks and spend go up while our conversion rate has crashed. There is no proof they are clicking our ads, however they have a reputation in our industry for less than reputable tactics.

So, what are my options? I figure fight fire with fire as there isnt much else we can do. What services should I look for the chew up their spend? Is there any SEO tactics we can employ that may damage their reputation?

Sorry for the negative post, however this is really damaging to our business.
Click to expand...
This is unethical, but you can quickly exhaust their budget by using clickbots.
 
pmike6068 said:
Hi all - Ive been in a niche in our country for a while and a competitor has recently stepped up their spend while we have seen our clicks and spend go up while our conversion rate has crashed. There is no proof they are clicking our ads, however they have a reputation in our industry for less than reputable tactics.

So, what are my options? I figure fight fire with fire as there isnt much else we can do. What services should I look for the chew up their spend? Is there any SEO tactics we can employ that may damage their reputation?

Sorry for the negative post, however this is really damaging to our business.
Click to expand...
Have you tried other traffic sources,
Since you can't be double sure they are the one

I would rather look for other traffic sources until I am sure they are the one
 
Try tighten targeting and use new small campaigns, cut wasted clicks
 
Don’t do click fraud back, tighten targeting, use IP exclusions, and report suspicious activity to the ad platform.
 
sounds like they're using a bot to drain your budget, get clickcease or fraud blocker immediately to auto-block their ips
 
Don’t fight fire with fire bro that will just get you banned too, better tighten targeting, add negative keywords, block bad placements and focus on better landing page + tracking to protect your spend.
 
pmike6068 said:
Hi all - Ive been in a niche in our country for a while and a competitor has recently stepped up their spend while we have seen our clicks and spend go up while our conversion rate has crashed. There is no proof they are clicking our ads, however they have a reputation in our industry for less than reputable tactics.

So, what are my options? I figure fight fire with fire as there isnt much else we can do. What services should I look for the chew up their spend? Is there any SEO tactics we can employ that may damage their reputation?

Sorry for the negative post, however this is really damaging to our business.
Click to expand...
dont do revenge tactics, just improve targeting, add negative keywords, adjust bids and focus on better traffic, dirty tricks can get you banned and cause more loss.
 
before assuming click fraud check your auction insights first, sometimes a competitor just outbids you and your conversions drop naturally without any shady stuff happening. if it is actual fraud tho clickcease is solid, and you can also request a manual review from google ads support they'll credit you back if they find anything.
 
pmike6068 said:
Hi all - Ive been in a niche in our country for a while and a competitor has recently stepped up their spend while we have seen our clicks and spend go up while our conversion rate has crashed. There is no proof they are clicking our ads, however they have a reputation in our industry for less than reputable tactics.

So, what are my options? I figure fight fire with fire as there isnt much else we can do. What services should I look for the chew up their spend? Is there any SEO tactics we can employ that may damage their reputation?

Sorry for the negative post, however this is really damaging to our business.
Click to expand...
Look for suspicious IP ranges, convert them into CIDR blocks, and add them to your blocklists that’s an essential step if you want to properly collect, organize, and manage IP pools. If needed, I can explain the process in more detail via DM.
 
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