Search is a great way to connect with buyers when they are actively in the market for a product or service, but click fraud is causing SEM professional to take a second look. Being aware of click fraud is the first step in protecting your campaign. So here are my top 5 ways to fight click fraud.

1. Monitor your campaigns. Keep a close eye on what a normal traffic pattern is. If one day you notice that the content portion of the AdWords campaign is producing at 25% click through rate (CTR) when your average is .5% you’ll know something may be wrong.
2. Negative Keywords! Negative keywords are just as important as the keyword list. This is one way to make sure your ad for hydraulic pumps is not showing up on a website dedicated to bicycle pumps. 
3. Break up your budget. By having several campaigns with smaller budgets, the incentive to generate income from a large payout decreases. For example if a campaign has a budget of $20,000 a month it could be broken in to several smaller campaigns with budgets combine to the $20,000 level. Thus eliminating the ability for automated click robots to drive up cost by clicking on the ad.
4. When utilizing the content networks keep your CPC low.   This will make it harder to profit from clicks, and will make it easier to spot fraudulent clicks.
5. Opt out of content networks for very general campaigns. If you want to appear on websites, utilize a CPM program.