"Google Display Network has the highest percentage levels of invalid clicks, with nearly 1 in 5 being IVT. Having said that, the overwhelming majority appear not to be fraudulent. I assume most of these are accidental clicks. Over 10% of Search Partner Network clicks are invalid, but unlike GDN, a clear majority of these clicks are "sophisticated," i.e. likely ill-intended. As ever, I am not a fan of SPN."
"While Google Search is less attacked, it's still stunning to see the half-half split between benign and malicious bots, considering how many benign bots are navigating Google every day. Google's other owned & operated inventory (YT, Discover, Maps, Gmail) all reportedly have SIVT rates so low as to be rounding errors. While these are most often accessed via apps and logged-in experiences, these rates still seem too good to be true. Any thoughts here?"
"Mike Ryan posted data on the percentage of invalid clicks on the Google Ad Network, broken down by fraudulent clicks or likely accidental clicks. It shows the Google Display Network has the most invalid clicks, but search partners have the most fraudulent invalid clicks. Mike Ryan wrote on LinkedIn, that he analyzed "over 550 million ecommerce clicks from Q4 2025 using the metric "general invalid clicks," which is relatively new to Google Ads. Cross-network, by the way, is PMax. It's a blend of everything else, but from a click-weighted standpoint, it is mostly Google Search (incl. Shopping) and some YouTube."
Over 550 million ecommerce clicks from Q4 2025 were analyzed using Google's "general invalid clicks" metric. The Google Display Network exhibited the highest invalid click rate, with nearly one in five clicks classified as invalid traffic, predominantly benign or accidental. Search Partner Network had over 10% invalid clicks, with a clear majority labeled "sophisticated" and likely ill-intended. Google Search showed a roughly even split between benign and malicious bot activity. YouTube, Discover, Maps, and Gmail reported SIVT rates near zero. PMax combines inventory, weighted mainly toward Google Search (including Shopping) and some YouTube.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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