Click Fraud Is Expensive — But Preventing It Doesn’t Have to Be

Businesses of all sizes lose money every single day to bots, click farms, and competitors manually draining budgets. Click fraud prevention tools exist to block this activity in real time — but not all tools work the same, and costs vary widely.

Below is an updated view of the current landscape, including ClickCease’s role within the CHEQ family, pricing, and why combining these tools with expert PPC management generates the highest return on investment.

The Top Click Fraud Prevention Tools (2025)

1. ClickCease (Now Part of CHEQ — Still the Best SMB Solution)

In September 2020, CHEQ — a global cybersecurity-driven ad verification company — acquired ClickCease to expand its offering to small and mid-sized advertisers.

Here’s what changed:

✔ Expanded Reach

CHEQ traditionally served enterprise advertisers. Acquiring ClickCease opened the door for SMBs seeking affordable yet strong protection.

✔ Combined Technology

The integration blended:

• ClickCease’s real-time blocking
• CHEQ’s cybersecurity-grade invalid traffic (IVT) detection
• Together, this created one of the most comprehensive PPC fraud protection solutions available to smaller businesses.

✔ Brand Continuation

ClickCease still operates as its own brand within the CHEQ ecosystem.

Advertisers recognize it, the UI is familiar, and the pricing remains SMB-friendly.

ClickCease Features (Today)

• Real-time click blocking
• Competitor IP/device fingerprinting
• Detection of bots, click farms, VPN/proxy networks
• Automatic IP blocking synced with Google Ads
• Multi-platform protection (Google, Meta, YouTube)
• Clear, actionable reports

Pricing

• Standard: ~$69/month
• Pro: ~$99/month
• Agency packages: variable

This makes ClickCease the most accessible and cost-effective solution for most SMBs.

Best for:

Local businesses, home services, medical, legal, and any industry with high CPCs and aggressive competitors.

2. CHEQ Essentials (Enterprise-Level Protection)

CHEQ’s legacy platform — still available — offers advanced invalid traffic protection geared toward larger advertisers.

With ClickCease now under the CHEQ umbrella, many SMBs choose ClickCease, while high-volume advertisers often go for CHEQ Essentials.

Pricing

Typically $109–$199/month, sometimes higher depending on spend and data volume.

Best for:

Multi-channel advertisers or businesses spending $20k–$100k+/month.

3. Lunio

Lunio focuses heavily on “cleaning” traffic models and works across many ad platforms.

Pricing

Starts around $250–$500/month, scaling with spend and traffic volume.

Best for:

High-volume advertisers seeking clean data for Smart Bidding and AI optimization.

4. PPC Protect (Merged Into Lunio)

Once its own tool, PPC Protect is now fully part of Lunio’s technology stack.

Pricing

Typically $300+/month.

Best for:

Enterprise or multi-channel advertisers with large budgets.

5. Manual “Free” Methods

(helpful, but cannot detect bots or coordinated fraud)

• IP exclusions
• Reviewing placement reports
• Watching unusual spikes
• Adjusting device/geo targeting
• These are labor-intensive and only catch obvious problems.

The Real Cost of These Tools (And Why Many Advertisers Overpay Without Meaning To)

Buying a click fraud prevention tool only solves half the problem.

Most advertisers who sign up for ClickCease or CHEQ Essentials:

• Never customize the settings
• Don’t interpret the reports
• Leave blind spots in their PPC structure
• Miss emerging bot patterns
• Fail to act on the insights

This leads to partial protection, incorrectly blocked traffic, or continued wasted spend.

That’s where we come in.

Why Pairing ClickCease With Full-Service PPC Management Saves You More Than Going DIY

ClickCease is a powerful tool for preventing click fraud, but on its own, it only stops bad clicks. It cannot restructure campaigns, refine targeting, optimize bidding, or repair performance damage caused by fraud. That’s where a full-service Google Ads agency like Eliminate Wasted Spend adds real value.

We integrate ClickCease directly into your overall PPC strategy so you get fraud protection plus optimized campaign performance — maximizing ROI on every dollar spent.

✔ Industry-Optimized ClickCease Setup

We configure ClickCease based on your market and campaign structure:

• Aggressive thresholds for high-CPC industries (legal, medical, home services)
• Balanced settings for local service providers
• Conservative protection for e-commerce and Smart Bidding-heavy accounts

This ensures you block fraudulent clicks without accidentally limiting legitimate traffic.

✔ Weekly Human Review Integrated With PPC Optimization

Software can detect patterns — but a strategist can interpret them.

We review ClickCease activity alongside your Google Ads performance to uncover:

• Competitor click patterns
• Devices or placements driving fraud
• Ad groups attracting bots
• Timing spikes or suspicious geo-clusters

These insights allow us to proactively adjust campaigns, not just block clicks.

✔ Real-Time Adjustments Inside Google Ads

Because we manage your campaigns end-to-end, we can act immediately on insights from ClickCease:

• Refine targeting and placement exclusions
• Adjust device, location, and audience settings
• Identify attack patterns and block competitors faster
• Stop “budget leakage” in Smart Bidding campaigns

✔ No Separate Software Bill

ClickCease is included in your full-service plan — no additional subscriptions needed. You get the software and the expertise to use it effectively.

✔ The Savings Outweigh the Cost

Most clients save $300–$2,000 per month in reduced wasted spend and optimized campaigns — 3–20x the cost of the software itself.

You’re not just getting click-fraud protection — you’re getting protection plus strategic optimization, all under one roof.

Final Thoughts

Click fraud prevention tools are essential, but the biggest ROI comes from pairing them with expert PPC management. With ClickCease now part of CHEQ, SMBs get enterprise-level fraud detection, and when that protection is combined with full-service management from Eliminate Wasted Spend, every campaign dollar works harder and smarter. Check out our ROI calculator to determine your estimated savings.