Reducing Lead Form Spam
Spam leads can be annoying as they waste time; however, they can also be hugely expensive if you unwittingly pay for them. Lead form spam has existed since the advent of the Internet and will probably never stop, as spammers use increasingly intelligent systems to bypass anti-spam measures and major ad platforms like Google and Microsoft.
Here are some measures we advise our clients to take at www.PayPerClickMarketing.UK to reduce the number of spammy leads they receive.
- Ad Conversion Automation
Aside from buying spam leads on a Cost Lead Basis – when lead spam can become seriously expensive is when you are running automated programs on ad networks, which react to the fake leads as conversions via upping your bidding prices unnecessarily. This can sometimes spiral your costs out of control quickly and cost you a lot of money if you have platforms like Google running on an automated CPL/CPA metric; where they set your bidding prices for you based on conversion data. We have seen a single customer signup 250 accounts before, which all registered in Google as 250 separate leads. Thankfully we were managing our PPC campaign manually, but if we were running Google’s automated CPL/CPA targeting they would have bid in 1st position on the keyword that customer with 250 accounts came in through, which would have cost thousands in wasted budget.
- Disallow Repeats
Lead Forms can be programmed so that the same people/IP Addresses/machines/email addresses etc – cannot sign up multiple times to your site.
- Form / Sign-Up Process Splitting
If you have a one page lead generation form and are experiencing too much spam, you could always break your form/sign-up process into more parts. A 2 page/stage lead form will get less spam than 1 page/stage form, and accordingly a 3-4 page form will get even less, as most bots can only get past a 1-stage form/sign-up process. With most of the major ad networks that we use, we can set your conversion goals as users who complete stage 2, rather than stage 1, hence eliminating your PPC campaigns from recording any spam at all in most cases.
- Google reCAPTCHA
This is Google’s anti-spam tool that you’ve told 100s of times you Are Not A Robot.
Google’s reCAPTCHA Enteprise launced in 2020 is pretty effective and can usually be installed within a few minutes.
- Honeypot Bot Traps
One of the oldest, simplest yet constantly effective form of identifying bot spam is the honeypot data collection technique. This involves programming a data collection field into your lead generation form – that your users cannot physically see appear. As the users online cannot see it, they never put any data into it. The bots on the other hand – will naturally fill this part of the form in – because they think its there and a necessary part of your form that they need to fill in. Any leads coming in from bots can then easily be segregated and junked automatically.
- IP Address Monitoring
If your lead forms capture the users IP Address then you can monitor them and check for duplicates.
If the same IP Address keeps signing up, for instance a bot, or someone aiming to trick the ad networks into upping their own ad revenue by putting fake leads through your site, you can simply block these rogue IPs on your website and also in select advertising channels e.g. Google, Microsoft.
- Re-Marketing List Inspection
Re-marketing lists are really useful valuable tools to maximise ROI from PPC campaigns and should be employed across as many channels as possible where costs are reasonable. They can also be a pain when it comes to lead spam though, as if you do have spammers/spam-bots plagueing your site, you will likely keep inviting them back if you use remarketing lists. Re-marketing tools can also be useful to identify lead spam – as if you attracted a volume of lead spam from Date X – you can always review your remarketing lists and block select visitors from that date from your remarketing.
- Software
There are tons of software packages available that are dedicated to anti-spam. It is well worth employing these if you buy traffic from the major ad networks as they often identify a lot of click fraud as well as lead spam for you.
- Web Analytics Analysis
There are plenty of web analytics stats available to help you monitor and eliminate lead spam. The main ones to look at at Location, IP Address, Device, Browser and Traffic Source. Often you can find patterns with your lead spam here.
We provide expert Lead Generation, PPC and SEO services. and give free consultations to all potential clients when we are contacted at www.PayPerClickMarketing.UK
Frequently Asked Questions
How can businesses effectively reduce lead form spam?
Preventing leads from spam allows businesses to effectively utilise resources, maintain a high brand reputation, and comply with privacy laws. Strategies like CAPTCHAs, honeypots, and regular security updates can reduce unauthorised submissions.
What are the consequences of allowing spam leads in your database?
Wasted effort is spent on bogus leads that fail to qualify, while genuine customers receive irrelevant pitches, hurting the brand. Storing fake contact info may also breach data protection rules. Tighter screening shields the database from junk.
What strategies can be implemented to prevent lead form spam?
Double opt-ins, email verification, and IP blocking filter out automated entries. Pattern recognition identifies spam patterns across submissions over time for more innovative filtering. Continued learning strengthens defences against evolving deception.
What role do intelligent systems play in combating lead form spam?
Intelligent systems play a pivotal role in thwarting lead form spam by automatically pinpointing suspect behaviour profiles, flagging anomalous data discrepancies, and constantly refining safeguards based on emerging deceits.
How do major ad platforms like Google and Microsoft address lead form spam?
Industry heavyweights like Google and Microsoft deter illicit submissions using sophisticated algorithms to detect fraud, user flagging for crowd-sourced oversight, and an open information exchange between platforms to preempt replicated ploys.
Why is it important for businesses to take measures against lead form spam?
Businesses must deter leads from spam by preserving data quality for effective targeting, maintaining trust through authentic interactions, and maximising campaign impact by engaging the right customers.
What are some common signs of lead form spam?
Red flags include duplicate submissions within a short span from one location, nonsense answers that don’t fit, and disproportionate volume swings detached from audience size metrics.