ClickCease

ClickCease is a click-fraud and ad-fraud detection and prevention software service that monitors paid advertising traffic and blocks invalid clicks and impressions on Google Ads, Microsoft (Bing) Ads and Meta/Facebook Ads. Advertisers install a tracking code on their website and connect their ad accounts; ClickCease then analyzes each visit and automatically adds fraudulent IPs to Google Ads exclusion lists or excludes users as audiences on Meta and Microsoft Ads. The company describes coverage of Google Search and Display Network, YouTube, Gmail, Facebook Ads and Audience Network, Instagram Ads and Stories, Facebook Messenger and Stories ads, and Microsoft Ads, across search, display/banner and video formats, with unlimited protected landing pages on all plans.

The threat categories the product targets include automation tools and bots, spoofed traffic that alters device and browser fingerprints, click farms, scrapers, and VPN/proxy traffic used to evade geo-targeting and IP exclusions. Blocking is described as largely real time (under three seconds), with roughly 2,000 behavioral tests per visit using signals such as geolocation, click limits, VPN detection and session behavior. Additional capabilities include Performance Max protection via IP blocking and audience exclusions, multi-domain and multi-account management from one dashboard, per-domain custom rules, click-threshold, device and location settings, Pixel Guard, and reporting that details each click's IP, source, browser, time, location, keyword and threat type. Reports on unblocked fraudulent clicks can be assembled for advertisers to file their own Google invalid-traffic refund claims, which Google permits once every 60 days; the company notes third parties may no longer file claims on a customer's behalf. The company states its processes are GDPR and CCPA compliant, that it supports HTTPS browsing, and that it is not affiliated with any search engine.

Founding story

Co-founder Yuval Haimov encountered click fraud in 2014 when a locksmith friend complained that competitors were repeatedly clicking his Google Ads and depleting his advertising budget. Existing vendors could detect click fraud but not act on it, so Haimov wrote software that both detected and automatically blocked fraudulent clicks. He then joined forces with Ilan Missulawin, who took on marketing and business development, and ClickCease was founded. In a later interview Missulawin recounted a prior career in radio, defense-industry electronics sales, retail consulting, an events photo-booth business he sold, and affiliate marketing before ClickCease.

Business model

ClickCease sells its fraud-blocking software as a subscription (SaaS). Customers begin with a free trial for which payment details are collected up front and are then moved automatically onto a chosen subscription tier unless they cancel. Monthly plans can be cancelled at any time, billing is by credit card on a monthly cycle, and the company states there are no hidden fees or premium add-ons. Plans carry traffic limits with occasional overages tolerated before an upgrade is suggested, and a separate Pro plan for agencies is priced according to the number of clients and campaigns; agencies can protect client sites by inserting the tracking code without each client holding a subscription.

Recurring monthly subscription fees per account, tiered by traffic/click volume, with agency (Pro) pricing based on client and campaign counts; free trial converts automatically to a paid plan.

Traction

Company materials cite more than 50,000 businesses and 50,000+ sites using the service, over 2,000,000 campaigns protected worldwide, 1B+ monthly clicks monitored, 22,000+ domains protected, presence in 94+ countries (with the About page also citing 106 countries), and over $350 million in monthly Google Ads budget protected. The About page states the product grew from 20,000 to 57,000 protected websites in the two years after the CHEQ acquisition and cites more than 14,000 customers as of 2022. Site pages reference 1,000+ customer reviews. In a founder interview, the co-founder said ClickCease had attracted tens of thousands of customers. Published case studies claim outcomes such as preventing more than $65,000 of competitor clicks for a law firm (21% cleaner traffic, 6,195 clicks saved), $500,000+ saved for a healthcare business (27% cleaner traffic, 148,163 clicks saved), and $4,038 saved for a real estate advertiser (10% cleaner traffic).

Latest developments

Current product pages describe protection across Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and Meta Ads with API approval from Google and Meta, Performance Max protection through IP blocking and audience exclusions, Pixel Guard, multi-domain management with per-domain rules, and traffic analysis with per-click threat breakdowns. CHEQ is presented as trusted by more than 10,000 to 14,000 advertisers, and ClickCease markets itself as part of CHEQ's broader effort against fake web traffic.