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Why Your Google Ads Are Being Shown to Competitors
Description
Episode 4 of The Google Ads Podcast with Fexingo dives into the dirty secret of competitor click fraud and mistaken targeting in Google Ads. Lucas and Luna break down how paid search campaigns can accidentally display ads to rival businesses, wasting budget on irrelevant clicks. Using a real-world case from a mid-sized e-commerce brand that lost $12,000 in a single month to competitor clicks, they explain where the problem comes from—bot traffic, manual clicking, and the flaws in Google's automatic targeting. Luna brings data from a 2025 SEC filing by a digital ad fraud detection firm that estimates 12 to 15 percent of all Google Ads clicks may come from non-human or competitor sources. Lucas walks through the exact settings to check in your Google Ads dashboard: IP exclusions, placement reports, and the search terms report. They also discuss how to use audience segmentation to keep your ads away from known competitors. No scare tactics—just practical strategies to protect your budget. By the end, you'll know exactly where to look for the leak and how to plug it.