Data Centers: An Unlikely Source of Spam for Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns
Many of our Google ads for therapists’ clients who have made the switch to Google’s new Performance Max campaign type have been impressed by the increased reach they can get for a smaller budget. Google’s all-in-one campaign type promised to use AI to find your customers wherever they are on Google’s network, whether that’s YouTube, Search, or Google Maps. But for some of our clients, that reach has come with a frustrating and expensive side effect: a sudden surge in spam leads.
Even when we’ve set the location targets strictly for the area we want to target, and double-checked the more obscure campaign settings to make sure everything is how it should be, we still have had clients who get spam forms from the other side of the world.
At Revkey, we’ve spent months investigating why this happens specifically with Performance Max campaigns, and our experiments have found the answer: data centers.
How Does AI Get Tricked By Spam Bots?
Google Ads can be inscrutable to the average person; Performance Max campaigns doubly so. In Performance Max campaigns, Google’s AI goes out and finds the best audience for the ads and decides which placements and audiences are most likely to convert.
The problem lies in how Google’s AI interprets "location." Even when you select the most restrictive location settings, Google’s primary goal is to find conversions. If a bot-net or a spammer manages to trick the system into thinking they are local, the AI will double down on that traffic, thinking it has found a gold mine of high-converting users.
How Data Centers Become “Local”
The cause of this spam is a technical mistake involving data centers. Large-scale data centers owned by companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are the backbone of the internet. These data centers are quickly being built all across America, often within or just outside major population centers.
When a spammer in Europe or Asia wants to target a local US campaign, they don't just click from their home computer. They route their traffic through a proxy server or a VPN hosted in one of these local data centers.
To Google’s algorithm, the IP address associated with that click isn't coming from overseas; it’s originating from a server inside the geo-targeted area. Because Performance Max campaigns can’t tell the difference, it sees this "local" traffic and serves the ad. Then the spambot gets through to your website because Google thinks it’s legitimate traffic coming from the targeted area.
Analyzing The Data
Looking at the Google Ads dashboard, you might not know anything is wrong. Google will tell you that the clicks are coming from the targeted zip codes. However, digging deeper into the data tells a different story.
When we dig into our clients’ Google Analytics reports, we see that there’s an obvious problem. By looking at traffic attributed to Google Ads and narrowing that data down by the country or city the traffic comes from, we find traffic attributed to a Performance Max campaign that Google Analytics identifies as coming from cities or countries outside of the targeted area.
Although Google Ads’ AI was fooled by the data center’s address at the moment of the auction, Google Analytics’ more robust data tracking knows the end user’s real location. When, for example, a campaign in Chicago is getting clicks from San Diego, Bangladesh, or Morocco, you know your budget is being wasted on data center proxies.
The Revkey Strategy: Zip Code Exclusion
Other agencies might recommend simply adding a CAPTCHA to your website or form system. This might stop the spam from getting to your inbox, but it doesn’t stop Google from charging you for the click in the first place. At that point, your ROI has already been damaged.
At Revkey, our team of Digital Marketing Professionals created a more precise fix that stops the problem at the source. Through our research into data centers, we’ve identified specific zip codes in various areas across America where these data centers are clustered. By cross-referencing these locations with the areas targeted in a campaign, we often see that there are many data centers in our targeted areas. That’s why we’ve developed a zip code exclusion strategy for campaigns facing this problem. We identify the exact zip codes within your targeted area that house these data centers and manually exclude them from the campaign.
This works for three main reasons:
Data centers are usually in out-of-the-way areas. There are usually few people living in zip codes that are home to large clusters of data centers. Thus, by excluding these areas, we lose little and gain much more.
We protect the algorithm. AI bidding is only as good as the data it receives. If you allow spam to “convert,” Google’s AI will think it’s doing a great job and further optimize the campaign for more spam. By stopping the spam at the source, we force the AI to look for real humans.
We maximize ROI. Every dollar spent on a click from a spam bot is one not spent on a real human. By stopping spam from clicking on your ads in the first place, we make sure your budget is only spent on high-quality, human traffic.
Technical Oversight in the Age of AI
Performance Max campaigns are a powerful tool, but they aren’t a hands-off solution. They require an experienced management team that understands the technical details.
At Revkey, we pride ourselves on looking under the hood. We dive deep into the data to ensure your budget stays where it should. If your Performance Max campaigns are bringing you too much spam, it’s time to stop targeting servers and start targeting people.
Think your ads are being hijacked by spam? Contact us today for a technical Google Ads for therapists audit, and let’s get your campaign back on track.
Stop Wasting Your Budget on Spam with Google Ads for Therapists
Your advertising budget should connect you with real clients who need your help, not spam bots routing through data centers halfway around the world. Google Ads for Therapists Performance Max campaigns require expert management to identify and exclude the zip codes where these data centers operate before they drain your budget. RevKey has spent months researching this technical problem and developed precise solutions to protect your campaign—reach out today for a comprehensive audit, and let's eliminate spam at the source. Get started in three simple steps:
Schedule a free consultation to audit your current Performance Max campaign and identify if data center spam is affecting your Google Ads for Therapists results.
Meet with RevKey's team of Digital Marketing Professionals to implement our zip code exclusion strategy that stops spam at the source and protects your budget.
Start attracting real local clients instead of overseas spam bots as your campaign optimizes for genuine leads actively searching for therapy.
Additional Services Offered at RevKey
At RevKey, we specialize in Google Ads for Therapists and understand the technical challenges that Performance Max campaigns present, including data center spam that wastes budgets on bots instead of real clients. In addition to this, we offer Google Ads for Chiropractors, Google Ads for Dentists, Google Ads for Doctors & Surgeons, Google Ads for Holistic Medicine, Google Ads for Small Business, Google Ads for Landscape Architecture, Google Ads for Industrial Marketing, Google Ads for B2B, Google Ads for Agencies, and Social Media Marketing. We proudly serve clients across the United States, from New York to Chicago to California and everywhere in between. Check out our blog for more insights on Performance Max optimization and technical solutions that protect your advertising investment.
