How do I get a refund for invalid clicks on Google Ads?

Step 1: Check what Google has already credited

Go to Billing, then Summary or Transactions, and look for "Invalid activity" adjustments. For Search and Performance Max campaigns, the Invalid Activity Credit Report in Report Editor breaks credits down by campaign. Don't ask Google to review clicks it has already credited. It wastes everyone's time and weakens the request.

Step 2: Rule out other explanations

Broken tracking, a landing page change or a surge in broad-match traffic can all look like invalid clicks. Poor targeting or a low conversion rate isn't invalid activity on its own. Our guide on clicks with no sales covers the usual suspects.

Step 3: Gather evidence

Google asks for specifics it can check against its own records. That includes your 10-digit customer ID, the date range, affected campaigns and keywords, and web server logs with IP addresses, devices and GCLIDs. Our guide to what evidence Google needs lists every field and how to get it.

Step 4: Submit the click quality form

Use Google's click quality contact form from within the Google Ads help centre. Keep the summary short and factual: what pattern you saw, when, on which campaigns, and what the logs show. Describe what happened rather than guessing who did it.

Step 5: Wait for Google's review

Google says the process typically takes several business days. It may not share detail on how it reached its decision, because that information could help bad actors get around its defences. That's a reasonable trade-off, and it's worth accepting.

Step 6: Check the outcome in Billing

If Google finds invalid activity, the credit appears as an "Invalid activity" adjustment in Billing and on your invoice. It may cover everything you raised, part of it, or none. A declined request isn't a judgement on you. Often it means the evidence wasn't enough to separate those clicks from normal traffic.

Tips that make a request easier to review

• —One clear pattern per request, rather than a mixed list of everything that looked odd.
• —Exact timestamps with the time zone stated.
• —GCLIDs, which let Google match your records to specific ad clicks.
• —No clicks Google has already credited.
• —A courteous, factual tone. The people reviewing it are on your side of the problem.

How SaveMyBudget handles this

Our tag records click and session metadata from the day it's installed. When a cluster of flagged clicks has enough evidence, our claims team prepares the pack, reviews it and files it through Google's official process. Google decides every claim. We charge 25% of credits Google confirms from claims we file, and nothing if Google declines.