Launch protection
Turn protection on for the first time and pick a sensitivity and action mode that lets you observe before blocking.
After the wizard, protection is set up but not enforcing. This page walks through turning it on. The recommended week-one configuration: Recommended sensitivity + Warn action mode — strong enough to catch fraud, gentle enough that you can watch what it does before blocking real ad spend.
Open the protection page
In the sidebar, click Protection. The page is titled Threat & Fraud Protection and is organized into four cards: Protection Status, Detection Strategy, Detection Sensitivity, and Protective Action.
Turn protection on
Pick a sensitivity level
The sensitivity slider has 5 levels:
| Level | Name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low Protection | Allows most traffic |
| 2 | Balanced | Filters obvious threats |
| 3 | Recommended | Best for most accounts |
| 4 | Strict | Blocks aggressive patterns |
| 5 | Very Strict | Maximum fraud prevention |
Start at Recommended. If you see legitimate clicks getting flagged, drop one level. If fraud is still getting through after a week, go up one. Don't jump levels — small changes give you signal.
Pick an action mode
The Protective Action card has three options. Pick one based on how confident you want to be before clicks are blocked from your ads:
| Mode | What it does | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Observe | Log only, no blocking | First few days — see what protection would flag without affecting your ads |
| Warn | Add bad IPs to exclusion lists | Recommended for week one. Protects future clicks without retroactively blocking flagged ones |
| Strict | Block all threats immediately | After you've watched a week and trust the calls |
Why "Warn" for week one
Warn is the safe middle ground. It builds your IP-exclusion lists from flagged clicks (so future visits from the same fraudster don't reach your ads) while leaving today's clicks alone. You get the data — false positives are visible in the dashboard — without risking real conversions on day one.
After 5-7 days, if the flags look right, switch to Strict.
What happens next
- Verify your Google Ads connection
- For the full protection feature set, see Protection settings.