How it works
The data flow from a paid click to a protection action — scope hierarchy, action modes, and where outcomes show up.
This page is a 2-minute mental model of how ClickFortify processes a click. You don't need it to use the product, but it helps when you're deciding where to set policy and where to look when something seems wrong.
The protection flow
A click moves through five steps:
The scope model
ClickFortify protection is hierarchical. Set a default once at the top, override only where needed:
| Scope | Used for |
|---|---|
| Website | Default protection and analytics for everything on that site. |
| Ad Account | Optional overrides for one connected Google Ads account. |
| Campaign | Narrow rules targeted at a single campaign. |
When the same setting exists at multiple levels, the narrowest scope wins — campaign overrides ad account, ad account overrides website.
Action modes (quick reference)
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Observe | Log only. No blocking. Good for the first few days. |
| Warn | Add bad IPs to exclusion lists. Future-proofs without retroactively blocking. |
| Strict | Block immediately. Use once you trust the calls. |
Full walkthrough: Launch protection.
Detection strategy
- Automatic — ClickFortify's AI engine handles detection with a sensitivity slider (5 levels, default Recommended). Most teams stay here.
- Manual — Flip individual checks on or off: VPN blocking, bot filtering, bounce pattern analysis, geographic restrictions.
Where outcomes show up
| Where | What you see |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Overall threat and quality trends |
| Clicks | Per-click decision and risk score |
| Exclusions | Entities excluded from delivery (synced to Google Ads) |
| Blacklist | Entries you blocked manually (vs. Exclusions, which is the automatic side) |
| Reports | Downloadable historical records |
The tracking snippet has to be installed and firing for any of this to work — a missing or broken pixel means no scoring, no protection, no dashboard data. Verify install before relying on any of these views.
What happens next
- Ready to set up? Start onboarding.
- Already onboarded? Walk the First week checklist.