How does FireFightingNews.com detect invalid clicks?

The security of our advertisers is important to FireFightingNews.com, and we have dedicated a number of resources to protect your account against invalid activity.Detection and filtering techniques: Each click on an ad is examined by our system. FireFightingNews.com looks at numerous data points for each click, including the IP address, the time of the click, any duplicate clicks, and various other click patterns. Our system then analyzes these factors to try to isolate and filter out potentially invalid clicks before they ever reach your account reports. This detection and filtering occurs over a number of levels including the following:

• Real-time systems filter out activity fitting a profile of invalid behavior (such as excessively repetitive clicks)
• Clicks and impressions from known sources of invalid activity are automatically discarded

In addition to our automated click protection techniques, we have a team that uses specialized tools and techniques to examine individual instances of invalid clicks. When our system detects potentially invalid clicks, a member of this team examines the affected account to glean important data about the source of the potentially invalid clicks.

One of the goals of our team is to make invalid activity very difficult and unrewarding for unethical users, thereby decreasing their chance of success. Additionally, if we find that invalid clicks have been charged in the past six months, we'll credit advertisers' accounts.

What kinds of clicks does FireFightingNews.com consider invalid?

FireFightingNews.com defines invalid clicks as:

• Manual clicks intended to increase your advertising costs or to increase profits for website owners hosting your ads
• Clicks by automated tools, robots, or other deceptive software
• Extraneous clicks which provide no value to the advertiser, such as the second click of a double-click

We closely monitor these and other scenarios to better protect you from receiving invalid clicks.

Do multiple clicks from the same IP address suggest invalid activity?

Not necessarily. There are several legitimate reasons that you could receive multiple clicks from the same IP address:

• Return visits: Individual users may legitimately click on your ad more than one time when comparison shopping or returning to your site for more information.
• Shared IP addresses: Multiple clicks from a single source may be due to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) assigning identical IP addresses to multiple users. Certain ISPs, such as AOL, distribute a relatively small number of shared, rotating IP addresses to a large number of users. As a result, multiple visitors may access your site from identical IP addresses, giving the impression of repeated clicks from a single visitor.

How do I report suspected invalid clicks?

Our system uses sophisticated detection and filtering techniques to automatically filter out likely invalid clicks before you are charged for them.

However, if you believe that a campaign is receiving invalid clicks beyond those already filtered out by our system, please contact us.

We investigate invalid click activity on a case-by-case basis. The verification and research process can be time consuming, and we appreciate your patience while our investigation team reviews your account.

You can help speed up the process by including the following information:

• Date range of suspicious activity
• Suspicious IP addresses
• Description of issue

What are my payment options?

Payment is through PayPal, Google Checkout, credit card, or by check.

Advertisers are required to pay in advance (prepay) before receiving any activity. As you accrue advertising charges, we deduct the cost from your prepaid balance. Your ads run almost immediately after we receive your payment. Your ads continue to run as long as there are adequate funds in your account, so be sure to regularly check your account balance. To help you keep your account balance up-to-date, we'll email you when your funds run low and when your balance draws down to zero.

Is there a minimum prepayment amount?

Yes. $100 USD

Is there a minimum contract?

There are no contract requirements after your $100 USD balance draws down to zero. You can cancel your account at any time thereafter.