/ Plugin Category

/ E-commerce & Shopping

/ Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP)

Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP)

By iSaumya

E-commerce & Shopping /

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) Review - In-Depth Analysis

Protect your AdSense account from click bombings and invalid click activities with this plugin.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

7.07/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 62+ reviews)

Active Installations

10,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

6.2 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) plugin helps safeguard your Google Ad account from unusual invalid click activities and click bombings. Google does not take responsibility for these activities, placing the blame on the ad publisher. This plugin aims to resolve this issue effectively.

It utilizes third-party systems to obtain location details for server IPs. By default, it uses a free version of IP-API service, but a premium version is available for high-traffic websites. Users can set a maximum ad click limit, block visitors exceeding this limit, and ban specific countries from viewing ads.

Features include the ability to manage banned users from the WordPress admin section, delete banned IPs, and view an admin dashboard widget showing the total number of banned users. The plugin is not compatible with mobile devices due to touch screen limitations.

Comparing to Alternatives

Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) stands alone in its category with no close direct alternatives available, making it a unique choice for users seeking invalid click protection.

Top alternatives

Strengths

High user rating with over 90% five-star reviews
Effective protection against invalid ad clicks
Regular updates addressing security vulnerabilities
Simple and straightforward plugin functionality
Includes a pro version with enhanced features

Weaknesses

No direct alternatives to compare feature sets
Known past security vulnerabilities despite fixes
Limited functionality on touchscreen devices
Some performance issues reported when used with other plugins like Google Sitekit

User Sentiment Analysis

With a strong majority of 5-star ratings and very few low ratings, users generally express high satisfaction with AICP, appreciating its effectiveness and ease of use.

Positive highlights

'Great Plugin' – alterdiaz
'Best Plugin' – Roohanialoom
'Very Nice!' – arisagamearisa
'Good!' – itsmeit
'Very useful' – 56513dtr

Common complaints

Does not work properly on touchscreen devices, which constitute a large portion of traffic

Weaknesses

Limited touchscreen support
Performance degradation when combined with certain other plugins
Past security vulnerabilities that have since been patched

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Website owners looking for a reliable plugin to protect their ads from invalid clicks, especially those primarily targeting desktop users.

Not ideal for

Sites with predominantly touchscreen visitors or those requiring seamless compatibility with all other plugins, given some reported performance issues and limited touchscreen support.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers core invalid click protection features suitable for most users.

Pro version

The pro version includes advanced features for enhanced protection and customization options beyond the free offering.

Final Verdict

Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) is a highly rated plugin that effectively protects against invalid ad clicks, backed by a strong user base and regular security updates. Its unique position without direct alternatives makes it a valuable tool for many site owners.

However, users should be aware of its limited functionality on touchscreen devices and past security vulnerabilities, which have been addressed. Those with predominantly mobile traffic or requiring flawless plugin compatibility may want to consider these factors before choosing AICP.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) plugin.

AdSense

Invalid click protection

Click bombing prevention

Screenshots

FAQ

I know there are many WordPress plugin where you basically paste your AdSense code and it shows your ad at various position of your website. But unfortunately it is not humanly possible for me to check every single plugin of such out there or contact each plugin developer. Here I’m showing you how to incorporate the Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) plugin with your website’s ad code, so that both other plugin developers and normal users who use custom codes to show up their ads can take advantage of this.

To use the Ad Invalid Click Protector plugin with your ad code you basically have to do 2 simple things.

Put a if( aicp_can_see_ads() ) { /* return your ad code here */ } block before returning your ad code to the front end
Wrap your ad code within a simple div tag like this <div class="aicp">...your ad code goes here...</div>

Personally I create various WordPress shortcodes for various ad units that I use on my personal website. It is extremely easity to create shortcodes for your ad units while taking the advantage of Ad Invalid Click Protector Plugin. Let me show you how to create a WordPress shortcode very easily.

To create a shortcode the first thing you need to do is, go to the functions.php file of your theme or your child theme and at the end of yoru file put any of the following code.

If you are using a PHP version < 5.3, you can create a shortcode in the following way:

add_shortcode( 'your_shortcode_name', 'your_shortcode_function_name' ); function your_shortcode_function_name() {     if( aicp_can_see_ads() ) { // This part will show ads to your non-banned visitors         $adCode = '<div class="aicp"><!-- Don\'t forget to add this div with aicp class -->         <script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>         <!-- Responsive Ad Code -->         <ins class="adsbygoogle"              style="display:block"              data-ad-client="ca-pub-1234567890"              data-ad-slot="0987654321"              data-ad-format="auto"></ins>         <script>         (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});         </script>         </div><!-- end of the aicp div -->';         return $adCode;     } else { // Anything within this part will be shown to your banned visitors or to the blocked country visitors         return '<div class="error">You have been blocked from seeing ads.</div>';     } }

If you are using PHP version >= 5.3, you don’t need to give a function name, instead you can take advantage of of anonymous function like this way:

add_shortcode( 'your_shortcode_name', function() {     if( aicp_can_see_ads() ) { // This part will show ads to your non-banned visitors         $adCode = '<div class="aicp"><!-- Don\'t forget to add this div with aicp class -->         <script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>         <!-- Responsive Ad Code -->         <ins class="adsbygoogle"              style="display:block"              data-ad-client="ca-pub-1234567890"              data-ad-slot="0987654321"              data-ad-format="auto"></ins>         <script>         (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});         </script>         </div><!-- end of the aicp div -->';         return $adCode;     } else { // Anything within this part will be shown to your banned visitors or to the blocked country visitors         return '<div class="error">You have been blocked from seeing ads.</div>';     } } );

Please Note: if you want, you can completely ignore the else {} block above in case you don’t wanna show anything special to the blocked visitors.