Why Facebook Ad Clicks Feel Fake (And What Worked Better for Me)

I’ve run a bunch of Facebook ad campaigns. Sometimes they look like they’re working. The dashboard shows a bunch of clicks. Everything seems fine. But then I check the site stats and realize something’s off. Zero time on page. No scrolls. No clicks. Almost like no one actually visited.

At first I thought it was a bug. Maybe something was broken on the landing page. But the more I looked into it, the more I realized the numbers didn’t tell the full story.

503 Clicks, 0 Real People?

One of my campaigns pulled in over 500 clicks in a few days. It looked like a win.

Except no one stayed. Not even for a second. Every visit showed 0 seconds on the page. No scrolling. No button taps. Just instant exits.

I checked everything. The landing page loaded fast. It worked on every device I tested. So I started adjusting the targeting. Tried new audiences. A/B tested different versions. Nothing changed.

The clicks kept coming. But no real actions followed. And yep, I was still getting charged for all of them.

What I Tried to Fix the Traffic

After seeing all those empty visits, I knew something had to change. I started testing everything I could to filter out low-quality traffic. Some changes helped. Some didn’t move the needle at all. But here’s what made the biggest difference for me.

Turn off Audience Network

This was one of the first things I changed. Audience Network pushes your ads into random apps and lower quality sites. Once I turned it off, the junk traffic dropped fast.

Switch to Landing Page Views

Clicks don’t always mean people saw your site. Optimizing for landing page views helped me filter out people who never waited for the page to load.

Use Real Analytics

Facebook’s dashboard doesn’t tell the whole story. I used Google Analytics and Hotjar to see what visitors were actually doing. That gave me a clearer picture of what was going wrong.

Block Bad Placements and Regions

I started spotting patterns. Certain countries or placements always bounced. I blocked them to stop wasting money.

Add a Pre-Landing Page

I added a simple page with a “Continue” button before the main landing page. Most bots didn’t click through, but real people did. That alone filtered out a lot of bad traffic.

Keep the Audience Tight

Interest expansion sounded helpful, but it usually just opened the door to more bad clicks. Turning it off gave me more control over who saw the ad.

None of this turned the traffic perfect. But it helped me stop the bleeding. At least I could see which clicks were more likely to come from real people.

What Happened When I Tried Google Ads Instead

After spending weeks trying to fix my Facebook Ads setup, I decided to test something else. I used the same landing page and the same budget, and set up a small campaign on Google Ads. I just wanted to see if anything would change.

Right away, the traffic felt different.

People actually stayed on the site. I saw scrolling. Button clicks. Time on page. Some visitors even filled out the form. The conversion rate wasn’t crazy, but it felt like real people were actually visiting.

The biggest difference, in my opinion, was intent. With Google Ads, someone is already searching for something. They see your ad because it matches what they were looking for. So when they click, they’re usually interested in learning more.

That intent makes a big difference. The traffic was easier to track and the behavior made more sense.

Of course, it depends on your goal. If you just want brand awareness or reach, Facebook and Instagram can still help. They’re good for impressions and getting your name out there.

But if your focus is on actions like purchases, signups, or leads, Google Ads might be the better choice. It’s not just about where your ad runs. It’s about what you need people to do after they click.

Why Facebook Traffic Sometimes Feels Off

If you’ve ever run Facebook Ads and felt like the clicks weren’t real, you’re not imagining things. I’ve seen a bunch of threads on Reddit and ad forums where people say the same thing. Lots of clicks, zero engagement. It’s like nobody actually showed up.

There’s no official number on how much of that traffic is real or not. But when the same issue pops up again and again, it’s worth paying attention.

One big reason is how Facebook runs your ads. The platform is built to get the most clicks for the lowest cost. That sounds smart, but it also means your ads might show up in places that don’t really help you. Like inside random mobile games or on websites you’d never pick yourself.

If you leave on settings like Audience Network or automatic placements, Facebook spreads your budget wherever it thinks it can hit your goals. Sometimes that works. Other times it sends your ad into strange corners of the internet that just burn your budget.

It’s not always bots. It’s not always fraud. But it can still feel broken when the traffic doesn’t do anything.

This has been a known issue for a while. Back in 2012, Facebook removed millions of fake likes from business pages. This article from Wired called “Facebook Reveals the Sleazy Business of Fake Likes” explains how it all unfolded. It showed how easy it was for pages to get inflated numbers from fake accounts, and how Facebook had to clean things up.

So even Facebook knows this stuff happens. That’s why I always recommend watching your own site stats, not just the ad dashboard. Because if the clicks don’t act like real people, they probably aren’t helping you.

Should You Keep Running Facebook Ads?

It really depends on what you're trying to get out of them.

If you're looking for direct results like leads, sales, or signups and you're seeing weird traffic or no engagement, it might not be the right fit. At least not until you’ve cleaned up your setup, fixed the placements, and tightened your targeting.

But if your goal is just visibility, Facebook Ads can still help. Even when the traffic feels messy, the reach is big. People will still see your name, your product, or your offer. They just might not click with intent.

The real problem happens when you expect conversions from traffic that was never meant for that. That’s when budgets disappear fast and frustration kicks in.

If you’re stuck and not sure what to do next, ask yourself two questions:

• Are people doing anything after clicking?

• Are you getting even close to the result you want?

If both answers are no, it might be time to pause. Or test a different angle.

And remember, ads are never set and forget. The only way to make them work is by testing. If you’re not regularly trying new things and watching what happens, the platform will spend your budget without giving you much back.

The Simple Rule I Follow Now

After wasting money on clicks that went nowhere, I had to change how I think about ads.

Now I follow one rule.

If I don’t see real engagement, I stop spending.

I don’t care what the ad manager shows. I don’t chase big click numbers. If people aren’t staying on the page, scrolling, clicking, or doing anything that shows they’re real, I turn the ad off. No second guesses.

Clicks mean nothing without action. And the only way to protect your budget is to look beyond the surface numbers.

Check your site stats. Watch your bounce rate. Use tools that show what people actually do after they land.

And most important of all, keep testing. Try one thing at a time. Watch what changes. Let real behavior guide your next step.

That’s the only way I’ve found to stay ahead of junk traffic and figure out what actually works.