An IP Range is a group of IP numbers allocated to a subsidiary service provider. They are defined by the number of bits and can be divided into groups.
A single IP (32 bit) is marked as 255.255.65.2
A medium-range of IP, 24 bit, includes 256 IP addresses from the same service provider range and it can be marked for example 255.255.65.0/24 or 255.255.65.*.
A broad range of IP, 16 bit, includes 65,536 IP addressed from the same service provider range and it can be marked. For example, 255.255.0/16 or 255.255.*.*.
Clixtell’s algorithms take advantage of the fact that many times Click Fraud is performed from the same IP ranges and Networks. Thus, blocking a range or a network that has been proved as malicious will prevent future click fraud attempts. Also, this tactic will save valuable space in Google’s IP Exclusion list, which is limited to 500.
