PMax campaign getting fake clicks, bot conversions & big discrepancy between Ads and Analytics (local preschool website)

Running a Performance Max campaign for a local preschool/kindergarten website, and I’m facing serious data issues:

• Tons of invalid/bot clicks with no real engagement.

• Fake conversions showing in Google Ads (no actual form fills or calls).

• Huge mismatch between Google Ads and GA4 — Ads shows almost double the traffic compared to Analytics.

Everything in GTM and conversion tracking seems set up correctly. I’ve already:

• Excluded suspicious locations/devices.

• Used negative keywords in asset groups.

• Reviewed landing page & tags.

Still getting weird traffic and fake conversions.

Anyone else dealing with this in local service PMax campaigns?

Any proven ways to reduce invalid traffic or get cleaner reporting?

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