Introduction
Click flooding, also known as click spamming, is a prevalent form of mobile ad fraud where malicious actors generate large volumes of fake clicks to hijack attribution credit for organic or legitimate installs. This tactic exploits last-click attribution models, allowing fraudsters to siphon off advertising budgets without delivering real value.
Click flooding is a type of mobile ad fraud where spammers generate a high volume of fraudulent clicks to manipulate attribution and take credit for organic conversions. This can lead to misleadingly high click counts and skewed conversion data.
Impact on mobile ads click flooding results in low conversion rates and extended click-to-conversion times (CTIT). It’s particularly challenging for campaigns without conversion data, iOS campaigns with unreliable CTIT, and those vulnerable to click spam and cookie dropping.
Prevention and detection to combat click flooding, use real-time click-level blocking and analyse clickstream data. Employ filters designed to detect and prevent click fraud, ensuring more accurate attribution and better ad spend.
Use Cases for Click Flooding Filter
- Real-time fraud prevention at the click level
- Ad Campaigns lacking conversion data
- iOS ppc campaigns with unreliable CTIT
- Preventing click spam in app install mobile campaigns
- Blocking cookie dropping in eCommerce ad campaigns
- Unmasking Mobile Ad Fraud
The Hidden Threats of Spamming
Long Session Time:
- The duration between a user’s first interaction (click) and their final action (conversion), often extended by fraudulent activities like click flooding.
Long CTIT:
- Extended Click-To-Install Time; the time from when an ad is clicked to when the app is installed, which can be artificially prolonged by click spam.
Cookie Dropping:
- The act of placing cookies on a user’s device without their knowledge to fraudulently claim credit for conversions.
Mobile Ad Fraud:
- Various deceptive practices used to generate false engagements or misattribute conversions in mobile advertising campaigns.
How It Works
Massive Click Generation: Fraudsters use bots or malware-infected apps to generate a high volume of fake clicks.
Attribution Hijacking: By flooding the system with clicks, they increase the likelihood that their click is the last one before an install, thus hijacking the attribution.
Stealing Credit: Even if the user never interacted with the fraudster’s ad, the system attributes the install to them due to the last-click model.
Conclusion
Mobile ad fraud is an escalating menace, undermining the integrity of digital marketing. Key tactics such as click flooding and click spam generate vast volumes of fake clicks and fake ad impressions with the malicious intent of distorting conversion data and inflating click counts.
These deceptive practices extend session times and Click-To-Install Times (CTIT), leading to misattribution and inflated costs. Understanding and combating these fraudulent activities, including the covert cookie dropping, is crucial for maintaining the accuracy and effectiveness of mobile advertising campaigns.
