Ad fraud prevention: what it is and when it matters

What fraud prevention actually does

When you pay a partner per install, each install an MMP credits to that partner is one you owe money for. Fraud prevention is a set of checks that run before or after that credit is given. If an install fails a check, the MMP marks it as rejected, withholds credit from the partner and shows you the reason. The definition of the problem itself is in the ad fraud glossary entry.

The checks look for patterns that real people rarely produce: a click and an install only a second or two apart, thousands of installs from one network address, devices that never open the app a second time.

The four types it looks for

The first two steal credit for real users, which also distorts your view of organic installs. The last two invent users. Both kinds push budget toward the wrong partner.

When it matters for a small team

Fraud follows payment terms. A partner paid per install has a reason to claim installs. The more such partners you use, and the less you can see into where their traffic comes from, the more the checks earn their cost.

It matters less when you pay no partner per install and judge campaigns by purchases or subscriptions. A fake install does not buy anything, so optimising toward a paid event already filters a share of the problem. That is a reason to delay the purchase. It does not prove your traffic is clean.

Plan pages differ on where the feature sits. Some vendors put it in every plan; others place it in a higher tier or sell it separately, as covered in capabilities often outside an entry plan. Airbridge is in the second group: fraud detection is part of the Growth plan and is not in Core.^[1]

Warning signs you can spot without a fraud tool

• One source has many installs and almost no activity after the first open.
• A source's installs arrive within seconds of the click, again and again.
• A source has a very large number of clicks for each install.
• Installs from a new partner rise while your store downloads stay flat.
• Your organic installs fall on the same day a new partner starts.

None of these proves fraud. Each one is a reason to ask the partner for placement detail and to pause spending until you have it.

What to do next

1. List the ad partners you pay per install. If the list is empty, note the warning signs above and move on.
2. If the list is not empty, make fraud filtering a must-have when you build your shortlist.
3. Ask each vendor which plan includes it and whether you can see rejected installs with reasons. That is question 8 in the ten questions for every vendor.