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R E A L C U S T O M E R S , R E A L C L I C K SP R E V E N T I N G F R A U D I N M O B I L E

A D V E R T I S I N G

H O W Y O U A P P I P R O T E C T S R E T U R N O N A D S P E N D F O R M O B I L E A P P A D V E R T I S E R S A N D P U B L I S H E R S

As more money comes into the mobile advertising ecosystem, it has become a bigger target for fraudulent activity, putting advertisers at risk. Today’s mobile app publishers face

numerous threats, from click attribution fraud and device emulation to re-brokering and auto-redirect. In fact, only a fraction of your ad spend may be reaching actual customers,

with the rest going to bad actors of all kinds.

A diverse and dynamic fraud landscape calls for multi-layered methods and technologies to safeguard your ad investment. As the leading advertising platform for mobile brands,

YouAppi has incorporated sophisticated anti-fraud measures into the OneRun Growth Marketing Platform to detect and prevent illicit activity. This white paper explores in depth both the types of fraud currently targeting mobile advertising, and how OneRun addresses

them to ensure optimal safety and return on ad spend for advertisers and publishers.

O V E R V I E W

F I G H T I N G T H E M U L T I - B I L L I O N D O L L A R A D F R A U D P R O B L E M

INDUSTRY ANALYSTS HAVE SOUNDED THE ALARM ABOUT

ONL INE ADVERT IS ING FRAUD

According to a report by The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), the costs of ad fraud will rise from $7.2 billion now to at least $50 billion by 2025.

WHILE TH IS F IGURE INCLUDES BOTH MOBILE AND DESKTOP ADS, THE RAP ID GROWTH OF MOBILE ADVERT IS ING—AND I TS RELAT IVE IMMATURITY—MAKE I T AN ESPEC IALLY

APPEAL ING TARGET

“As the mobile channel is relatively new and its detection not as mature, fraudsters are turning to it in the hopes they will have an easier time perpetrating fraud initiated from mobile devices,” said Andras Cser VP, principal analyst for security & risk professionals at Forrester.

As Forrester analyst Susan Bidel noted in a recent report titled “Fraud and Fat Fingers Distort the Mobile Advertising Landscape,” “Fraudsters not only apply techniques tested and proven in desktop advertising to the mobile web, but also fashion new strategies specifically to target the mobile app environment.”

(quote, June 2015: http://adexchanger.com/mobile/mobile-fraud-its-time-to-start-paying-attention/) 

BEYOND THE THREATS TO REVENUE AND SECURITY, I L L IC I T ACT IV I TY THREATENS TO UNDERMINE THE FUNDAMENTAL ECONOMIC MODEL OF THE WEB BY LEADING CONSUMERS

TO OPT OUT OF ADVERT IS ING ENT IRELY

A corollary effect of malware and ad fraud is that it also encourages ad blocking adoption. Over 40% of consumers stated that they use ad blockers to protect themselves against malware and viruses, according to a recent survey by Optimal.com and Wells Fargo cited by Business Insider. Mobile ad-blocking usage, meanwhile, is high and growing fast: over 419 million people worldwide are using mobile ad-blockers (one-fifth of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users), a 90% increase from last January, according to a study by PageFair.

(http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-ad-fraud-outbreak-is-a-sign-of-things-to-come-2016-7)

IN THE FACE OF TH IS SER IOUS AND GROWING PROBLEM, ADVERT IS ING SOLUT ION PROVIDERS MUST DR IVE CONSTANT INNOVAT ION TO PROTECT THE IR CUSTOMERS FROM FRAUD IN ALL I TS FORMS—NOT JUST THE ONE OR TWO MOST PREVALENT, BUT THE FULL SPECTRUM OF I L L IC I T ACT IV I TY. TH IS INCLUDES :

Click Attribution Fraud

Incentive Traffic

Re-Brokering

Auto-Redirect

Web Hosting

Fake Registration

Multiple IP/Subnet

Device Emulator

Y O U A P P I H A S D E S I G N E D T H E O N E R U N P L A T F O R M T O F I G H T F R A U D ,

P R O T E C T O R G A N I C U S E R S A N D :

A.I.

Safeguard our customer acquisition campaigns

Use advanced algorithms and AI/machine learning to deliver high-quality users for every campaign we manage

Patrol every click source, helping ensure a positive ROI

for every campaign

Guarantee fraud prevention and protection

When organic installs are ”hijacked” by a fraudulent publisher, the delay between the (fake) click and the organic install is almost arbitrary.

In the case of “hijacked organic installs,” instead of having the vast majority of the installs within the first couple of hours after the click, only a small part of the installs occur during this time window.

THE PR IMARY R ISK FOR FRAUDULENT ACT IV I TY THAT YOUAPPI HAS FACED IS CL ICK ATTR IBUT ION FRAUD

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

CL ICK-TO- INSTALL DELAY D ISTR IBUT ION (HOURS )TYP ICAL VS . FRAUDULENT D ISTR IBUT ION

O R G A N I C I N S T A L L S H I J A C K I N G – H O U R L Y V I E W O F C L I C K - T O - I N S T A L L

D E L A Y D I S T R I B U T I O N

When an impression is generated in

an app, multiple artificial click URLs are

sent by the fraudulent publisher to the

attribution vendor, as if the user clicked

on app-install ads.

The user is not aware of these click URLs,

which are attributed to the fraudulent

publisher for some advertised apps.

If the user installs one of these apps

organically, the fraudulent publisher is

credited for the organic install by the

attribution vendors.

Since click attribution fraud attributes

the organic installs to the fraudulent

publisher, the app owner experiences

reduction in its organic installs.

Since click attribution fraud attributes

the organic installs to the fraudulent

publisher, the app owner experiences

reduction in its organic installs.

In this example - before the fraudulent

publisher takes part in the campaign

- the part of organic installs is 64%,

while the user acquisition part is 36%.

The click attribution fraud that started

in day 5 reduces the portion of

organic installs from 64% to 43%.

The app owner pays for about 20%

of its organic installs.

HOW IT WORKSCL ICK ATTR IBUT ION FRAUD RESULTS IN IMMEDIATE REDUCT ION IN ORGANIC INSTALLS

PERCENTAGE OF ORGANIC INSTALLS OF AN APP IN US CL ICK ATTR IBUT ION FRAUD TRAFF IC STARTS ON DAY5

( AT TR I BUT ION WINDOW 24 HOURS )

ORGANIC INSTALLS

D A Y S

PAID INSTALLS

C L I C K A T T R I B U T I O N F R A U D

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Our data scientists run click validity analysis that qualifies click sources.

Ensuring clicks from real users; shoppers, gamers and riders, not malicious

imposters or bots.

• Analysis is done on thousands of clicks that accrue in about 20 minutes

during the peak hours.

• More than 40% of the click traffic from some of the fraudulent publishers

actually consists of multiple clicks from a single user to multiple campaigns

within several seconds.

Each traffic source generates a consistent pattern of installs and conversions.

YouAppi has implemented fast-acting alerts when anomalies are detected.

Allowing us to quickly examine sources for fraud and empowering you to

be proactive in fraud prevention.

• When the app is not popular, there is a small number of organic installs.

• The result is a very low conversion in the install to click ratio.

Monitor app traffic patterns with our App Scanning Phone Lab, so you

can test usage patterns, downloads and installs.

CL ICK VAL ID I TY ANALYS IS

HOURLY INSTALL AND CONVERS ION ANALYS IS (CL ICK-TO- INSTALL CONVERS ION RAT IO)

CONT INUOUS AUTOMATED APP SCANNING

CL ICK-TO- INSTALL DELAY ANALYS IS

H O W W E A D D R E S S I T

Most installs (90 percent) happen within four hours of download.

Continuous and in-depth analysis of download delays will expose

fraudulent downloads, readying us to act fast in blacklisting fraudulent

sources.

• Non-game campaigns - 60% of installs, downloads and first opening of

the app occur within an hour after the click.

• Game campaigns - About 90% of the installs occur during the first two

hours after the click and close to 100% within five hours after the click.

• When organic installs are ”hijacked” by a fraudulent publisher, the delay

between the (fake) click and the organic install is almost arbitrary.

• In the case of “hijacked organic installs,” instead of having the vast

majority of the installs within the first couple of hours after the click, only a

small part of the installs occur during this time window.

YouAppi offers one single point to streamline your mobile media buying. YouAppi’s OneRun Platform combines the power of machine learning with our proprietary predictive algorithms, analyzing over

250 terabytes of data every day.

Our Media Management Team leverages the power of OneRun to understand your KPIs, set up your campaign, and ensure that you pay

the right price for the right conversion.

O N E R U N O V E R V I E W

O U R “ D I G I T A L D N A ” H E L P S A C Q U I R E A N D C O N V E R T M O R E

C U S T O M E R S W I T H O U R P R O P R I E T A R Y M A T C H I N G A L G O R I T H M S A N D R E C O M M E N D A T I O N E N G I N E

W E U S E C O H O R T T E C H N O L O G Y T O P R E D I C T A U S E R ’ S N E X T M O V E

As the mobile marketing landscape matures, so do the tactics of sophisticated hackers. YouAppi is working 24 / 7 / 365 on delivering

quality campaigns, ensuring the best offers and experience for app users, with zero fraud. As the leading advertising platform for mobile brands,

YouAppi has incorporated sophisticated anti-fraud measures into the OneRun Growth Marketing Platform to detect and prevent illicit activity.

Y O U C A N T R U S T Y O U A P P I W I T H Y O U R M O B I L E M A R K E T I N G C A M PA I G N S , E N S U R I N G O P T I M A L S A F E T Y A N D R E T U R N O N A D S P E N D

F O R A D V E RT I S E R S A N D P U B L I S H E R S .

C O N C L U S I O N

ONE R U N ZERO F R A U D

Y O U A P P I . C O M

Step under the YouAppi umbrella and use the OneRun Platform to secure your media spend and ensure it reaches target markets,

not scammers and fraudsters.