With the advancement of technology, the world is becoming increasingly connected, and as a result, we see the use of smartphones and apps becoming more and more common. There is always someone using their phone, whether it’s to send a message, check social media, play a game, or even pay bills. This technological progress brings us many conveniences and positive impacts, but it also raises a significant concern: the advancement of fraud techniques.
Fraud is already responsible for the loss of billions of dollars, and the numbers have been increasing every year, causing great damage to marketing budgets and directly impacting the ROI (return on investment) of campaigns.
According to the “The State of Mobile App Fraud” report released by AppsFlyer in April 2023, the categories with the highest rates of app installation fraud in Brazil are: as we can see in the graphs below:
Android: Finance, Communication, Food & Drink, Gaming – Other, and Education with Fraud Rate above 10%.
iOS: Finance, Gaming – Other, Food & Drink, Art & Design, and Shopping.
Fraud tactics are becoming more and more sophisticated, making it increasingly difficult to identify and combat them. Nowadays, we know that the mobile ad fraud with the highest rates is caused by bots.
Bots are nothing more than computer programs that fraudsters use to imitate human behavior using dynamic IPs with the aim of sending false clicks, impressions, installations, and in-app events, that is, events that did not actually occur. In addition to bots, we have the famous types of fraud such as click flooding, fake publishers, and installation hijacking.
But the truth is that no matter what strategy fraudsters use, all of them harm the performance of advertising campaigns, increase costs for advertisers, and eat away marketing budgets. So the big challenge is to invest the campaign budget safely, bringing in the most qualified users with the lowest fraud rate.
But…what is the best way to do it?
Having effective strategies against fraud!
One of the main strategies is to have an MMP – Mobile Measurement Partner. MMP’s are companies specialized in providing tools and solutions to measure and analyze the performance of campaigns in apps, and they are great allies in monitoring and blocking fraudulent activities.
Another important point is the constant monitoring of campaign performance metrics, such as ROI, conversion rate, and user retention rate. If there is any unusual behavior in these data, it may indicate the presence of fraud.
In addition to these points, it is essential for marketing professionals to stay updated on fraud trends and preventive measures.
Investing in fraud prevention may seem like an additional cost, but in the long run, you will be saving money by reducing budget waste and ensuring that the campaign reaches its target audience in the best possible way.
One of the main goals of Appreach is to fight fraud and be a transparent partner you can trust.
If you need help, count on us, we have a team of experts who can optimize your campaigns and assist you in daily fraud monitoring!
Mariana Leite – Data Manager at Appreach