Arbitrage lives on speed — so does fraud
In CPA and mobile user acquisition, decisions are made on CTR, CR and payout. Fraudsters optimize the same metrics: Click Injection, SDK Spoofing, device farms and «soft» bots that pass the network's basic filters.
ClikBy does not replace an MMP (AppsFlyer, Adjust) and does not judge the partner network legally. The platform gives an independent click-quality layer on your tracking links — before attribution in the MMP and before the CPA payout.
Three schemes that eat payout
- Click Injection. A malicious SDK catches the install moment and inserts the affiliate's «last click» milliseconds before the install. Organic is paid as paid.
- SDK Spoofing. Emulation of install events without a real user. The MMP sees a conversion; LTV later does not add up.
- Junk CPA / bot farms. Cheap traffic with perfect CTR and zero retention. Often disguised as geo you do not target in Ads.
Marketer checklist before scaling a source
- Сверьте click → install lag: abnormally short windows — a red flag for injection.
- Compare CR on the ClikBy smart link (confirmed vs bot) with the network report for the same period.
- Check retention D1/D7 by sub-source, not only by campaign aggregate.
- Request from the network raw logs IP / device model — a gap versus ClikBy Audience strengthens the case for hold payout.
- Do not scale the source until the bot share on the tracking-link is stably below your threshold for 7–14 days.
«The CPA network shows 800 installs. ClikBy on the pre-landing shows 40% bot clicks from one sub-ID. This is not a philosophy debate — it is a reason to stop payout and renegotiate terms.»
How to connect ClikBy in an affiliate funnel
Place a smart link between the ad and the pre-landing / store (or on each sub-ID via mass create). Filter Audience by alias, look at conversion score and bot_server / bot_filter statuses. Exporting fraud-IP via Pulse is an extra lever in Ads, not a replacement for blocking in the MMP.
More on the mechanics: fraud traffic and budget drain.
Red flags in CPA reports without ClikBy
Install without preceding events in the funnel, 100% CR on «cheap» geo, zero post-install revenue with high declared CR — symptoms the network may months write off as «optimization». An independent click log on the pre-landing removes the dispute.
Legal contour (brief)
Hold payout when logs diverge is contractual practice, not a ClikBy feature. The platform provides technical artifacts: click timestamp, score, bot status, fingerprint summary for talks with the network manager.
