Mobile app install checks for e-commerce
Fake installs, SDK spoofing, and click farm traffic drain your UA budget and corrupt the LTV models your e-commerce app depends on to acquire high-value shoppers. Tapper checks every install and reinstall against four fraud rules.
Advertisers and agencies using Tapper
Invalid traffic on e-commerce app UA inflates CPI and destroys purchase attribution accuracy
E-commerce apps are among the highest-value targets for invalid mobile traffic because CPI payouts are large and post-install purchase events are lucrative attribution targets. Your MMP records what appears to be a high-intent user. The purchase never happens because the user never existed.
The damage is compounded when invalid installs contaminate your retargeting audiences. If fake installs enter your user database, retargeting campaigns built on lookalike audiences derived from that database will target users who resemble invalid profiles rather than real shoppers. Your acquisition cost rises, your conversion rates fall, and the source of the underperformance is invisible until you examine the quality of the underlying install data.
Purchase attribution abuse adds another layer of risk specific to e-commerce. Click injection and click stuffing attacks intercept conversions that would otherwise be attributed to organic or high-performing paid channels, redirecting CPI and CPA payouts to bad actors. Your top-performing channels appear less effective than they are, and budget decisions made on this data consistently undervalue your best sources of real shoppers.
Tapper adds a separate check beside your MMP. It looks at four things on each install and reinstall: the time from click to install, whether a click was injected as the install began, a location that does not match the one your MMP reports, and installs from datacenter, VPN or proxy networks.
How Tapper checks your e-commerce app installs
Three steps from connecting your MMP to seeing your installs in your dashboard.
01
Tapper works with the major mobile measurement partners and stores the installs and in-app events your MMP reports, each with its campaign and publisher.
02
Each install and reinstall is run through four rules: install timing, click injection, a location that does not match the one the MMP reports, and datacenter, VPN or proxy networks.
03
The Mobile tab of your Tapper dashboard shows your installs and in-app events by campaign and network. Your MMP data and your campaigns stay as they are.
What Tapper checks on every mobile install
How the mobile fraud rules work, in numbers.
4
Fraud rules checked on every install and reinstall
2
Install events checked: new installs and reinstalls
0
Changes to your MMP data, attribution or campaigns
Tapper vs your MMP alone
Role
A separate check beside your MMP
Tracks and credits installs
Install source
Installs and in-app events stored with campaign and publisher
Attribution inside the MMP
Fraud rules
Four rules on every install and reinstall
Depends on the MMP and its plan
Your MMP data
Never changed by Tapper
Kept as the MMP reports it
Frequently asked questions
E-commerce apps offer bad actors two payouts: the initial CPI for the install and potential CPA payouts tied to in-app purchase events. Bad actors invest in simulating both to maximize revenue per campaign targeted. Higher-spending categories like fashion, electronics, and grocery apps attract proportionally more sophisticated bot and click farm operations because the per-install value is greater.
LTV models are built on cohort behavior, specifically the purchase frequency, average order value, and retention of users acquired through each channel. When invalid installs are included in those cohorts, the model is trained on a user base that mixes real shoppers with non-existent ones. The result is LTV predictions that overestimate revenue potential and drive budget allocation toward channels heavy with invalid traffic.
Four rules on every install and reinstall: the time from click to install, click injection, a location that does not match the one your MMP reports, and installs from datacenter, VPN or proxy networks. Each install is stored with its campaign and publisher.
No. Your install counts, your attribution and your campaigns stay exactly as your MMP reports them, and Tapper runs its checks beside them.
No. Your MMP keeps tracking and crediting installs. Tapper sits beside it as a separate check on each install and reinstall.
Other industries on Mobile app
Common invalid traffic types targeting e-commerce on Mobile app
See fraud in your e-commerce app installs
Get a demo and we will show you how Tapper checks the installs on your account.