Stop fake installs in your affiliate program
Dishonest CPI affiliates generate fake app installs through device farms and bot scripts, claiming commission payouts for installs that never involved a real user.
Trusted by leading brands worldwide
Fake installs drain CPI commission budgets without acquiring real users
Cost Per Install affiliate programs are among the most abuse-exposed models in digital marketing. Dishonest publishers use device farms, bot scripts, and emulator environments to generate install events that appear legitimate to your MMP and affiliate network. Each fake install triggers a CPI commission payout, but there is no real user behind it. Your cost per loyal user is dramatically higher than your reported CPI suggests, and your user acquisition projections are built on inflated install numbers.
Sophisticated fake install operations go beyond the install event itself. To pass basic invalid traffic filters that only check install quality, bad actors simulate early in-app events, tutorial completions, first purchases, or registration steps, making installs appear to come from engaged users. These installs pass your MMP's validation rules, clear your affiliate network's quality checks, and are paid out as valid CPI conversions. Tapper analyzes the full session lifecycle, from click to install to post-install behavior, to identify the inconsistencies that distinguish fake installs from genuine user acquisition.
How Tapper stops fake installs on Affiliate
Three steps from connection to clean data, no engineering required.
01
Connect your MMP and affiliate tracking
Tapper integrates with your mobile measurement partner and affiliate network, monitoring the full attribution chain from click through to install and post-install events.
02
Fake installs detected across the full funnel
Tapper analyzes device signals, click-to-install timing, session behavior, and post-install event patterns to identify fake installs, including sophisticated operations that simulate early in-app events to bypass basic invalid traffic filters.
03
Commission payouts protected at every CPI tier
Invalid install attributions are rejected before commission calculations, protecting your CPI budget and ensuring your publisher tier rankings reflect genuine user acquisition performance.
Fake installs by the numbers
Data from Tapper's platform analysis and published industry research.
10-15%
Of affiliate spend lost to invalid traffic on average
28%
Of mobile installs are invalid globally on average
64%
Of affiliate programs experience significant invalid traffic
Tapper vs affiliate network invalid traffic detection
Fake install detection
Full session lifecycle analysis from click to post-install
Install-level signal matching only
Simulated in-app event detection
Behavioral analysis identifies scripted event sequences
Post-install events not analyzed
MMP integration
Compatible with AppsFlyer, Adjust, Kochava, Singular, and Branch
Network-native data only
Pre-payment invalid install rejection
Invalid installs excluded before commission calculated
Dispute process after payout
Leading brands growing with Tapper
See how companies are protecting their ad budgets and improving ROI with Tapper.
13%
lower CPA
8.6%
higher order rate
“Tapper played a key role in improving the efficiency of Du's performance marketing activity by addressing traffic quality issues within campaigns. Following implementation, Du achieved a 13% reduction in CPA and an 8.6% increase in order rate, demonstrating a clear improvement in conversion quality and overall campaign effectiveness.”
Joseph Elbcherrawy
Client Leadership Director, Mindshare, a WPP Media Brand
14%
more conversions
11.4%
lower CPA
“We uncovered low-quality traffic that wasn't visible inside the platforms. Removing it delivered a 14% uplift in conversions and an 11.4% reduction in CPA, a meaningful efficiency gain for INFINITI's 2026 growth plans.”
David Barnes
Data & Technology Lead, Omnicom Group
40%
higher conversion rate
“When we take low-quality traffic out of the funnel before it reaches the algorithm, the campaign optimizes against cleaner signals and the efficiency comes through quickly. For AMA Nissan, that was a 40% lift in conversion rate and a lower CPA on Google, with nothing else in the setup changing. That is the kind of result we want to offer clients as a matter of course.”
Sohail Khan
Senior Performance Manager, WPP Media MENA
Frequently asked questions
Fake installs corrupt your user acquisition data at every level. Your reported CPI appears lower than your real cost of acquiring genuine users. Your user cohorts include non-existent users who skew your retention, LTV, and engagement metrics. Publisher rankings based on install volume favor invalid sources over legitimate partners who drive real, high-quality users.
MMPs provide a baseline level of invalid install detection, but their detection focuses on known device-signal patterns and CTIT rules. Sophisticated fake install operations using device farms or emulator environments that correctly replicate device signals can bypass MMP detection. Tapper adds a behavioral analysis layer that identifies invalid traffic patterns MMPs are not designed to catch.
Tapper provides per-publisher invalid traffic scoring across all commission tiers. Invalid installs are rejected before they are included in any tier's performance metrics, ensuring that commission rates, tier promotions, and publisher rankings are calculated on genuine install data only.
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