Incent Fraud and Things to Look for While Running an Affiliate Program
February 06, 2025
Affiliate marketing has, over time, grown into one of the most powerful sources of promoting traffic and sales in digital marketing. The use of third-party partners is seen to broaden a business's circle by enabling it to drive measurable results. However, this system is increasingly exploited by opportunists who employ various fraudulent mobile ad fraud techniques.
These fraudulent affiliates have unethical ways of distorting the metrics of their campaigns; from stealing the due commission to faking high-value events like sales or sign-ups. One of the most prominent types of fraud in affiliate marketing is incent fraud, in which the affiliates stimulate users by asking them to install certain apps or do certain actions that will provide infiltrated performance metrics.
Tackled in this blog are the risks of incent fraud, red flags, its direct impact on affiliate programs, and the best ways to combat this crime.
What is Incent Fraud?
Incent fraud is paying users with the intent of getting installs and in some cases even events like first payment, signup etc. Though, these users are genuine humans, the installs coming are low-intent they usually uninstall the app after getting the incentive.
This form of fraud is especially damaging to mobile marketers as it impacts the install or in-app engagement and it leads to a high uninstall rate and low to no conversions.
Red Flags to Identify in Incent Campaigns
To safeguard users against incentive fraud marketers, need to be aware of the clear signs of fraud in affiliate systems.
Unusually High Installs in a Short Time
A sudden spike in installs without a matching rise in organic traffic is suspicious. If an affiliate is delivering installs at an abnormal rate, it could be fraudulent.
Faking Events
Fraudsters don’t stop at fake installs; they use bots or human farms to create fake sign-ups, purchases, or subscriptions. This skews data and misrepresents campaign success.
Inadequate Retention Rates
Users who install an app due to an incentive often uninstall it quickly or never return. A high churn rate after a surge in installs suggests fraud.
Low Level of In-App Engagement
Genuine users interact with an app by exploring features or making purchases. Fraudulent installs often show little to no meaningful engagement.
Impact of Incent Fraud on Affiliate Programs
Incent fraud can wreck the advertiser's marketing efforts. Some include:
An Increased Cost of Acquisition- Advertisers pay for low-intent installs and events, raising acquisition costs without real revenue gains.
A Skewed Campaign Performance- Fraud makes it difficult to measure campaign success accurately.
Wasted Marketing Budgets- Companies continue funding ineffective campaigns due to misleading data, leading to financial losses.
Damaged Brand Reputation- A brand associated with fraudulent or low-quality traffic risks losing the trust of customers and business partners. Apps engaging in such fraud may also face penalties from Google Play or the App Store, reducing visibility.
Best Practices to Avoid Incent Fraud in Affiliate Programs
There are several reasons for advert scams to exist and for their prevalence. In the meantime, try and follow some best practices for shielding your affiliate campaigns from incent fraud.
Vet Affiliates Thoroughly
Before approving an affiliate, check their background and past performance. Reliable affiliates follow ethical marketing practices.
Monitor Traffic Sources
Track where your traffic is coming from. High-quality traffic should align with your campaign goals, not come from suspicious sources.
Fraud Detection Tools
Deploying fraud detection solutions is key to identifying and stopping fraudulent activities in real-time. Valid8 by mFilterIt provides advanced monitoring to ensure affiliate legitimacy.
How to Distinguish Genuine Results from Fraudulent Ones
Remember these key performance indicators when you are trying to distinguish between real and fake performance observations carefully.
Rates of Retention - Authentic users typically spend more time on the app whereas fraudulent installs leave early in the session. Detecting incentive traffic will be made easier with retention monitoring.
In-App Interaction - Users legitimately explore the app and engage in beneficial activities such as buying things. Low engagement could be an indication of fraud.
Post-Install Events - Although post-install event tracking is useful for confirming the quality of users that have been purchased it should be noted that fraudulent traffic does not produce significant post-install activity.
Extended Affiliate Partnerships - To guard against fraud use trustworthy affiliates who have experience bringing in high-quality users. Give long-term enduring relationships precedence over transient busy providers.
Conclusion
Affiliate fraud remains one of the challenges caused in affiliate marketing, as it wastes ad spend, distorts performance metrics, and threatens reputations. This sort of fraud can be kept under observation.
By using ad fraud solution (Valid8) by mFilterIt, solutions ensure success in the campaign is solely dependent upon the affiliate, which promises positive ROI and sustainable growth.
Safeguard your affiliate marketing campaigns against advance threats to your authority and effectiveness through in-depth market research on fraud detection solutions and taking a proactive stand against incent fraud.
