To prevent bots or malware from causing ad clicks

Tune announced that it is working with Google to fundamentally resolve mobile app advertising fraud known as click injection on the Android system.

Click injection refers to bots or malware installed on a mobile device stealing advertising credit for actual app installations and the marketing costs associated with them, and means that bots or malware generate fake ad clicks during the process of a user opening an app for the first time after downloading it.

In 2017, it is estimated that $139 billion of all paid media advertising worldwide will be invested in mobile app install ads, with a total of $7.5 billion invested in the United States. Tune forecasts that click injection will account for 30–40% of all mobile app install fraud, meaning that marketers worldwide waste $500 million to $700 million annually on such fraud.

Google recently introduced the Play Install Referrer API to help tracking solution providers like Tune block click injection in the app ecosystem in response to the rise in click injection. Tune combines new Google Play referral data with its TUNE Marketing Console to help users know the exact time app downloads start.

The newly introduced anonymous data specifies the time when an app installation began. Combined with Tune’s leading app attribution tracking solution, it captures all ad clicks and event information occurring between the time the app is downloaded and its initial launch. Based on this, marketers can accurately measure and eliminate fraudulent click injections and fraudulent app installations. Marketers measuring app downloads on Google Play using Tune’s solution can now identify and ultimately eliminate click injections without impacting actual customer downloads.

Peter Hamilton, CEO of Tune, stated, “Over the past two years, marketers and advertising partners have collaborated to develop new tools to combat mobile advertising fraud, and with this product, Tune is now able to lead the industry with the most granular approach.” He added, “The biggest shortfall in the fight against mobile advertising fraud has been direct cooperation with platform companies. This is why our collaboration with Google is so important. Through data connectivity with Google, we are now able to completely eradicate click injection, which accounts for about one-third of mobile advertising fraud, and this is exactly what the industry needs. We look forward to further enhancing the effectiveness of mobile marketing through continued collaboration with the Google team.”

This product holds significant meaning for both marketers and app developers who invest time and money to drive app downloads on Google Play. Low-quality traffic and fraud related to mobile app installs waste $7 billion in marketing costs annually. If click injection is eradicated, marketers will be able to expect a higher quality customer influx through Google Play.