Marketing and advertising

$2,894 Loss Detected in 3 Days Through PMAX!

In just three days, $2,894 in wasted ad spend was uncovered across 490 fraudulent PMAX placements — forecasting $28,940 in annual savings.

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https://drayberkakcay.com/

Industry

Marketing and advertising

Company Url

https://drayberkakcay.com/

Region

Instanbul, Turkey

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3× ROAS improvement

14 days Time to first insight

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The Challenge

Budget disappearing with nothing to show for it

MOTA's performance team noticed their cost-per-install was rising sharply — but installs weren't converting to active users. Something was eating their budget.

Google Ads campaigns showing high install volume with near-zero in-app activity
Meta click-through rates inflated by what appeared to be bot traffic
Internal attribution data was inconsistent — impossible to identify the source
Monthly ad spend growing without corresponding business results
Manual IP blocking too slow and too narrow to make a meaningful impact

Why Spider AF

The only platform built specifically for ad fraud detection

MOTA needed more than a generic analytics tool. They needed a system that understood how click fraud works in performance marketing — and could stop it in real time.

Real-time invalid traffic detection

Spider AF monitors every click and impression in real time, flagging bot traffic, click farms, and abnormal patterns the moment they appear — before they drain more budget.

Direct Google & Meta integration

Native integrations with both platforms allow Spider AF to feed exclusion lists back automatically — no manual uploads, no lag between detection and action.

Transparent fraud reporting

Detailed dashboards give MOTA's team clear evidence of exactly what was fraudulent, how much it cost, and proof of savings — making it easy to justify the ROI internally.

The Approach

From blind spots to full visibility in four steps

Connect & audit

MOTA connected their Google Ads and Meta accounts to Spider AF in under 30 minutes. Spider AF immediately began pulling historical click data to establish a baseline — surfacing patterns that had gone unnoticed for months.

Identify fraud sources

The platform identified three distinct fraud vectors: click farms targeting their branded keywords on Google, bot-generated clicks on Meta video ads, and a network of spoofed apps generating fraudulent impressions.

Deploy exclusion rules

Spider AF automatically pushed IP exclusion lists and audience exclusions to both platforms. Rules were updated daily, keeping pace with evolving fraud patterns without requiring manual intervention from the MOTA team.

Monitor & optimise

With clean traffic data flowing in for the first time, MOTA's team could make genuine optimisation decisions. Bid strategies, audience targeting, and creative allocation all improved — because the underlying data was finally trustworthy.

The Results

Campaign performance before & after Spider AF

Valid installs rose while overall spend held steady — a direct result of eliminating fraudulent traffic from the media mix.

Monthly cost-per-install trend (JPY)

Before Spider AF After Spider AF

Pre-deployment average: ¥2,840 / install Post-deployment average: ¥940 / install

"We knew something was wrong, but we had no way to prove it. Spider AF gave us the evidence we needed — and then fixed the problem automatically."

Takeshi Yamamoto

Head of Performance Marketing, MOTA

The Outcome

Clean data. Real results. Confidence restored.

Six months after deployment, MOTA's performance marketing operates on a foundation of trusted data — and their results speak for themselves.

With invalid traffic eliminated, MOTA reallocated ¥2.4 million in previously wasted budget to high-performing placements, tripled their ROAS on Google Ads, and built the internal case to double their digital ad investment in the following fiscal year.

Frequently Asked

Questions about Spider AF for performance marketing

How quickly can Spider AF detect click fraud after integration?

Spider AF begins flagging suspicious patterns within hours of connecting your ad accounts. Most customers see their first actionable fraud report within 24–48 hours, and automated exclusion rules take effect immediately once confirmed.

Does Spider AF work with both Google Ads and Meta Ads simultaneously?

Yes. Spider AF has native integrations with Google Ads, Meta Ads, and many other major ad platforms. Exclusion lists and audience blocks can be pushed to all connected platforms simultaneously from a single dashboard.

Will blocking fraudulent traffic reduce our reported impression/click volume?

Yes — and that's the point. Raw numbers will decrease, but your real metrics (genuine installs, conversions, ROAS) will improve because your budget is now reaching actual humans. Spider AF's reporting helps you explain this shift to stakeholders clearly.

Can we use Spider AF for app install campaigns specifically?

Absolutely. Spider AF is particularly effective for app install campaigns, where fraudulent traffic patterns (such as install farms and click injections) are most prevalent. The platform includes dedicated detection models tuned for mobile app marketing.

Is there a minimum spend required to benefit from Spider AF?

There's no hard minimum, but customers typically see the strongest ROI when spending ¥500,000 or more per month on digital advertising. Even at lower budgets, the data-quality improvements can meaningfully change optimisation decisions.

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$2,894 Loss Detected in 3 Days Through PMAX!

May 10, 2024

$2,894 Loss Detected in 3 Days Through PMAX!

In just three days, $2,894 in wasted ad spend was uncovered across 490 fraudulent PMAX placements — forecasting $28,940 in annual savings.

Table of Contents

Introduction

During our recent conversation with Savas Tutumlu, a seasoned Performance Marketer leading acquisition marketing efforts for renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Ayberk Akcay, we explored the transformative impact of Spider AF's ad fraud prevention solution on their digital marketing endeavors. Within the trial period of just three days, Spider AF uncovered an alarming $2,894 of ad expenditure lost to placements on irrelevant websites, resulting in 106 fraudulent registrations. This discovery underscored the urgent necessity for robust fraud prevention measures and optimization strategies to safeguard their digital campaigns.

Spider AF seamlessly integrated into their workflow, delivering significant time savings for Savas. The solutions offered by Spider AF demonstrated clear value in streamlining operations and driving improvements in campaign performance.

Why Spider AF?

After facing persistent challenges with lead quality in their digital campaigns, Savas Tutumlu recognized the pressing need for a solution. Many WhatsApp registrations turned out to be fake, and despite efforts to engage with the leads, response rates from relevant prospects could have been higher.

For an offline business like Dr. Akcay's plastic surgery practice, digital campaigns serve as a vital bridge between online browsers and potential clinic visitors.

Free Trial

PMAX inadvertently displayed ads on numerous fraudulent websites. Spider AF identified a whopping 490 fraudulent placements during this short period. These placements resulted in a total spending of $2,894 and 106 fraudulent registrations. Typically, such detailed data isn’t visible in Google ads for our customers. However, we can access this data via API and provide it to our customers.

The data from Spider AF highlighted that Savas' Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns were publishing ads on irrelevant websites. For instance, who registers for kids' websites? And does the advertiser really want customers from Japan?

Additionally, some placements appeared as spoofed domains, impersonating famous ad networks. These fraudulent placements not only wasted ad spend but also generated fraudulent conversions. Therefore, AI mislead to fraud placements. And this is not the first time we see that. We saw one of our customers lose $30k/m to a single fraudulent placement and they had damage from several other fraudulent placements, resulting in a huge loss at the time.

The total spending on these placements in just three days was significant. Spider AF's ability to detect these fraudulent placements and provide deeper insights into ad performance highlights its value in protecting advertisers' budgets and ensuring that ads are displayed on relevant and reputable websites.

Benefits and Results

Since integrating Spider AF 3 months ago, Savas Tutumlu has experienced significant improvements in campaign performance metrics. His Cost per Acquisition (CPA) has improved by 14%, indicating more efficient spending on acquiring leads. Additionally, there has been a 12% increase in Conversion Rate (CVR), leading to a higher number of successful conversions within the same advertising budget. These positive trends are expected to continue, contributing to ongoing ROI growth and campaign success for Dr. Ayberk Akcay's plastic surgery practice.

Savas Tutumlu saved $516.37 in ad click costs on one ad placement that generated 26 irrelevant conversions, and approximately $28,940 is forecasted to be saved in blocked placements across irrelevant websites.

In the advertiser’s words:

"As a freelancer working for a plastic surgeon client, I heavily rely on Performance MAX campaigns. However, I noticed a gap in conversions and encountered high CPA rates with unsatisfactory results. Switching to Spider AF was a game-changer. It provided cleaner data, crucial for optimizing campaign performance. The competitive pricing of Spider AF was a deciding factor for me. With Spider AF, I no longer waste time and find the tool incredibly valuable. Since integrating Spider AF, my campaign performance has significantly improved, particularly in ad performance. Additionally, I've had a great experience with the Spider AF team." – Savas Tutumlu