Ad Tech

Enhancing Fraud Detection through Advanced Large Data Analysis

What once required 3 days and over 8 hours of manual work was almost completely eliminated after i-mobile deployed Spider AF across its hundreds of thousands of ad network partners.

https://www.i-mobile.co.jp/company.html
Industry
Ad Tech
Company Url
https://www.i-mobile.co.jp/company.html
Region
Tokyo, Japan
Spider AF Product
Reduced manual fraud detection
Reduced manual fraud detection
ROAS improvement
14 days Time to first insight
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.

01

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.

02

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.

03

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

01

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.

02

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.

03

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.

04

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
¥3,000 ¥2,000 ¥1,000 ¥0 Spider AF deployed Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Is click fraud eating your ad budget right now?

Most companies don't know how much they're losing until they measure it. Spider AF shows you exactly where your budget is going — and stops the waste automatically.

✓ No credit card required ✓ Setup in 30 min ✓ Cancel anytime

Enhancing Fraud Detection through Advanced Large Data Analysis

What once required 3 days and over 8 hours of manual work was almost completely eliminated after i-mobile deployed Spider AF across its hundreds of thousands of ad network partners.
Ad Platform Business HQ Chief Executive Officer, Yasuhiro Kai

Q. Please tell us about your company’s background and business.

We operate ad networks for smartphones and PC. We possess a lot of advertising inventory from the biggest and most successful web companies out there as well as hold the largest delivery inventory in Japan with banner native advertising.

Q. Please tell us about the problems/issues you were having before you introduced Spider AF.

Before we introduced Spider AF, we were handling fraud detection for impressions, clicks, and installation during ad deliveries.

However, since we handle a large number of web companies numbering in the hundreds of thousands, there was a lot of work cost in doing fraud detection and efficiency was becoming a problem.

Q: Did fraud detection take a lot of time?

It did indeed.

Extracting the data, processing/analyzing/organizing, reporting, and then finally visualizing everything took about 3 days. The total number of work hours was more than 8 hours. Because there is a lot of data that needs to be extracted and because there are multiple focal points that need to be tested, it takes up time.

Q. What kind of expectations did you have for Spider AF prior to the introduction?

We were looking for a service that could detect fraud with efficiency and high accuracy.

Q. Among the services provided with Spider AF, what was the deciding factor that caught your attention and made you want to go with Spider AF?

The deciding factors were being able to analyze a large number of logs efficiently and the expectation that accuracy can be improved by learning from the fraud results.

We first gave it a try and introduced it to our company. It lived up to our company’s exact specifications and helped us out a lot.

With each repeated result, the fraud detection accuracy improved, and now it can detect fraudulent media with high accuracy.

Q. When you were introducing Spider AF, did you have any difficulties/concerns?

There weren’t any particular difficulties.

When we introduced Spider AF, we were concerned about knowing how necessary the accuracy of fraud detection and work/learning costs would be, but soon after those concerns went away.

It was because it was highly accurate, and even inexperienced members could use the dashboard and prepare a report.

Q: How did you overcome them?

It’s all thanks to the fact that the service adjusted to our expectations and was able to respond flexibly.

Q: How many people actually introduced Spider AF and gave it a try?

Including members who were involved in the fraud response project, technology, and sales members – 10 people used it.

Q: Did it solve the problems you had before (prior to Spider AF)?

It almost completely eliminated the work time from the technology side of things.

Q: How do you use Spider AF?

At i-mobile, we conduct fraud detection in real-time when an ad is distributed.

Efforts have been made to exclude those determined to be fraudulent at the time of impressions and clicks. We use Spider AF for detecting/patrolling against fraudulent activities on our companies registered web companies based on delivering results.

Q. We would like to ask you about the support you received before and after introducing Spider AF. How was Phybbit’s support (engineers/sales)

They were very kind and polite when giving answers to our concerns. It helped us out.

Q: Were there places that you wish there was a little bit more support?

As a request, being able to download the report from the dashboard, and I think that if the Japanese response improves, the usability will improve. I am expecting that kind of support in the future.

Q: If there was one thing you could tell those thinking of introducing Spider AF/companies who are considering Spider AF, what would it be?

Spider AF is a fraud detection system with high accuracy and flexibility. It allows you to customize the scoring criteria and corresponds to detailed requests.

From a cost perspective and since it is easy to introduce, I recommend this to any company thinking of fraud protection!

Q: Finally, could you tell us about your company’s thoughts on ad fraud and how you will tackle the problem of ad fraud in the future?

For gaining a reputation in providing correct advertising results as an ad network, preventing fraudulent use is indispensable. We will work as an overarching mission to build an environment where advertisers and web operators can use our services fairly and with peace of mind.

In terms of industry, I would like to work with other companies in concert to improve the quality of the ad network (including the restriction on advertising that may trigger false clicks).