Click Injection
Click injection is an Android-specific form of mobile ad fraud where a click is triggered just before an app is fully installed so that the fraudster will get credit (rather than the real media source or ad network).
What is click injection?
A sophisticated form of click spamming, click injection will use an app located on the user’s device which “listens” to app installation broadcasts.
The fraudsters will be informed when new apps are installed on the device, triggering a click before installation is completed, enabling them to take credit for the install.
How does click injection work?
Fraudsters will often use "junk apps" located on the user’s device, remaining dormant until the installation broadcast "wakes it up" to hijack the user’s device and generate the click, stealing credit for an organic install or non-organic install generated by another network.
Beyond being an advertising budget theft, this method has more severe implications on the advertiser’s future targeting and segmentation of traffic, affecting ad spend planning and distribution, by highlighting a fraudulent source ahead of a legitimate one.