Playbook: Read a Click-to-Install-Time Distribution Like a Fraud Analyst

Playbook: Read a Click-to-Install-Time Distribution Like a Fraud Analyst

One chart catches most in-app attribution fraud. Read it right:
— Pull CTIT distribution per source, bucketed in seconds then days
— Healthy curve: a hump around 20s-2min (download + open), thinning over hours
— Spike under ~10 seconds: click injection — clicks fired at install completion, not by a real user
— Fat tail at multiple days: click flooding / spam clicks fishing for organic installs
— Suspiciously uniform distribution: scripted, not human behavior
— Compare suspect source's curve against a known-clean source side by side
— Set automated alerts on sub-10s share and 24h+ share per publisher

✓ Single metric exposes the two most common attribution frauds
✓ Available in every major MMP's raw data
✗ Slow-network geos legitimately push CTIT longer
✗ Doesn't catch fraud that mimics realistic timing

Verdict: Use CTIT as your first-pass fraud screen on every source; pair it with device + IP signals before cutting a partner.
Best for: Analysts who want a fast, no-cost read on in-app traffic quality.