<b>My tracker and the network disagreed by 22%. Both were right.</b>

<b>My tracker and the network disagreed by 22%. Both were right.</b>

I thought I had a fraud problem. I had an attribution-window problem.

<i>The setup</i>
— CPI app-install offer, $1.40 payout, ~$1,000/day.
— My tracker reported 740 conversions. The network paid for 578.

<i>The move</i>
Before screaming "shaving," I lined up the timestamps and compared attribution windows.

<i>The numbers (illustrative)</i>
— My tracker used a 30-day click window. The network: 7-day click, 1-day view.
— The 162-conversion gap was almost entirely installs that fired on days 8-21.
— Real shaving, after the math: maybe 3%, within noise.

<i>The lesson</i>
Most "the network is stealing from me" cases are window mismatches, not theft. If you optimize toward your tracker's number while getting paid on theirs, you'll scale campaigns that look profitable and aren't.

<i>What I'd do differently</i>
Align my tracker's attribution window to the advertiser's terms <u>on day one</u>, and reconcile against payable conversions weekly, not gut feel. The number you optimize toward has to be the number you get paid on, or you're flying blind in a fog of your own making.