Hacker News Reader

nickabeon I sent Google proof of a bot farm. They called it "normal user behavior."

I think you're probably right, and even a lot of the corporate "help" is bots.

nickabeon I sent Google proof of a bot farm. They called it "normal user behavior."

Clearly a bot - what human wouldn't want to see ads?

nickabeon I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

Yeah sorry - adding it to Europe probably next week though.

nickabeon I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

Thanks very much - really means a lot that you enjoyed it, we put a lot of effort into making it.

nickabeon I spent $220 on Google app ads. 60% of the installs were robots

Yeah if there's a DB that would be helpful - I'm not currently capturing the IP, but I'll see if I can add it in a future release.

nickabeon I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

Surprisingly, no. 29 of the 30 zero-time installs had no click at all; Google credited them to someone watching the video. The install isn't what gets the farm paid. It's what makes Google's bidding think that placement is working, so it sends it more of your ads.

nickabeon I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

I guess that's the nice thing about not having a VC... there's no advantage to spinning to anything other than fraud lol.

nickabeon I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

Thanks, and agreed. The in-app goal was the lesson, and I'd rather have learned it at $220 than at a trial-run budget. The part I found interesting is that Google's count wasn't wrong: there really were 21 installs. You only saw the problem by looking at which version of the app they installed. The YC advice is roughly where I've ended up too. And fair point on the refund, I'm not holding my breath, but I'll report back either way.