Digital Marketing Agency

Case Study: Gentle Renegades and Spider AF

Detected and blocked fraudulent clicks threatening a $5,000/month roofing campaign, helping Gentle Renegades protect client ad spend and optimize performance.

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https://gentlerenegades.squarespace.com/

Industry

Digital Marketing Agency

Company Url

https://gentlerenegades.squarespace.com/

Region

San Antonio, Texas

Spider AF Product

Improvement improving lead quality

3× ROAS improvement

14 days Time to first insight

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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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

How quickly can Spider AF detect click fraud after integration?

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.

Does Spider AF work with both Google Ads and Meta Ads simultaneously?

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.

Will blocking fraudulent traffic reduce our reported impression/click volume?

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.

Can we use Spider AF for app install campaigns specifically?

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.

Is there a minimum spend required to benefit from Spider AF?

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.

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Case Study: Gentle Renegades and Spider AF

January 26, 2023

Case Study: Gentle Renegades and Spider AF

Detected and blocked fraudulent clicks threatening a $5,000/month roofing campaign, helping Gentle Renegades protect client ad spend and optimize performance.

Table of Contents

Overview

Gregory Valdez is the owner of Gentle Renegades, a digital marketing consultancy based in Houston, Texas. Gentle Renegades specializes in paid media and digital marketing services, with a focus on performance and growth-based solutions for clients with a digital presence.

Challenges

Gregory was managing a roofing client's campaign and noticed a high volume of fraudulent clicks. This was alarming as the client was spending $5,000 a month on the campaign, and Gregory wanted to ensure that their investment was being used effectively.

Solution

Gregory began researching solutions to detect and block against ad fraud, and came across Spider AF. He found that the platform offered a range of features and analytics that were more extensive than other solutions he had researched, and also had a more affordable price point. He decided to make an appointment with the Spider AF team to learn more about our services.

Why Spider AF

Gregory implemented the Spider AF platform and found the support from the team to be excellent. Spider AF provided a "white-glove" service, and were able to address his concerns and technical questions in a way that felt personalized and tailored to his business.

Results: Gregory found that the Spider AF platform was able to effectively detect and block fraudulent clicks, which helped him to optimize the campaign for his roofing client. The reporting and analytics features were also useful in identifying areas for improvement and optimization.

Recommendation

“I would recommend Spider AF to other companies looking to detect and block against ad fraud, due to the platform's features, analytics, and affordable pricing. I believe that the platform has the potential to be even more effective in the future, with the incorporation of AI and other technologies to highlight pressure points for consumers along the ad funnel journey.”