[Interview] An Advertising Analytics Company Helping Businesses Struggling Due to COVID-19

[Solution Report] Global Marketing Data Analytics Company AppsFlyer
Interview with Moon Yu-cheol, Head of Korea Branch
Detecting Ad Fraud Accurately through Data Analysis
Providing 'Zero Plan' Free for SMEs and Startups

AppsFlyer is a global marketing data analytics company holding a 72% market share worldwide. Moon Yu-cheol, head of the Korea branch, explained that the company provides solutions that detect advertising fraud and accurately identify effective advertisements to help businesses execute efficient advertising campaigns.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] As digital advertising surpasses offline media advertising spending, the global advertising industry is being reorganized around the digital market. According to the U.S. market research firm eMarketer, the global digital advertising market in 2019 was valued at $33.3 billion (38.1618 trillion KRW). The Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation estimated last year that the domestic advertising market was worth 13.9154 trillion KRW, of which the online advertising market accounted for 6.5291 trillion KRW.

Behind the rapid growth of the digital advertising market lies advertising fraud, commonly known as 'Fraud,' which has become a headache for the industry. Fraud, which manipulates data by exaggerating ad impressions or directing traffic to specific addresses through hacking programs disguised as users, is identified as a harmful factor disrupting the digital advertising market.

AppsFlyer is a leading company in mobile attribution (advertising contribution measurement technology), holding about 72% market share globally. It is recognized as a company with high expertise in detecting fraud through technologies such as marketing data analysis. Moon Yoochul, head of AppsFlyer Korea, explained, "The typical method of fraud is when employee B steals the achievements of employee A, who works hard at the company," adding, "The core of the solution is to filter out such false data and help companies accurately understand effective advertising so they can ultimately communicate more closely with consumers."

AppsFlyer estimated the global application fraud damage at $1.6 billion (1.8358 trillion KRW) in the first half of this year. Moon pointed out, "Recently, sophisticated fraud sends imitation signals similar to actual user patterns, making it appear as if the number of subscribers has increased, but in reality, no actual subscriptions occur, and only fake signals create virtual results."

To identify such fraud patterns, AppsFlyer focused on signals generated during app installations. Moon said, "If multiple apps are downloaded from one channel while the battery is at 100%, it is a suspicious sign of fraud," adding, "In addition, we provide real-time ad fraud detection solutions based on various data acquisitions, and Korea, where the usage rate of Android devices is higher than that of iPhones, tends to have a particularly high fraud occurrence rate."

A representative photo of a 'click farm' where fraud occurs. (Unrelated to the article content). Click farms are mainly located in developing countries such as China, Southeast Asia, and Africa, and manipulate advertising performance by repeatedly clicking likes, ratings, installing and uninstalling apps (manipulating download numbers). Photo by weibo

Korea Has the Highest Fraud Occurrence Rate in the World... Impact of Developed Gaming Industry

In fact, the domestic fraud occurrence rate was about 113% higher than the global average, ranking first among surveyed countries. Fraud was especially high in the gaming industry. Moon analyzed, "As Korea's gaming industry ranks fourth in the world, the annual average fraud rates in hardcore games and social casino sectors were confirmed to be 44% and 61%, respectively," adding, "The large market size has made it a target of fraud, raising the average domestic fraud occurrence rate."

In the domestic gaming industry, which has become a target of fraud, AppsFlyer has been offering a zero-budget marketing program called 'Zero Plan' free of charge since June to small and medium-sized enterprises struggling due to the impact of COVID-19. The Zero Plan provides digital marketing tools including smart banners and OneLink, which enhance user experience from web to app. Moon said, "I recently had the opportunity to meet with a nonprofit foundation's PR manager, who expressed gratitude for being able to improve advertising efficiency through the Zero Plan," adding, "Usage is expanding mainly among small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and nonprofit organizations that want to conduct effective advertising with limited budgets."

AppsFlyer, which has over 12,000 brands as clients, aims to provide solutions that support efficient marketing decision-making based on vast data analysis. Moon stated, "Domestic app developers face the burden of marketing costs that are disproportionately small compared to global companies when expanding overseas," and added, "We want to be a company that helps them target the global market through efficient data analysis with our program, so they do not have to experience the trial and error faced by large corporations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.