Recruitment sources, ranked by how much fraud they carry
Where a panel member came from predicts their behaviour better than almost anything you can measure once they are inside.
Outline. Each heading below carries one line saying what the section has to establish. Expand each into two to four paragraphs, put at least one number or worked example in the piece that nobody else could publish, then delete this note.
Fraud is not evenly distributed across a panel. It concentrates by acquisition channel, and the channel is known at signup — long before any behavioural signal exists.
The channels, and what each one selects for
Organic search, referral, paid social, incentive affiliates. Describe the person each attracts.
Affiliate traffic is where the concentration is, and why
Payment per signup creates the incentive. Say it without pretending the channel is unusable.
Cost per member against cost per usable complete
The cheap channel stops being cheap once removal rates are priced in. Show the arithmetic shape.
What changes if you screen harder at the door
Front-loading verification versus catching it later, and what each does to conversion.
Why the split is almost never published
It is the question that separates suppliers, which is exactly why it is answered vaguely.
Publishing ours
State the intent and the caveat: the number has to come from the platform, not from a claim.
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Fraud and inattention are not the same problem
One is somebody trying to take money from you. The other is somebody answering your survey on a phone at a bus stop. Treating them alike costs you the second one.
5 min read -
Device signals: what they prove and what they only suggest
The same signal that catches an operator running forty accounts also flags a family sharing one laptop.
1 min read -
Consent that survives an audit
A consent record has to answer four questions years later. Most consent flows can answer two of them.
1 min read
