Traffic Quality Scoring & Analysis
What Makes Traffic High Quality?
High-quality traffic comes from real users with genuine intent who match your target audience. Low-quality traffic comes from bots, incentivized users, or audiences with no interest in your product. Traffic quality scoring assigns a score to each traffic source based on multiple signals, helping you identify which affiliates send valuable traffic and which need investigation.
Quality Signals to Monitor
| Signal | What It Tells You | Red Flag Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Click-to-conversion ratio | Whether clicks are genuine | Below 0.1% or above 30% |
| Time on site | Whether users engage | Under 5 seconds average |
| Bounce rate | Whether users find what they expect | Above 90% |
| Geographic consistency | Whether traffic matches target markets | Traffic from unexpected regions |
| Device distribution | Whether traffic is human | 95%+ from one device type |
| IP reputation | Whether IPs are clean | Known proxy, VPN, or datacenter IPs |
Building a Scoring Model
Assign weights to each quality signal and calculate a composite score per affiliate. A simple model might weight conversion quality at 40%, behavioral signals at 30%, and technical signals at 30%. Partners above 70 are considered high quality. Partners between 40-70 need monitoring. Partners below 40 need investigation or suspension.
Automated vs. Manual Review
- Automated: Set rules that flag or pause affiliates when quality drops below threshold
- Manual: Review flagged partners before taking action -- false positives happen
- Hybrid: Automated flagging with manual review for suspension decisions
Start with 3-4 quality signals and expand over time. Monitoring everything at once creates noise. Focus on the signals most relevant to your vertical and fraud risk profile.
Key Takeaways
- Traffic quality scoring uses multiple signals to identify valuable vs. suspicious traffic
- Monitor click-to-conversion ratio, time on site, geographic consistency, and IP reputation
- Use a weighted scoring model -- partners below threshold get flagged for review
- Start with 3-4 quality signals and expand as your fraud detection matures
Explore Further
Key terms and tools related to this lesson. Deepen your understanding and see how Track360 supports these concepts.
Affiliate Fraud
Affiliate fraud is the deliberate manipulation of affiliate tracking, attribution, or conversion data to earn commissions that were not legitimately generated.
Publisher
A publisher is an individual or company that promotes an advertiser's products or services through an affiliate program in exchange for commissions on conversions they drive.
Referral Program
A referral program is a structured incentive system that rewards existing customers for referring new customers, typically through shareable links and two-sided bonuses.
Sweeps Coins
Sweeps Coins are the redeemable virtual currency in sweepstakes casinos, obtained for free through promotions or no-purchase entry methods, and exchangeable for real prizes once playthrough requirements are met.