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

A developer spending $220 on Google app ads discovered that 60% of reported installs were from bot farms, with Google's system counting 21 installs while only 1 genuine user was recorded. The bots exploited Google's install-focused optimization by installing old app versions from offline sources and opening the app once without engagement, creating a loop that made the fraudulent activity appear legitimate to Google's algorithm. The developer changed their campaign goal to "won a puzzle" to make fraud more costly and is awaiting a refund from Google.