Seatext library / BotRefund evidence

What Is BotRefund’s Accuracy Rate?

BotRefund states its detection engine is 99% accurate at distinguishing bot traffic from human visitors. The figure comes from an AI model that combines 106 independent checks, including the Impossible Tab Speed check, to...

Built for advertisers who need clear, refund-ready traffic evidence.

BotRefund reports a 99% accuracy rate for distinguishing bot traffic from human visitors. This means the service aims to correctly classify 99 out of 100 visits it cannot immediately confirm as human or automated.

Bot traffic is automated, non-human interaction with a website or ad. Invalid activity is traffic that ad platforms such as Google Ads or Meta later classify as non-genuine. This can include bots, accidental clicks, or clicks meant to drain an advertiser's budget.

BotRefund says its 99% figure comes from combining many independent checks in one AI prediction model. The checks cover browser, network, device, and behavior signals.

One example is the Impossible Tab Speed check. Automated browsers can send clicks and scrolls very fast, but they struggle to copy the natural pauses, hesitation, and varied movement of real people.

What does 99% accuracy mean?

The 99% claim is not a promise that every refund request will be approved. It describes how well the detection engine labels a visit as bot or human before a refund claim is created.

In practice, 99% accuracy means the model is expected to be wrong about one visit out of every 100. That small error rate matters because a false bot verdict can block a real visitor, while a missed bot can waste ad budget.

Accuracy also depends on the quality of the evidence. BotRefund treats a single anomaly as a clue, not a proof. The model looks for corroboration across many independent signals before it labels a session as automated.

This is why the company highlights 106 independent checks. Each check adds one objective fact about the visit. The AI model then weighs the full pattern instead of trusting one rule.

How BotRefund calculates accuracy

BotRefund describes its process as three steps.

Step 1: Independent evidence. Each check collects one objective fact. The Impossible Tab Speed check, for example, records whether input speed and movement match human variability.

Step 2: Cross-checked context. The model tests whether other signals support the same story. A fast click by itself is not a bot verdict. The model wants browser, network, device, and behavior data to agree.

Step 3: AI prediction. The prediction AI evaluates the complete picture. It combines all available signals into a bot or human classification. BotRefund says this full-pattern approach is why it reaches 99% accuracy.

The exact training data and model architecture are not published in the source pack. The accuracy claim should be read as the company's stated performance, not an independently audited benchmark.

Types of bot signals used

BotRefund's website lists several behavioral signals that feed into detection. Each one is designed to catch a different way bots differ from people.

Ghost click detection looks for click activity that happens without the natural sequence of human intent. A real person usually moves toward an element, pauses, and then clicks. A bot may fire clicks without that preparation.

Honeypot trap interactions watch for bots that respond to hidden or intentionally deceptive page elements. Humans cannot see those elements, so they do not interact with them.

Pointer behavior flags robotic linear mouse movements. Unnaturally straight pointer paths rarely appear in real user sessions.

Motion behavior checks for the absence of humanlike mouse tremor. Real movement has tiny imperfections and jitter. Many automated paths are too smooth.

Speed behavior flags superhuman input speed below one millisecond. A person cannot realistically type, move, or click that fast.

Path behavior detects grid-aligned movement patterns. Real pointers follow natural curves, while scripts often snap to precise lines or blocks.

Engagement behavior highlights sessions that stay too static. Absence of clicks or scrolling can mean the visitor is not reading or browsing like a human.

Session behavior catches unnatural session durations. Visit lengths that are too short, too long, or too uniform to be human are treated as evidence.

The source pack also mentions VPN detection. VPNs are not proof of a bot, but they can add context when combined with other signals.

How BotRefund proves bot clicks and prepares refunds

BotRefund's stated purpose is not just detection. It also helps advertisers prove invalid clicks and negotiate refunds with Google and Meta.

BotRefund reports an 83% refund success rate for high-volume advertisers. That is the approved rate across client refund claims submitted to ad platforms.

The refund process depends on strong evidence. For Google Ads, BotRefund captures Google Click IDs (GCLIDs) and links them to behavioral proof of invalidity. This creates audit-ready dispute reports.

Client-side tracking logs what the browser actually did during a session. These logs can show ghost clicks, superhuman input speed, honeypot interactions, and other signals. Advertisers can use that evidence when filing a claim.

Google does not automatically refund every invalid click. Its invalid activity credit system is designed to reimburse advertisers for policy-violating clicks, but advertisers often need to request credits and submit evidence.

Meta has a similar divide between valid and invalid traffic. BotRefund's behavioral logs give advertisers a documented record of non-human sessions, which supports billing disputes.

Refund approval also depends on the ad platform's own analysis. Detection accuracy improves the evidence package, but it does not guarantee that Google or Meta will approve every claim.

Why accuracy matters for your ad budget

Bot clicks can consume a significant share of paid media budgets. BotRefund states that bot clicks steal up to 20% of Google and Meta ad budgets.

When bots click ads, you pay for each click even though no human will convert. Over time, this waste raises customer acquisition costs and lowers return on ad spend.

Bots also damage conversion tracking. They can trigger pixels and send positive feedback to ad platforms. Smart Bidding algorithms may then optimize toward more traffic that looks like those bot sessions.

That process is often called pixel poisoning. It makes legitimate campaign data less reliable and can hide the real causes of performance swings.

A more accurate detector helps in two ways. First, it avoids paying for obvious invalid sessions. Second, it keeps bot traffic from entering your conversion data and misleading the algorithm.

Refund recovery is the second layer. If invalid clicks already happened, accurate evidence makes it easier to request a credit from Google or Meta.

The 83% refund success rate is meaningful for advertisers who have significant wasted spend. Even a partial recovery can improve ROI on campaigns that have been contaminated by bots.

What limits accuracy: real-user signals and false positives

No bot detection model can be perfect. BotRefund uses corroboration to limit false positives, but some situations can still make a real person look automated.

Privacy tools, travel networks, corporate networks, and unusual devices can produce unexpected behavior. A VPN, for instance, may route traffic through a data center IP address that looks suspicious.

A user on a corporate laptop may have very uniform pointer movement or disabled JavaScript. That alone is not proof of a bot. BotRefund says it treats such anomalies as evidence, not verdicts.

False positives matter because they can block genuine users or generate incorrect refund claims. The AI model reduces this risk by requiring multiple independent signals to agree.

The other limit is the ad platform. BotRefund can prove that a session behaved like a bot, but Google or Meta must accept that evidence in its review process. Accuracy in detection does not always equal approval in billing.

Finally, the 99% figure is a company claim. There is no independent audit in the supplied sources. Advertisers should test the service on their own traffic and compare its verdicts with their analytics and ad platform data.

How to use BotRefund’s accuracy for your site

If you want to see whether BotRefund's detection works on your traffic, start with the free bot audit. The company says the audit runs a live analysis of your site.

Installation is described as taking about one minute, with no credit card required. The audit can show how many visits look automated and which signals triggered the verdicts.

For advertisers, the next step is to link detection to refund evidence. Make sure your setup captures GCLIDs and behavioral logs. These are the records you need for a Google Ads dispute.

Review the evidence before submitting a claim. Look for sessions with superhuman input speed, ghost clicks, honeypot interactions, or unnatural session durations. A clear pattern will be easier for the ad platform to verify.

Use the free audit as a baseline. If your site already has high invalid traffic, accurate detection can protect future campaigns and support retroactive refunds dating back to 2017, according to the source pack.

BotRefund offers tiered plans based on monthly ad spend, ranging from under $10,000 to over $5 million. The pricing page and sales team can help you choose a fit. Check with the vendor for current plan details.

Related questions and terminology

Is 99% accuracy a guarantee of refunds? No. It describes detection accuracy. Refunds depend on Google or Meta reviewing and approving the invalid activity claim.

How many checks does BotRefund use? BotRefund states it uses 106 independent checks. The Impossible Tab Speed check is one example.

What does the Impossible Tab Speed check do? It looks for timing and movement patterns that a real browsing session would not normally create. Automated browsers can act very fast, but they struggle to imitate human pauses and variability.

Can privacy tools cause false positives? Yes. VPNs, privacy browsers, corporate networks, or unusual devices can make genuine users appear suspicious. BotRefund cross-checks multiple signals to reduce the risk.

How does BotRefund compare with traditional click fraud tools? The source pack says tools such as CHEQ focus on filtering. BotRefund positions itself as an evidence layer that helps advertisers recover refunds. It does not provide full comparisons for all competitors.

What is invalid traffic? Invalid traffic is clicks or impressions that an ad platform decides are not driven by genuine user interest. It includes bots, accidental clicks, and other non-genuine interactions.

What is a GCLID? A Google Click ID is a parameter Google Ads attaches to a click. BotRefund captures it and links it to behavioral evidence for refund disputes.

What is pixel poisoning? Pixel poisoning happens when bot sessions trigger conversion pixels and send false positive signals to ad platforms. This can make Smart Bidding optimize toward more bot traffic.

Is the accuracy figure independently audited? The supplied sources do not show an independent audit. The 99% figure is BotRefund's stated claim about its own detection model.

Where should I start? Install BotRefund's free bot audit to see whether bot detection flags your site's visitors as automated. Then review the evidence and decide whether a refund claim is worth pursuing.

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