When Should You Update Evidence Collection Rules After a Platform Change?

Update your evidence collection rules immediately after any change that alters request paths, headers, or bot-detection signals. Then schedule a review within 48 hours of deployment. This keeps your bot-click evidence valid for refund claims with Google and Meta.

Readiness Checklist After a Platform Change

• Identify what changed: URLs, headers, scripts, payment gateway, or page structure.
• Check if your detection signals still fire: ghost clicks, honeypot traps, mouse movement patterns, session durations.
• Run a test session to see if evidence is captured correctly.
• Compare new session data against your baseline to spot gaps.
• Update rules for any new request paths or headers.
• Document the change and the rule update for audit trails.
• Schedule a follow-up review within 48 hours to confirm accuracy.

Why Evidence Collection Rules Matter

Bot clicks steal up to 20% of your Google and Meta ad budget. To get that money back, you need proof that a click came from a bot, not a human. Evidence collection rules define what signals you capture and how you interpret them. If those rules are outdated after a platform change, you might miss bot activity or flag real users incorrectly. That weakens your refund claims and wastes ad spend.

What Counts as a Platform Change

A platform change is anything that alters how your website or payment system behaves. Common examples include:

• Site redesigns that change page URLs or navigation paths.
• New payment gateways that add iframes or redirects.
• Updates to tracking scripts, analytics tags, or consent banners.
• Changes to server headers, cookies, or caching rules.
• New landing pages for ad campaigns.
• Switching from HTTP to HTTPS or changing domain structure.

Each of these can change the signals your evidence collection relies on. For instance, a new payment gateway might introduce a new iframe that bots interact with differently.

How Evidence Collection Works

Modern bot detection uses multiple independent checks. BotRefund, for example, uses 106 independent checks to build a reliable picture of whether a visit is human or automated. These checks include:

• Ghost click detection – catches click activity that happens without the natural sequence of human intent.
• Honeypot trap interactions – watches for bots that respond to hidden or intentionally deceptive page elements.
• Robotic linear mouse movements – flags unnaturally straight pointer paths.
• Absence of humanlike mouse tremor – looks for the tiny imperfections and jitter typical of human movement.
• Superhuman input speed – identifies interactions faster than a person could realistically perform.
• Grid-aligned movement patterns – detects movement that snaps to precise lines or blocks.
• Absence of clicks or scrolling – highlights sessions that stay too static.
• Unnatural session durations – catches visit lengths that are too short, too long, or too uniform.

Each signal is evidence, not a verdict. BotRefund cross-checks signals against independent browser, network, device, and behavior data. When a platform change alters one signal, you need to verify the others still work together.

When to Update Rules Immediately

Update your rules right away if the change affects any of these:

• Request paths – new URLs or changed URL structures mean old rules may not match.
• Headers – custom headers or changed user-agent strings can break detection.
• Bot-detection signals – if you rely on specific elements like honeypots or mouse tracking, a redesign might remove them.
• Payment gateway integration – new iframes or redirects can create new bot interaction points.

Delaying an update means you collect incomplete or misleading evidence. That can lead to false negatives (missed bots) or false positives (flagging real users), both of which hurt your refund claims.

When to Wait Before Updating

Sometimes it's wise to wait a short period before changing your rules. Consider waiting if:

• The change is purely cosmetic and doesn't affect any tracked signals.
• You have a stable baseline and want to gather a few days of data to see if the change actually impacts detection.
• You need to coordinate with a team that manages the detection tool.
• The platform change is rolled back quickly, so updating rules would be wasted effort.

Waiting is not the same as ignoring. Set a clear deadline—usually 48 hours—to review and update if needed.

The 48-Hour Review Rule

Why 48 hours? It gives you enough time to see real traffic patterns after a change, but not so long that you lose valuable evidence. Within 48 hours, you can:

• Compare pre-change and post-change session data.
• Run test sessions to verify detection still works.
• Adjust rules based on observed behavior.
• Document the update for audit purposes.

If you wait longer, you risk missing bot clicks that occur during the gap. Those clicks could inflate your ad costs without any chance of refund.

Key Facts About BotRefund Evidence Collection

Limitations and When This Advice Doesn't Apply

This guidance assumes you run paid ads on Google or Meta and want to recover bot-click spend. If you don't run ads, evidence collection rules are less critical. Also, if you have a dedicated fraud team that manages detection in-house, you may have more flexibility. But even then, a platform change can invalidate your rules. The core principle—review after any change—still applies.

Another limitation: no detection system is perfect. A single anomaly is not a bot verdict. Privacy tools, travel, corporate networks, and unusual devices can produce unexpected behavior for genuine people. Always cross-check signals before making a claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a platform change affects my evidence collection?

Check if the change alters any of the signals you track: URLs, headers, scripts, or user interactions. If you're unsure, run a test session and compare the captured data to your baseline.

What if I don't update my rules within 48 hours?

You risk missing bot clicks during the gap. Those clicks may not be eligible for refunds because you lack valid evidence. The longer you wait, the more ad spend you lose.

Can I update rules automatically?

Some tools allow automated rule updates based on observed changes. BotRefund's AI model continuously evaluates the complete picture, so it can adapt to some changes without manual intervention. But you should still review after major platform updates.

How much does it cost to update evidence collection rules?

If you use a service like BotRefund, the setup is free for a basic audit. Updating rules is part of the service. For in-house systems, the cost is your team's time and any tooling changes.

What should I do if I see a spike in bot traffic after a platform change?

First, verify your detection rules are still working. Then run a free bot audit to see if the spike is real. If it is, you can submit a refund claim with the evidence collected.

Do I need to update rules for every small change?

No. Only changes that affect request paths, headers, or bot-detection signals require immediate updates. Cosmetic changes can wait for the 48-hour review.

How does BotRefund help after a platform change?

BotRefund uses 106 independent checks and AI prediction to cross-verify signals. After a platform change, you can re-run a free audit to confirm your detection still works. If it doesn't, BotRefund helps you capture the evidence you need for refunds.