What is CTIT?
Click-to-Install Time (CTIT) is the time elapsed between a user clicking on an advertisement and completing the installation of an app. It is measured as an average across all installs for a given campaign, publisher, or traffic source within a selected time period.
CTIT is one of the most reliable indicators of traffic quality in mobile app campaigns. A genuine user typically takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to click an ad, download the app, and complete the installation. Installs that happen in an unnaturally short or long time window are strong signals of fraudulent or bot-driven activity.
Overview
The Average Click-to-Install Time (CTIT) report measures how long it takes for a user to install an app after clicking on an ad.
This article explains what CTIT is, why it matters, how to access and read the report in Trackier, and how to use CTIT data to detect fraud and optimize campaign performance.
This metric helps marketers evaluate user behaviour, detect potential fraud, and optimise their campaigns effectively.
Why CTIT Matters
Fraud detection : Unusually short CTIT values (under a few seconds) often indicate bots or click injection fraud, where installs are triggered programmatically rather than by real users
Traffic quality assessment : Consistently high CTIT values may suggest poor user intent or mismatched targeting, where users are clicking out of curiosity rather than genuine interest
Campaign optimisation : Comparing CTIT across publishers and campaigns helps you identify which traffic sources deliver engaged, high-intent users
Anomaly identification : Sudden drops or spikes in CTIT for a specific publisher or source can flag technical issues or changes in traffic behaviour that need investigation
How to Access CTIT Report:
In your Trackier panel, go to Reports
Click on Additional Reports
Select Average CTIT Report from the list
Note: Make sure you have the necessary permissions to access campaign-specific data. If the report is not visible, contact your panel administrator.
Understanding the Report Metrics
The Average CTIT Report includes the following columns:
Metric | Description |
Publisher | The name of the publisher generating the traffic being analyzed |
Source | The traffic source from which the clicks originated |
Campaign | The campaign associated with the reported install data |
AVG_CTIT | The average time between a click and a completed app install for that publisher, source, and campaign combination |
What to look for: Flag any AVG_CTIT values that are extremely low (under a few seconds) or abnormally high (several days). Both extremes can indicate fraud, technical misconfigurations, or poor-quality traffic.
Analysing the Report:
Use the following approach to get the most out of your CTIT data:
Apply filters: Narrow the report by date range, campaign, or publisher to focus your analysis on specific traffic segments
Compare across publishers : Look at CTIT values side by side across your publisher base to identify which partners are sending quality traffic and which are not
Spot outliers : Flag publishers or sources with CTIT values that fall far outside the normal range for your campaigns
Cross-reference with other metrics : Combine CTIT data with conversion rate, rejection rate, and fraud tool reports for a complete picture of traffic quality
Using CTIT Data for Optimization
Once you have identified patterns in your CTIT data, here is how to act on them:
Short CTIT (seconds): Investigate the publisher or source for click injection or bot fraud. Consider enabling CTIT-based anti-fraud rules in Trackier to automatically reject conversions that fall below a defined time threshold. Refer to the Anti-Fraud Tool setup guide for more details.
Long CTIT (days): Review the campaign's targeting and creative quality. A very high CTIT may suggest users are clicking out of curiosity but losing interest before installing, which points to a targeting or messaging mismatch.
Normal CTIT with low conversions: If CTIT looks healthy but conversion rates are low, the issue may be on the post-install experience rather than traffic quality. Review the landing page or app onboarding flow..
Conclusion
The Average CTIT Report is a simple but powerful tool for assessing the quality and authenticity of your mobile app campaign traffic.
By monitoring CTIT regularly especially across publishers and sources, you can catch fraud early, protect your advertiser relationships, and continuously improve the quality of traffic flowing through your campaigns.
We're thrilled to have put together a top-notch team of qualified experts who are available to handle any of your concerns and respond to any inquiries you may have. You can contact us at any time by sending an email to Trackier's Support or using the in-platform chat feature.
