Speeder Detection
Automatically flag respondents who complete a survey in an implausibly short time to preserve data quality.
A speeder is a respondent who finishes the survey in an implausibly short time, typically without actually reading the questions. Speeders often appear among incentive-driven panels, or as a side effect of automated answer generation. Catching them is the most fundamental step in fraud detection.
How detection works
kicue uses a simple, robust threshold:
- Threshold = number of questions × 3 seconds
- If total completion time is below this threshold, the response is flagged as a speeder
For example, a 30-question survey triggers the flag below 90 seconds, and a 50-question survey below 150 seconds.
When it helps
- Panel-based surveys where incentive hunters may submit careless answers
- Open-web surveys that attract drive-by respondents with little interest in the topic
- Surveys with many matrix questions that require careful reading
Flag states
Each detected response is assigned a status:
- pending — the default state immediately after detection
- confirmed — a reviewer has marked the response as fraudulent
- dismissed — a reviewer has marked the response as acceptable
Reviewing on the monitoring screen
The Flags tab on the monitoring screen lets you review detected speeders, including:
- Per-respondent completion time
- Detection timestamp
- Direct link to the raw response
Excluding from tabulation
Responses marked as confirmed can be excluded from tabulation by turning on the Exclude fraud toggle. See Flag Management & Exclusion for details.