Creators turn ad-fraud exposés and retro AI photos into high-engagement formats

What creators are doing

X240 HN points

Solo dev publishes full receipts of a $220 Google Ads spend where 60% of installs came from bot farms, with screenshots of device IDs, install timing charts, and refund request threads. The post format is a long-form thread with embedded charts and a clear dollar figure in the hook.

Why it works: Specific dollar amounts and percentages create instant credibility. Founders and marketers share it because it validates a suspicion they already have. The receipts format (screenshot, number, interpretation) is easy to replicate for any ad platform.

Copy this

Pick any ad spend you have run, pull the analytics, and post a thread titled 'I spent $X on [platform] ads and here is what actually happened' with real screenshots.

Make this today

The 'I spent $X and here's the truth' receipt carousel

1. 1

   1. Pick a real spend5 min

   Choose any ad campaign, SaaS tool, or freelancer you paid for in the last 90 days. Write down the exact dollar amount and the result you expected versus what you got.

2. 2

   2. Screenshot your receipts15 min

   Pull 4 to 6 screenshots: the invoice or charge, the dashboard showing results (installs, clicks, leads), and any anomaly you noticed (weird timing, fake accounts, low quality). Crop and annotate with arrows or circles using your phone's markup tool.

3. 3

   3. Write the hook slide5 min

   Slide 1 text: 'I spent $[amount] on [thing] and [surprising result].' Keep it under 12 words. Use a bold font on a plain background. This is your thumbnail and your open rate.

4. 4

   4. Build the carousel20 min

   Slide 2: what you expected. Slide 3-5: the receipts with one-sentence captions. Slide 6: what you learned and what you would do differently. Use makerzz or Canva to render. Stick to 6 to 8 slides total.

5. 5

   5. Write the caption and post15 min

   Caption format: restate the hook, add 2 to 3 sentences of context, end with a question ('Has this happened to you?'). Post to Instagram as a carousel and repurpose slide 1 plus the caption as a LinkedIn text post and an X thread.

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Instagram

The $220 Bot Farm Receipt Carousel

“I spent $220 on Google Ads and 60% of my installs were robots.”

Slide 1: 'I spent $220 on Google Ads. 60% of my installs were bots.' Slide 2: 'Here is the dashboard. 143 installs in 48 hours. Looks great, right?' Slide 3: 'But look at the device IDs. Clusters of installs from the same region, same timing, zero engagement.' Slide 4: 'I dug deeper. No sessions longer than 4 seconds. No in-app actions. Nothing.' Slide 5: 'Google still charged me for every one.' Slide 6: 'What I do now instead: I run organic content, test hooks for free, and only boost what already works.' Slide 7: 'Save this before your next ad spend.'

Why it works: A specific dollar figure in the hook creates curiosity. The receipt format (claim then proof) builds trust slide by slide. The save CTA on the last slide signals utility to the algorithm.

Make a video about this

TikTok

Free Spy Satellite in Your Browser

“This free tool shows you what spy satellites actually see.”

Profiles trending right now

bilawalsidhuYouTube

Creator of Gods Eye View, a browser-based photorealistic spy-satellite simulator that hit 3,680 GitHub stars. The project is generating screen-recording content across platforms.

Steal this: Build a free, visually impressive browser tool and let other creators make content about it. The tool markets itself.

ayghriYouTube

Built the i-have-adhd coding agent skill (3,463 GitHub stars). The ADHD framing turned a developer tool into a broadly relatable story.

Steal this: Name your project after the human problem it solves, not the technical function. 'i-have-adhd' is more shareable than 'concise-output-formatter'.

dayzlegameX

Published the $220 Google Ads bot-farm exposé that hit 240 points and 131 comments on Hacker News. The post is a masterclass in the receipt-thread format.

Steal this: Publish your worst ad-spend result with full receipts. Transparency about failure outperforms success stories in engagement.

obra

What to do today

• Post a 'I spent $X on ads and here is what happened' carousel on Instagram using your own ad data — the receipt format is getting high engagement right now (see playbook above, about 60 minutes).
• Generate a 1980s retro AI photo of yourself using ChatGPT, post a before/after carousel with the exact prompt on the last slide, and caption it with a question to drive comments (20 minutes).
• Screen-record a 30-second flyover of your city using Gods Eye View (github.com/bilawalsidhu/gods-eye-view), add a voiceover, and post it as a TikTok or Reel with the hook 'This free tool shows you what spy satellites see' (30 minutes).
• Write a 150-word LinkedIn post about the RubyGems AI agent attack, framed as what your team is doing about supply-chain security — first-person professional stakes are performing well on LinkedIn this week (20 minutes).
• If you are in the sports or entertainment niche, post a quick take on the Trinity Rodman / Ben Shelton power-couple story (10K Google Trends score) as a Reel or TikTok — athlete relationship content is spiking today (30 minutes).