SEARCH

SEARCH provides industry-leading digital fingerprinting, including bot detection and click-farm detection. Call it as a respondent enters your survey to score fraud risk and detect duplicates.

Core Functionality

Advanced digital fingerprinting using browser characteristics, device information, and behavioral patterns
Bot detection and automated traffic identification
VPN, proxy, and TOR network detection
Professional survey taker identification through ecosystem intelligence
Cross-survey and cross-platform deduplication
Geolocation verification and country mismatch detection
Real-time threat scoring from 1 (lowest) to 99 (highest threat)
Comprehensive failure reason reporting with specific threat categories

Key Features

Threat Potential Scoring: Provides numerical scores (1–99) based on comprehensive analysis
Duplicate Detection: Identifies repeat attempts across surveys and time periods
Geographic Verification: Validates respondent location against expected parameters
Device Intelligence: Analyzes browser, operating system, and hardware characteristics
Network Analysis: Detects suspicious network usage including proxies and VPNs
Ecosystem Intelligence: Leverages data from millions of tracked respondents

Typical Use Cases

Survey entrance screening and qualification
Real-time quality assessment during survey progression
Post-completion data validation and cleaning
Cross-platform respondent verification
Professional survey taker identification

Integration Options

Basic Integration

Call SEARCH from the browser with your survey number and session ID, using GET or POST.

Advanced Integration (JS Library)

Add the Research Defender JavaScript library to collect extra device datasets for a more complete result.

Server-to-Server Integration

Get a token in the browser and call SEARCH from your server so scores and flags never reach the client.

Encrypted Integration

Request an AES-256-GCM encrypted response in the browser and decrypt it on your server.

URL Validation

Sign the request URL with your private key so SEARCH rejects any URL changed in transit.

Input Parameters

Required

Parameter	Data Type	Description
`sn_ud`	User-defined	Unique identifier for each API call. Do not reuse across surveys or respondents — GUID recommended.
`sy_nr`	User-defined	Unique identifier for the client survey, consistent for each survey.

Parameter	Data Type	Description
`rt_cy_ce`	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	Survey country code, so SEARCH can detect country mismatches.

Optional

Parameter	Data Type	Description
`rt_sr_pd`	User-defined	Panelist ID, if any. Only use if you have independently verified respondent identity.
`rt_hd_el`	User-defined	Hashed email, if any.
`pm_sr_id`	User-defined	Supplier ID (name, abbreviation, or numeric) for backend reporting.
`sy_gp_nr`	User-defined	Survey group identifier to deduplicate respondents across surveys. Only use if a survey-group lockout is needed.
`set_window`	Integer	Lockout window in days. Returns `days_flag=1` if the respondent attempted the survey within the window. Available in v3 and v4.
`coordinates`	`=1`	Include geolocation, time zone, and weather attributes (`latitude`, `longitude`, `time_zone`, `weather_code`, `state_name`).
`wd`	`=1`	Include the last transaction date (`d_date`).
`vpt`	`=check`	Check VPN status.
`usage_type`	`=1`	Return the network usage type.
`df_details`	`=1`	Return an additional dataset with respondent information.
`mm`	`=1`	Disable MaxMind termed-failure detection (`failure_reason=18`).
`csedp3`	`=1`	Provide a result from the EDP score (`EDP3` node).
`sip`	`=1`	Show the IP address on the API response.
`sisp`	`=1`	Provide the ISP (Internet Service Provider).
`dupe_details`	`=1`	Show the corresponding details for the duplicate (`dupes_details`).
`mfr`	`=1`	Provide every triggered failure reason (`multiple_failure_reason`), not just one.
`tbc`	`=1`	Allows testers to bypass checks. For testing only.
`validation`	SHA-256	Signs the request URL for additional security. Only available to selected clients. See URL Validation.

Recommended Response Parameters

Parameter	Data Type	Description
`threat_potential_score`	Float	1 (lowest threat) to 99 (highest threat). Calculated internally from fraud signals, device fingerprinting (bot and automation detection, virtual environments, anti-detect browsers), and behavioral checks (batch-entrant patterns, rare user agents, country and screen mismatches).
`failure_reason`	String	If the request is termed, the reason as one of the codes below.
`duplicate_score`	Float	`100` if the respondent is a duplicate, `0` if unique.
`duplicate_initial_ud`	User-defined	For a duplicate, the `sn_ud` of the respondent’s most recent prior attempt at this survey.
`country_code`	Text	Geolocated country of the respondent (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2).
`country_mismatch`	Boolean	`1` if SEARCH detected the respondent outside the country in `rt_cy_ce`, else `0`.
`respondent_ud`	GUID/UUID	Identifier that tracks a respondent across sessions. The same respondent attempting different surveys at different times has the same `respondent_ud`.

Failure Reason Codes

Code	Meaning
`02`	Duplicate Entrant into Survey
`03`	User Emulator
`04`	VPN Usage Detected
`05`	TOR Network Detected
`06`	Public Proxy Server Detected
`07`	Web Proxy Server Used
`08`	Web Crawler Usage Detected
`09`	Internet Fraudster Detected
`10`	Retail and Ad-Tech Fraudster Detected
`11`	IP Address Subnet Detected
`12`	Recent Abuse Detected
`13`	Duplicate Survey Group Detected
`14`	Navigator Webdriver Detected
`15`	Developer Tool Detected
`16`	WebRTC IP Address
`17`	T-Mobile Proxy Detected
`18`	Maxmind Failure Detected
`19`	Batch Fraud Entrants
`20`	ChatGPT/Claude Emulators
`21`	Previous Explicit Behavior
`22`	Obfuscation Mechanisms Detected
`23`	SEARCH Locale Detected
`24`	Static Blacklist
`25`	Bot Detected

The same codes are returned by the FAILURE_REASON lookup.

Advanced Response Parameters

Surveys node

Parameter	Description
`sn_ud`	The respondent’s unique session ID.
`survey_number`	The survey number, as sent in `sy_nr`.
`flag`	`1` if the respondent accessed the survey previously, `0` if not.
`duplicate_potential`	Redundant response for `duplicate_score`.
`duplicate_fingerprint_weight_score`	For a duplicate fingerprint, a score from 0 to 100.
`destination`	Unique identifier for the destination platform or buyer.
`d_date`	Populates when `wd=1`: the most recent transaction at the survey level.
`days_flag`	Only populates if `set_window` is used. `1` means the respondent attempted the survey within the window, `0` means not. For example, with `set_window=30` and an attempt 26 days ago, `days_flag` is `1`.
`days_difference`	Works with `set_window`: the difference in days since the previous attempt.
`dupes_details`	Codes for detailed duplicate details. Populates when `dupe_details=1`. See DUPLICATE_DETAILS.
`multiple_failure_reason`	Every triggered code from `failure_reason`. Populates when `mfr=1`.

Respondent node

Parameter	Description
`country`	Name of the respondent’s country.
`respondent_risk`	Defaults to `0`. `1` if more than one external data provider identifies the respondent as high risk.
`threat_potential`	Whether `threat_potential_score` is `low`, `med`, or `high`.
`latitude` / `longitude` / `state_name` / `time_zone` / `weather_code`	Populate when `coordinates=1`. `weather_code` is the nearest international weather station code.
`vpt`	If `vpt=check` is passed, `1` if the request is via VPN, else `0`.
`usage_type`	If `usage_type=1` is passed, `consumer`, `corporate`, or `hosting`.
`ip_address`	Detected IP address the request came from.
`isp`	Detected Internet Service Provider the request came from.
`browser_type` / `browser_full_name`	Detected browser (for example `BrowserChrome`), and the browser with its version.
`os_name` / `os_full_name` / `os_version`	Detected operating system, with version where possible.
`device_name` / `device_type` / `device_time`	Detected device name, type, and timestamp.
`city`	Detected city the request came from.
`geo_off_hrs_status`	Detected geolocation services set to “off” or “off-duty”, relating to hours-of-service tracking or smart home automation.

EDP3 node

Parameter	Description
`EDP3_score`	A score from an external data provider. Populates when `csedp3=1`.

Response Example

{
  "Respondent": {
    "threat_potential_score": "23",
    "country": "United States",
    "country_code": "US",
    "respondent_risk": 0,
    "respondent_ud": "4489560a-507f-468a-ae4b-d81ea80fab5d",
    "time_zone": "America/Chicago"
  },
  "Surveys": [
    {
      "flag": 1,
      "duplicate_initial_ud": "481cd5cf-88f1-44c2-8292-6b779b8a3a8e",
      "duplicate_potential": "high",
      "duplicate_score": "100",
      "country_mismatch": 0,
      "failure_reason": "02",
      "days_flag": 1,
      "days_difference": 0
    }
  ]
}

See the SEARCH endpoint reference for the full parameter list and a live playground.

Advanced Fingerprint Detection

For Developer Tools and WebRTC IP address detection, load the Research Defender JavaScript system utility library, rd_sys_util.min.js. See the Advanced Integration guide for a complete example.

https://<environment>.rtymgt.com/static/js/rd_sys_util.min.js?v=2.0.1

The library is an ES module — load it with import() or type="module".
Call init({ key: <publishable_key>, env: <environment> }) so the library starts collecting data, then wait about 1 second before reading the result.
pass_params() returns the combined, encrypted dataset detected from the respondent’s browser. Send it on the SEARCH call as the name of a parameter with an empty value.

const { init, pass_params } = await import('https://prod.rtymgt.com/static/js/rd_sys_util.min.js?v=2.0.1')
await init({ key: '<publishable_key>', env: 'prod' })
await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000))
const pass = pass_params()

Research Defender publishes recommended term logic for translating SEARCH scores into accept/term decisions.

REVIEW

ACTIVITY

PREDUPE

ACTIVATION

Getting Started

SEARCH

Core Functionality

Key Features

Typical Use Cases

Integration Options

Basic Integration

Advanced Integration (JS Library)

Server-to-Server Integration

Encrypted Integration

URL Validation

Input Parameters

Required

Recommended

Optional

Recommended Response Parameters

Failure Reason Codes

Advanced Response Parameters

Surveys node

Respondent node

EDP3 node

Response Example

Advanced Fingerprint Detection

​Core Functionality

​Key Features

​Typical Use Cases

​Integration Options

Basic Integration

Advanced Integration (JS Library)

Server-to-Server Integration

Encrypted Integration

URL Validation

​Input Parameters

​Required

​Recommended

​Optional

​Recommended Response Parameters

​Failure Reason Codes

​Advanced Response Parameters

​Surveys node

​Respondent node

​EDP3 node

​Response Example

​Advanced Fingerprint Detection

Core Functionality

Key Features

Typical Use Cases

Integration Options

Input Parameters

Required

Recommended

Optional

Recommended Response Parameters

Failure Reason Codes

Advanced Response Parameters

Surveys node

Respondent node

EDP3 node

Response Example

Advanced Fingerprint Detection