An inflated channel looks convincing right up to the first message. Checking one takes two minutes and no paid service.
Reach against subscribers
The main signal. On a live channel a post collects a meaningful share of the subscriber count. Tens of thousands of subscribers and a few hundred views means the audience is not real. A ratio far below normal for the topic is reason enough to skip the venue.
Growth curve
Live channels grow unevenly: a spike after a good post, a lull, growth again. A straight line, or steps of identical height, means purchases.
Comments
Look at content, not count. One-word approvals, repeated phrasing, comments unrelated to the post — signs of purchased activity. Real discussion is always uneven: empty here, an argument there.
Time of activity
Views on a live channel follow the day with a dip at night. A steady round-the-clock inflow means bots.
Age and cadence
A channel that gained tens of thousands in a month while posting rarely was almost certainly bought. Organic growth needs time and regularity.
What to do
Skip it. A comment in an inflated channel will be seen by bots and the model call is paid for either way. Filtering on these signs before launch saves more than any setting. Assessing venues at scale is on the parser page.