If you’ve read my other posts on PPV, you know I’m a fan of Media Traffic and their PPV network. This is the place that 90% of the people I talk to start out with PPV. That being said, there are other options out there. A newer network that I heard about recently is DirectCPV. Since I had a few people asking me about it, I decided to give it a test run to see how it stacks up to the other guys.
First of all, the interface may look familiar to you when you log in and setup a campaign. This is due to the fact that DirectCPV is white labeling the CPView platform. This does not mean that DirectCPV is the same thing as CPView, they have a different user base with the adware installed so it is a completely different network.
It is relatively simple to get a campaign set up with the interface, you put in your Landing Page url (affiliate link), give it a name, and then you add in at least one type of targeting (URL, keyword, or category). I put in about 20 URLs from a quick Google search and decided to try out a couple keywords as well. One thing to note here is that DirectCPV does not have anywhere near the number of adware users that some of the bigger networks have, so you might be a bit safer testing out new keywords here (keywords on the big networks can mean your whole budget gone in the blink of an eye).
I let it run for a few days and when I came back to check my stats (using Prosper202) I was pleasantly surprised that my campaign was profitable right off the bat. It wasn’t a home run, but it did make money. I decided to make a couple of minor tweaks at that point. The first thing was checkout my Prosper202 to see what URLs were converting. As is often the case, all the conversions were coming from one URL. I noticed that some of them were coming from the Keyword that I had put in instead of the direct URL. The problem with that is that the bid price for the Keyword was 0.08 (8 cents) and the bid for the direct URL was 0.01 (1 cent). Simple fix there, I paused the Keyword and added the URL to my targeting. After that the profits were decent.
The main gripe I have about the DirectCPV interface is that you have to click “Check Bid” on each URL individually to see if you are in 1st position. Other networks have done this better, but you can take some of the hassle out of it by setting the bid mode to Auto and then setting it at 1st position. This will automatically increase your bid if somebody is above you. Also if you want to Geo Target your campaign, you have to do it after the campaign is setup, you can’t do it during the campaign creation. This stumped me the first time.
Final word? I like DirectCPV. I think it’s worth a shot especially if you have a profitable campaign on another network that you are looking to expand. It can also be good for testing out a new campaign to if it converts without blowing your budget since there is a smaller installed user base, there is less competition, and the bid prices start at 1 penny (at MT it is 1.5). It doesn’t have as much traffic as the bigger guys, but from what I saw it can definitely be a good source to add to your repertoire.
If you signup through my affiliate link here you can get a $25 credit by using the promo code “BR25”.
Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/5
Nice snappy summary.
Looking fwd to more.
nice post, Looking fwd to more (:
Are you tracking partner IDs (traffic sources), or just keywords?
Just keywords/urls.
wow, that's amazing
I'm tracking keywords, URLs AND traffic sources on a proven campaign, and so far…no conversions at all!
yeah, I use a credit card to fund my MT account & have never had to fill out a CCAF (besides the very first deposit)
the same goes for TV…their system tries to make you send a CCAF with each deposit, but I never do, and haven't had any problems at all
I hope this helps
A bit off topic here, but since you mentioned most ppl start out with MediaTraffic….
I’m getting ready to sign up with MediaTraffic, but I find it extremely weird how you have to fill out a pdf and send them a fax every time you wanna add funds(!)
@ImagesAndWords
I’ve my mediatraffic acct linked to my paypal acct and can do manual top-ups or auto top-up easily.
I’d expect it’s the same process if you’re using a credit card too.
I have been using direct cpv for quite a long time now…only one problem with them…the newer account manager is a total idiot.
It takes her FOREVER to get things done, approve campaigns, and anything else you would expect her to do at a reasonable pace.
They used to be .015 minimum bids but dropped them to a penny a couple months ago or so…which is nice 🙂 The traffic is kind of low and converts ok, but is quite hit or miss for me usually. Definitely worth testing out on successful campaigns you have!
Which one, Gorana or Alenka?
Alenka.
She is the biggest reason I barely do anything at their network anymore. It takes far to long to get a response from her or get changes put through when I need 🙁
In my experience, it has takes a while to get things approved no matter what PPV network you are using. I definitely is annoying, I hope that as volume picks up the networks will either hire more people or figure out a way to automate it like Google.
I guess I have never had a problem getting things approved. Most of the time at the other ppv networks within 5-15 minutes my campaigns are approved. At DirectCPV it takes days.
I don't know how I found this blog but I am glad I did. For the first time I seem to have found some sensible and constuctive discussion going on about PPV minus the crap that is often associate with a subject where most of the people don't really understand the subject. Good on you and keep up with great content and dialogue.
I am relatively new to PPV/CPV but so far I seem to be making some progress. Like you guys it does seem to me that urls are the way to go although some longer tail kws are probably useful particularly if they are of the ' commercial intent variety'.
So far I have only used Media Traffic and Adon Network and am pleased with the cooperation I get from my principle contacts.
I have a couple of questions that I am interested to get feedback on from people in this thread.
1. At Adon I have chosen to go with pop-unders and demographic targeting. Does anyone have any experience here and have you tested out the alternatives, like contextual targeting and banners?
2.When using urls as kws is it sensible to use the main url such as http://www.jamster.com or better to use just jamster.com. The question is how flexible are the systems when looking at what the searcher is putting into their SEARCH box (we know most people don't use their browser) and the kw you are bidding on. Even without misspellings there are around 13 variations of a url
http://www.jamster.com
http://www.jamster com
jamster.com
jamster com
jamstercom
etc etc
So the question is should we include all the variations in the kw list or will the system fire so long as the principle domain name is in the keyword?
Sorry that was rather long winded !
1. With AdOn, I have personally only used the pop-unders. They do have some different ad types as well, but I think those move beyond the realm of PPV/CPV into more of a display type ad. That's a whole different animal.
2. When you are targeting URLs, there is a couple different ways to go about it. If you target "domain.com", then any user that goes to any page on domain.com or any subdomain like ad.domain.com will see your ad. However, if you target "ad.domain.com/offer/", then only users that go to that exact page will see your ad, if they just go to domain.com they will not see the ad.
Hey Josh,
Enjoying all the PPV content you have here, getting into PPV myself. I just recently finished studying Gauhar Chudry’s PPV Formula which has some deep insight into the CPV/PPV world… least there was TONS of content and ways to use PPV.
I was chiming in the expand on what @John B posted because I have a similar question. Do we develop a list of multiple permutations of a URL or can we get away with just entering domain.com if we want to target the complete domain? I know you can do page targeting and articulate categories withing a site, but do we need to come up with all the different ways the end user may enter it?
Great Blog, Great Job… keep it up… looking forward to getting on board your network.
M
You can just put domain.com and it will target any url on the entire domain, as long as it begins with domain.com.
I chased up my Adon contact on this question and the following answer came back. I think it is an interesting contribution to this discussion.
(begin email)
Hello John,
Pop under campaigns do not look at information entered into a search box, or in search results. Your add is displayed when one of your keywords/ url targets matches contextually with a keyword/ url target in the users browser window. So for example. I am the user and I go to Google to look up the website http://www.jamster.com. I type into the Google search "jamstir" and Google comes back to me with Did you mean: Jamster and then below that a link to http://www.jamster.com- If your keyword was "jamster" your ad would be shown when the user clicks on the link and goes to http://www.jamster.com and http://www.jamster.com/ displays in the address bar.
Because Google shows the keyword you searched for in the address bar on the search page
Keyword: jamstir
Address url: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&a…
Your add may be shown against the Google page if the user had a variation of "jamster" such as "jamstir" Bt the ad will only be shown because the word "jamstir" appeared in the URL address, not the search results.
We do not necessarily match your keywords with search terms, we match your keywords with what appears in the address bar. Does that answer your question?
(end email)
I am still interested to know of anyone's experience with contextual versus demographic targeting at Adon Network.
One final question for the moment. I have seen videos etc from so-called CPC gurus that advocate using just one kw …namely the url of the advertiser that they are acting as affiliate for.In both Adon and Media traffic this is specifically prohibited. Am I being naive to think that it would be picked up or is it common practice amongst CPV affiliates/
Hey Josh,
Just joined your network, looking forward to reviewing your offers this weekend when I get a bit of time.
I spoke with Ad On Network yesterday and they said the URL can be the complete domain or a specific page as long as it doesn't go over 50 characters. Seems fair, I wonder what Media Traffic's requirements would be, is it also 50 characters or more?
I'll report back next week when I sign on for their network.
Looking forward to playing with your network Josh!
M
A quick update, for Media Traffic it's 40 characters.
That said, besides manually cutting and pasting URLs which tools are out there to help format URLs with this character requirement?
I'm using PPV Sniper but still have to manually scale down all the URLs that go over 40 and 50 characters… any good tools that can clean this up in a jif?
Maurice
PS What's with tv guide questions? dish network?… friggin spammers don't bother reading the thread
Hello
can someone explain about the amount of urls. we can target in a PPV campaign? If i enter 1,000 urls. And my budget is $10 would`nt that mean my views are scattered over all of the urls.. and my budget will be eaten up in no time.. is`ent it better to test the top 5 urls from google instead?
Also how amny millions of people have adware installed..are we just sending pop ups to the same users? If so wont they get sick of seeing pop ups and not click on anything??
At MediaTraffic there are no limit on how many target URL you will provide.
The more the better.
To your 2nd question I have no answer.
Try it and see what's happen
Hello
can someone explain about the amount of urls. we can target in a PPV campaign? If i enter 1,000 urls. And my budget is $10 would`nt that mean my views are scattered over all of the urls.. and my budget will be eaten up in no time.. is`ent it better to test the top 5 urls from google instead?
Also how amny millions of people have adware installed..are we just sending pop ups to the same users? If so wont they get sick of seeing pop ups and not click on anything??…
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If you use the promo code PF50 you will receive a $50 bonus on your first $100 deposit.
interesting post…
thinking of getting a new account with directcpv.
Is there anyway to target traffic?
Does anyone know what you need to put at the end of your Prosper tracking link to properly track URL's? I know for TrafficVance it is "%%$KEYWORD%%", but I am trying to figure out what to put for DirectCPV. Thanks
To get the URL that you bid on, it is {{sm_vurl}} and to get the URL that the view actually came from, it is just {{vurl}}
Awesome! Thanks for that. Which would be more beneficial for tracking purposes? {{vurl}}? Thanks again.
{{vurl}} is good because it might help you discover derivatives of the base domain that would be good to bid on with much less competition.
I didn't even get a chance to enter your promo code when signing up and therefore no $25 credit. Grrrr
Email me your full name & email you signed up with to joshtodd(at)insideaffiliate.net and I will get you the credit.
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I use all the PPV companies but the best ones are trafficvance and linksador. They convert great for me
Hey Carolyn,
I signed up for Linksador and with 1 view in 8 days, so far, I'm left wondering how I'm ever going to blast through my initial deposit. LOL
Perhaps, the auto insurance vertical isn't well matched to their demographic? What type of offer or demographic is your offer converting for?
Thanks in advance!
nice post.I want to give it a try.Are there any other networks with minimum commitment less than $100?
Nope.
I joined DircetCPV and deposited my initial $100. I had a question about the tracking variables (vurl etc). I didn't understand where to put them – so I sent a ticket to their support. I've now sent 3 tickets asking for a reply but after 10 days – nothing. I don't want to just guess 'cos if I get it wrong I could use the $100 for no results. Maybe I'm expecting too much – but personally I think 10 days is enough time to answer a simple query. If they don't reply in a couple of days I'll do a chargeback through Paypal and serves them right – not impressed with their support.
Try emailing brett@admanage.com he is usually very responsive. To answer your question, you typically put the tracking variables at the end of your link in the SubID or SID spot, after the = sign.
Thanks for the reply – I wish their support was as responsive as you lol
I've found a video on Youtube which seems to indicate you don't need the tracking variables for it to work so I've done that initially. I'll email brett for more info – thanks again.
Well.. I'm new to PPV advertising but after read your review it look interesting! so I'm plan to go with PPV now hope this will work as you say.. but anyway, thanks for the promo code $25, this will sure give my lots traffic to my site above!