The companies listed to the left offer advertisers and / or web publishers ad inventory that ties payments for ads served to the number of leads generated - as opposed to actual volume of ads served, clicks on ads or engagement with ads (via hovering or mousing over an ad).
This practice is known by several names including CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), affiliate marketing, lead-gen or CPS (Cost Per Sale).
It eliminates any risk to advertisers that ads served will not produce a positive Return on Investment (ROI). If advertising fails to generate sales, no payment is required.
Instead it places all risk associated with ad serving on web publishers.
Payments are directly tied to what happens after visitors arrive at the advertiser's web site - i.e. Did the visitor actually become a lead after interacting with the advertiser's landing page or browsing through the advertiser's site?
Whether the web publisher has sent the appropriate types of visitors to the advertiser's web site is far less relevant in this business model.
The result is that most ad inventory provided by CPA networks is used either
- By web publishers to fill ad space that no other type of ad network will ever provide ads for.
- By individuals or small companies working as "independent" marketing consultants with minimal supervision who build web sites specifically designed to drive sales of products advertised.
CPA networks generally offer advertising in all the various display ad formats. Some offer additional formats like rich media and video.
What usually distinguish them from other types of ad networks is their
- Economic model.
- Investment in supporting and building relationships with web sites and independent marketing consultants.
- Working with a much larger number of low traffic web sites (less than 10,000 unique visitors per month).
- Emphasis on "low cost" online marketing techniques to send visitors to advertiser web sites (e.g. email, SEO, social media, etc).
Browse Affiliate Marketing (CPA) sites
Use the following reference points to evaluate and compare CPA networks:
Distribution
What web sites currently publish their ads?
Technology
Which ad server do they use?
What ad serving technology have they developed in-house?
Do they provide any self service interface for advertisers to manage their campaigns?
What options do they provide for managing advertiser campaigns through an API?
What technology do they use to test and fine tune creatives and landing pages for ads served?
Business
Do they have any "exclusive" rights to represent advertisers?
What type of training do they provide to affiliates?
How do they manage potential channel conflict between affiliates and advertisers attempting to buy advertising with other networks?