Pop ads, also known as pop-up or popunder, is a form of advertising format in affiliate marketing. The examples of this format are windows and banners that open up or under the opened page.

Let’s find out what a pop ad is, how it works, what the best verticals for this ad format are, and which advantages it has.

Pop Ads Meaning

Pop Ads format refers to a form of online advertising often used in affiliate marketing. They are a type of display advertisement that appears in a separate window or tab, either on top of or beneath the main browser window. Pop ads typically appear when a user visits a website or clicks on a specific link.

In the context of affiliate marketing, pop ads are commonly used by affiliates to promote products or services and earn a commission for each successful referral or sale. Affiliates integrate pop ad scripts provided by CPA networks into landing pages.

When a visitor interacts with the affiliate’s website or triggers a specific event, such as clicking a link or attempting to exit the page, a pop ad window opens and displays an advertisement. The ad may be related to the content of the affiliate’s website or the user’s browsing history.

The technology behind pop ads relies on JS scripts embedded into a publisher’s website. When a user interacts with the site, the script triggers a new browser tab or window to open in the background. This tab contains the advertiser’s landing page or offer.

Pop ad traffic is generally sold on CPM (Cost Per Mille), when advertisers pay for every 1000 impressions. Some networks also offer Smart CPM, where advertisers compete for traffic, with bids adjusting automatically to match demand and supply.

Best Verticals for Pop Ads

Pop traffic is more effective in certain niches:

1. iGaming

The iGaming vertical is characterized by spontaneous decision-making. Users are easily enticed by visually appealing pop ads that offer exciting Gambling and Betting opportunities. Using high-quality graphics in popunders can attract this audience, especially when promoting free initial deposits.

2. eCommerce

eCommerce is another vertical where quick decisions are common. If users come across an attractive product in a pop ad, they are likely to click the link for more information. Pop ads are particularly effective when used to advertise limited-time discounts. Affiliate marketers can achieve significant conversions for their products using pop ads.

3. Dating

Pop ads prove to be impactful for Dating websites and apps. It is crucial to emphasize the importance of well-designed ads, as Dating often includes spammy websites looking for quick profits. Your ad should have an appealing color contrast and avoid any misleading information.

Pros and Cons of Pop Ads

Pop traffic has many benefits such as high visibility, attention-grabbing format, targeting capabilities, flexibility and creativity, cost-effectiveness. Let’s examine them.

Advantages

  • High Visibility: Pop ads have a high visibility factor as they appear in separate windows or tabs, often covering a significant portion of the screen. This visibility increases the chances of users noticing and engaging with the ad;
  • Attention-Grabbing: Pop traffic is designed to capture immediate attention by interrupting the user’s browsing experience. The sudden appearance of a pop ad can draw the user’s focus and generate curiosity, potentially leading to higher click-through rates;
  • Targeting Capabilities: Pops can be targeted based on various criteria such as keywords, demographics, GEO, or browsing behavior. This targeting capability allows advertisers to focus their ads on specific audiences, increasing the likelihood of reaching relevant users and improving campaign performance;
  • Flexibility and Creativity: Pop traffic allows advertisers to experiment with different ad formats, creative designs, and messaging. This flexibility helps in optimizing campaigns, testing various approaches, and refining strategies to maximize performance;
  • Cost-Effectiveness: Pop traffic can often be more cost-effective compared to other forms of advertising, such as display or search ads. Advertisers typically pay for pop traffic on a per-view or per-click basis, allowing for better control over the advertising budget and potential return on investment.

Disadvantages

  • Negative Perception: Pop ads are often seen as annoying or undesirable, which can lead to a negative perception. Users may develop a negative association with brands that use pop traffic, affecting their willingness to engage with future marketing efforts;
  • Ad Blocking: Many users employ ad-blocking software or browser extensions to prevent popups and popunders from appearing. This can significantly reduce the reach and visibility of pop traffic campaigns, limiting their effectiveness in reaching the intended audience.

Where to Buy Pop Ads?

The best way to get high-quality pop traffic is to discover a reliable ad network. Due to the characteristics of pop ads, there is a risk of unscrupulous companies artificially inflating the traffic you receive to charge higher fees. Working with a trustworthy network is essential to safeguard against receiving bot-generated and fraudulent traffic.

Joining an ad network, the next step is to fund your advertising account. It is essential to add funds before you can start running campaigns. While it is possible to set up campaigns without any money in your account, they will not begin running until you have added funds.

Also, you must establish an ad campaign for your pop traffic, which involves configuring all the necessary target parameters, creating a landing page and optimization.

Top 5 Pop Ads Networks

There are 5 top ad networks to buy popunder traffic.

1. RichAds

RichAds

RichAds is a multi-format ad network with 5 billion impressions daily across 6 ad formats. To run a pop ad campaign the RichAds team recommends using their unique feature – Performance Mode. This tool allows you to update your whitelists weekly. Other optimization features include Target CPA, Microbidding, Automated Rules and Whitelists/Blacklists. For best results focus on Premium for popunder traffic and Standard, Remnant and New for scaling your campaigns.

Features:

  • Ad Impressions: 5 billion daily
  • Countries: 220
  • Minimum Deposit: $150
  • Additional Ad Formats: Push ads, in-page push ads, direct click ads, native ads, Telegram ads
  • Top Niches: Gambling, Betting, Dating, Finance, Antivirus & VPN, Cleaners, Nutra, Sweepstakes
  • Payment Methods: Wire Transfer, Bank Card, Capitalist, Payoneer
  • Targeting Options: Country, city, region, device type (desktop, mobile, tablet), device model, manufacturer, OS, browser, browser language, connection type, carrier, ISP, scheduling.

2. ROIads

ROIads

ROIads is an ad network that was born in 2023. Although it’s new, the platform has already made waves in the industry, with over 9.6 billion impressions per month in 150 countries.

The platform is focused on push and pop traffic and has a variety of verticals like iGaming, VPN, Software & Utilities, Finance, Nutra, Sweepstakes. This allows advertisers to reach a wide audience and also target specific demographics to increase their revenue. By joining ROIads, advertisers get access to exclusive premium traffic sources, advanced targeting options and real time analytics for precise ad management.

Features:

  • Ad Impressions: 9.6 billion monthly 
  • Countries: 150
  • Minimum Deposit: $250
  • Additional Ad Formats: Push ads
  • Top Niches: iGaming, VPN, Software & Utilities, Finance, Nutra, Sweepstakes
  • Payment Methods: Wire Transfer, Bank Card, Capitalist
  • Targeting Options: Device, OS, browser, connection type, carrier targeting, ISP targeting, language, timetable, whitelists / blacklists, micro bidding, IP whitelists / blacklists

3. PopCash

PopCash

Popcash is a popunder ad network that has been running since 2012. They are focused on popunder only and work with around 120,000 publishers. They are global with a strong focus on the US, Indonesia, France, India and UK. Their traffic acquisition model is CPV (Cost Per View). Optimization is handled through automated rules that determine which sources to whitelist or blacklist.

You can check the current traffic directly on the website without registering. Also the support team can provide you with high performing GEOs and bids.

Features:

  • Ad Impressions: 4+ billion monthly
  • Countries: Global
  • Minimum Deposit: $5
  • Payment Methods: Wire Transfer, Bank Card, Paxum, PayPal, Payoneer
  • Targeting Options: Country, region, vertical, OS, and additional options upon request.

4. Clickadu

Clickadu

Clickadu is an all in one ad network that supports over 60,000 ad campaigns, with 3,500 publishers. As a solid alternative to propellerads.com, the network has a lot of traffic through different ad formats. The team also offers cross advertising, combining banners and push ads, and unique formats like SKIM and instant text messaging.

One of the biggest advantages for affiliates is to get extra traffic through Anti-AdBlock zones and hidden Apple devices. For more info check out the Clickadu review.

Features:

  • Ad coverage: 6+ billion ad impressions daily
  • Countries: 240 countries
  • Minimum Deposit: $100
  • Additional Ad Formats: Banners, Popunder, Push Ads, In-Page Push, Instant Text Message, Video, SKIM
  • Top Niches: Tools & Utilities, VPNs, E-commerce, iGaming, Paid Content Websites, Dating
  • Payment Methods: Wire Transfer, Bank Card, PayPal, WebMoney, Paxum
  • Targeting Options: country, state, city, connection type, OS, device, manufacturers, model, browser, browser language, proxy.

5. HilltopAds

HilltopAds is a UK based company founded in 2013 as a popunder ad network. Over the years they have added different ad formats such as push ads, banners, in-page push ads, video ads and direct links. They monetize traffic on both mobile and web, with global reach focused on tier 1 countries and European and Asian regions. To optimize performance HilltopAds segments their traffic based on user activity and advertisers can use the Automatic Optimization feature.

Popunder traffic for Gambling offers is usually sold on CPM (Cost Per Mille) or CPA (Cost Per Action) basis. Highest traffic volumes are in the Streaming Entertainment niche. One of the advantages of HilltopAds is that they offer direct traffic, so they can connect with a highly targeted audience.

Features:

  • Ad Coverage: 73 billion impressions monthly
  • Countries: Worldwide
  • Minimum Deposit: $50
  • Additional Ad Formats: In-page push ads, Video ads (pre-roll), Banners, Direct links
  • Top Niches: Sweepstakes, Dating, Adult, VPN, Gambling and Online Finance
  • Payment Methods: Wire Transfer, Paxum, PayPal, ePayservice, WebMoney, alternative payment methods;
  • Targeting Options: GEO, device type, browser, OS, OS version, language, mobile carrier, connection type, IP range, brand mobile device, ISP, app.