CPA vs. AdSense

Justin Lewis · 10-11-2011, 01:49 PM

If you had to pick and choose between 2 different networks (like EpicDirect or Peerfly against AdSense) and you found that both forms of making money earned you roughly the same conversions from multiple tests.

Which would you go after?

CPA - where you have more control of what shows up on your site, but it involves more work because sometimes offers go stale.

AdSense - where you have less control of what shows up, but it involves much less work because you can simply just place the AdSense up and walk away.

The reason I ask is because even though a lot of the time I really do enjoy CPA (I'm more into affiliate though), in my eyes a lot of the CPA offers out there pertaining to different niche markets are kind of scammy. Maybe not intentionally, but when a CPA offer says "Enter your email to get a free lotion set", that's kind of deceptive when they actually have to enter their email and then their entire billing information, and if they don't cancel in a certain period of time they are charged.

Maybe it's just me, but these are my thoughts.

What do you think?

P.S. I wouldn't advertise something scammy on my websites personally, but AdSense sometimes does as well.

high_plains_drifter · 10-11-2011, 01:54 PM

you should always click the link yourself to test the offer, if it does ask for anything you like credit cards then just dont put that offer up, there are lots of offers on peerfly that convert on just an email or zip submit.

I get good conversions with these types, i would never put an offer on my sites that asked for cc details simply because i dont want to annoy my visitors or make them feel i am trying to scam them

Justin Lewis · 10-11-2011, 02:25 PM

Well a lot of the time, those ones that pay you for emails end up selling the heck out of their lists as well. That's why I'm a bit afraid to use them as much as I used to.

I'm starting to focus back more on affiliate marketing, versus cpa marketing on my niche websites because then I have absolute control.

But I like to have alternatives.

Rageki · 10-11-2011, 07:52 PM

Cpa has lots of move advantage than adsense and pays more, but if you choose a good keyword for adsense, you could make a decent profit.

ChrisBa · 10-11-2011, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Lewis

If you had to pick and choose between 2 different networks (like EpicDirect or Peerfly against AdSense) and you found that both forms of making money earned you roughly the same conversions from multiple tests.

Which would you go after?

CPA - where you have more control of what shows up on your site, but it involves more work because sometimes offers go stale.

AdSense - where you have less control of what shows up, but it involves much less work because you can simply just place the AdSense up and walk away.

The reason I ask is because even though a lot of the time I really do enjoy CPA (I'm more into affiliate though), in my eyes a lot of the CPA offers out there pertaining to different niche markets are kind of scammy. Maybe not intentionally, but when a CPA offer says "Enter your email to get a free lotion set", that's kind of deceptive when they actually have to enter their email and then their entire billing information, and if they don't cancel in a certain period of time they are charged.

Maybe it's just me, but these are my thoughts.

What do you think?

P.S. I wouldn't advertise something scammy on my websites personally, but AdSense sometimes does as well.

Another way to think of it.. often people are running cpa offers through adwords content network, which would show up as ads if you have adsense on your site, and if they are making money off of it, chances are you could too.. think about it.. if they are paying Google a small percentage of what they are making, and Google is paying you even less.. if you skip as many middlemen as possible you could be making what the affiliate is making, plus what google is making and plus what you could have been making - all combined..

Now, with that in mind, you will need ot put in the work, you will need to test different ads, offers, landing pages, etc.. but in the end you could control the traffic better and make much more money..

chall vandenbergh · 10-12-2011, 07:28 AM

the problem with cpa is that you need mostly us or geo targeted traffic to make money of course the pay out is higher than adsense of course
adsense has accepted al traffic wich is some better it al depends on the traffic no traffic no money

edwin008 · 10-12-2011, 09:24 PM

It depends on your audiences. Test before make any decision

ezzypro · 10-12-2011, 10:08 PM

I agree with you that a lot of cpa's are rip offs, and for that reason I tend to side with AdSense.

Omid · 10-12-2011, 10:46 PM

If the traffic is niche targeted I would definitely go with CPA. Most of the times it needs testing and tracking to come up with the best CPA offer.

AdSense, mmmm, is not really profitable compared to CPA (again, if the traffic is targeted).

I usually leave adsense for adsense sites. They are fairly easy to create and get rank on Google.

~ Omid

Jac0b · 10-13-2011, 03:32 AM

I vote for AdSense + several another ad networks at the same time...

k_rock · 10-13-2011, 08:04 AM

A combination of both is always good..As long as they are relevant and targeted.

Justin Lewis · 10-13-2011, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisBa

Another way to think of it.. often people are running cpa offers through adwords content network, which would show up as ads if you have adsense on your site, and if they are making money off of it, chances are you could too.. think about it.. if they are paying Google a small percentage of what they are making, and Google is paying you even less.. if you skip as many middlemen as possible you could be making what the affiliate is making, plus what google is making and plus what you could have been making - all combined..

Now, with that in mind, you will need ot put in the work, you will need to test different ads, offers, landing pages, etc.. but in the end you could control the traffic better and make much more money..

I absolutely agree with that and have thought about the same thing previously.

Probably the worst thing about CPA is spending a lot of time working on a CPA offer that converts like crazy and then suddenly having the CPA offer taken offline.

Many times I don't even notice it, causing earnings to go down for that site.

When using AdSense, it doesn't matter because Google handles it. So it's really a choice between maintenance or no maintenance.

But I definitely earn more when offering the CPA advertisements, get better CTR, conversions, and have a ton more control.

Ian Andrews · 10-13-2011, 11:50 AM

Sorry to appear dumb. I have been hearing about CPA offers but haven't actually sussed them out yet. Do the CPA networks not notify their affiliates by email if an offer expires? I would have thought that would be a logical thing to do?

Justin Lewis · 10-13-2011, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Andrews

Sorry to appear dumb. I have been hearing about CPA offers but haven't actually sussed them out yet. Do the CPA networks not notify their affiliates by email if an offer expires? I would have thought that would be a logical thing to do?

They do notify us usually, but it's easy to miss. CJ.com has affiliate and CPA offers as well and I miss their notifications sometimes because they appear like advertisements to me lol.

shaddelick · 10-13-2011, 12:00 PM

I would go with CPA. With CPA its easier to track and see what converts, that way you can come out with a similar product and make a higher profit.

Ian Andrews · 10-13-2011, 12:18 PM

Thanks Justin. What are the best CPA networks to join and which ones are easiest to get approved for? I gather from my research so far and the posts here that some of the offers can be dodgy. Am I correct in thinking that the best ones by far are the ones which only require a zip code or email address? I live in Australia does anyone know of any Australian CPA companies or can Australian offers be found on the usual networks like CJ? Also is the fact I live in Australia likely to preclude me from being accepted by the CPA networks targetting the USA?

williamrs · 10-13-2011, 12:22 PM

"you found that both forms of making money earned you roughly the same conversions from multiple tests"

If both were making me the same amount of money I'd certainly go with AdSense, which is "lazier". However, I think most of the times CPA is more profitable if used properly, and it would change my choice.

Regarding the shaddy offers, you don't necessarily need to promote them. There are both good and bad offers and it's up to you to choose which one you wnat to promote.

I myself personally prefer to avoid the scammy offers, not just because I'm a nice guy (this is one of the reasons, though

), but also because I do list building and my lists tend to be profitable for a longer period of time if I don't burn them with scams.

W

Fraser SellHealth · 10-13-2011, 01:11 PM

All i have to say about this topic , is that building your site around adsense profits can be a heart break story. Google doesnt hesitate to ban adsense accounts and it doesnt matter how much you are making, so you could be making a couple hundred a day and then bang no more adsense ,on the other hand promoting CPA's and CPS affiliates give you much more control on which ads you want to promote and there is minimal fear that you will get banned. On the flip side promoting CPA's & CPS's like @justin said you gotta stay on top of your game, gotta switch up your ads when ads go stale etc.. best call is using a bit of both, use a good reliable CPA/CPS network and use Google adsense in your articles for maximum clicks...

JMac · 10-13-2011, 08:05 PM

Personally, I dont have a lot of time to devote to IM so I go the adsense route. I work on ranking the site when I have time and thats it. If I need to take a month off because the family/job get busy, I can and not have to worry too much about losing money.

If you like the CPA stuff and you have time, stick with it. Or better yet, how about doing a bit of both and diversifying those web properties... No need to stick it all in one basket, make several sites of each.

Tonylee93 · 10-13-2011, 08:15 PM

I feel like there two different animals these days, Adsenses have to do with how much traffic you get and CPA has to do with how much targeted traffic you get to click on a link. I feel they are both hard and with hard work you can make an Income online. Money doesn`t come easy or fast its all about waiting and working hard.

mark1230 · 10-13-2011, 11:02 PM

I think CPA is far better than adsense if you have targetted visitors,you get more share per sale plus you can appeal your website visitors to go for that product or service ...but google organic search is a main source for income for both of these products.

jahangir87 · 10-13-2011, 11:04 PM

CPA is better than adsense from the prospect that it pays more but not too much in CPAs for the members outside USA or UK and this is why adsense is best.No matter from where the clicks come you will still make money.

smartyjohn · 10-13-2011, 11:57 PM

I think Adsense is better than CPA for more people as it needs less effort and time to setup and track.

safexsolutions · 10-19-2011, 03:51 AM

Depends on Niche, Traffic source and with a lot testing..No one can give you exact answer..Also depends what work for you best..

Kenster · 10-19-2011, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Lewis

I absolutely agree with that and have thought about the same thing previously.

Probably the worst thing about CPA is spending a lot of time working on a CPA offer that converts like crazy and then suddenly having the CPA offer taken offline.

Many times I don't even notice it, causing earnings to go down for that site.

When using AdSense, it doesn't matter because Google handles it. So it's really a choice between maintenance or no maintenance.

But I definitely earn more when offering the CPA advertisements, get better CTR, conversions, and have a ton more control.

Offers going down temporarily (quota) or permanently is a downside of CPA marketing and I hear people complain about it all the time. If you are making money on the site, then it will only 5 seconds a day to check out your site to make sure the offers are still active. If you outsource or have a VA, just have them take a look every morning. For $10 a month you can probably outsource somebody to look at all your sites daily to make sure offers are active.

So, even though it's a downside, it's really not a huge deal, particularly if you are making decent money! The most frustrating part is finding a substitution offer, so that's why it's good to belong to several networks so you have access to plenty of potential substitution offers.

One last thing...I always like to have a backup offer already in mind for any placement that is currently doing well. Again, you can even pass this task on to any outsourcers or employees you may have. If not, it will only take a few minutes a week to do yourself!

So don't let that change your opinion, do a test with cpa and adsense and whatever makes the most...keep that one.

robp12 · 10-20-2011, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Lewis

If you had to pick and choose between 2 different networks (like EpicDirect or Peerfly against AdSense) and you found that both forms of making money earned you roughly the same conversions from multiple tests.

Justin, how has your experience been with EpicDirect? I just signed up after reading your post and checking out some reviews online.

Kenster · 10-20-2011, 09:03 AM

Rob...a good network for sure! Though I'm not Justin but that's just my opinion!

PPC-Coach · 10-20-2011, 10:45 AM

I would got the CPA route. Make sure you put more then one offer in rotation in that spot. That way if one does go down, (which one probably will), you've got others in the rotation that are still working.

10-11-2011, 01:49 PM	#1
Justin Lewis 140+ Websites, 180k+ Fans War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia Posts: 1,112 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 105 Thanked 557 Times in 257 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	CPA vs. AdSense If you had to pick and choose between 2 different networks (like EpicDirect or Peerfly against AdSense) and you found that both forms of making money earned you roughly the same conversions from multiple tests. Which would you go after? CPA - where you have more control of what shows up on your site, but it involves more work because sometimes offers go stale. AdSense - where you have less control of what shows up, but it involves much less work because you can simply just place the AdSense up and walk away. The reason I ask is because even though a lot of the time I really do enjoy CPA (I'm more into affiliate though), in my eyes a lot of the CPA offers out there pertaining to different niche markets are kind of scammy. Maybe not intentionally, but when a CPA offer says "Enter your email to get a free lotion set", that's kind of deceptive when they actually have to enter their email and then their entire billing information, and if they don't cancel in a certain period of time they are charged. Maybe it's just me, but these are my thoughts. What do you think? P.S. I wouldn't advertise something scammy on my websites personally, but AdSense sometimes does as well.
	http://www.nicheoptimizer.com/niche-...rrior-special/ I teach people how to build websites and large Facebook pages. You can join my Niche Academy and find out what you're best at by clicking here.

10-11-2011, 01:54 PM	#2
high_plains_drifter Still im untangible War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: London Posts: 559 Thanks: 68 Thanked 52 Times in 36 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: CPA vs. AdSense you should always click the link yourself to test the offer, if it does ask for anything you like credit cards then just dont put that offer up, there are lots of offers on peerfly that convert on just an email or zip submit. I get good conversions with these types, i would never put an offer on my sites that asked for cc details simply because i dont want to annoy my visitors or make them feel i am trying to scam them
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10-11-2011, 02:25 PM	#3
Justin Lewis 140+ Websites, 180k+ Fans War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia Posts: 1,112 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 105 Thanked 557 Times in 257 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Well a lot of the time, those ones that pay you for emails end up selling the heck out of their lists as well. That's why I'm a bit afraid to use them as much as I used to. I'm starting to focus back more on affiliate marketing, versus cpa marketing on my niche websites because then I have absolute control. But I like to have alternatives.
	http://www.nicheoptimizer.com/niche-...rrior-special/ I teach people how to build websites and large Facebook pages. You can join my Niche Academy and find out what you're best at by clicking here.

10-11-2011, 07:52 PM	#4
Rageki Active Warrior Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 41 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Cpa has lots of move advantage than adsense and pays more, but if you choose a good keyword for adsense, you could make a decent profit.
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10-12-2011, 07:28 AM	#6
chall vandenbergh Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: belgium Posts: 82 Thanks: 24 Thanked 11 Times in 8 Posts Social Networking	Re: CPA vs. AdSense the problem with cpa is that you need mostly us or geo targeted traffic to make money of course the pay out is higher than adsense of course adsense has accepted al traffic wich is some better it al depends on the traffic no traffic no money

10-12-2011, 09:24 PM	#7
edwin008 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 60 Thanks: 8 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts Contact Info	Re: CPA vs. AdSense It depends on your audiences. Test before make any decision
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10-12-2011, 10:08 PM	#8
ezzypro Ezra Anderson Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: USA Posts: 168 Thanks: 32 Thanked 14 Times in 13 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I agree with you that a lot of cpa's are rip offs, and for that reason I tend to side with AdSense.
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10-12-2011, 10:46 PM	#9
Omid Experienced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: USA Posts: 552 Thanks: 24 Thanked 187 Times in 102 Posts Contact Info	Re: CPA vs. AdSense If the traffic is niche targeted I would definitely go with CPA. Most of the times it needs testing and tracking to come up with the best CPA offer. AdSense, mmmm, is not really profitable compared to CPA (again, if the traffic is targeted). I usually leave adsense for adsense sites. They are fairly easy to create and get rank on Google. ~ Omid
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10-13-2011, 03:32 AM	#10
Jac0b Active Warrior Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 53 Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 3 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I vote for AdSense + several another ad networks at the same time...
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10-13-2011, 08:04 AM	#11
k_rock Warrior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 14 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: CPA vs. AdSense A combination of both is always good..As long as they are relevant and targeted.

10-13-2011, 11:50 AM	#13
Ian Andrews Warrior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 23 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Sorry to appear dumb. I have been hearing about CPA offers but haven't actually sussed them out yet. Do the CPA networks not notify their affiliates by email if an offer expires? I would have thought that would be a logical thing to do?
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10-13-2011, 12:00 PM	#15
shaddelick Warrior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I would go with CPA. With CPA its easier to track and see what converts, that way you can come out with a similar product and make a higher profit.

10-13-2011, 12:18 PM	#16
Ian Andrews Warrior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 23 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Thanks Justin. What are the best CPA networks to join and which ones are easiest to get approved for? I gather from my research so far and the posts here that some of the offers can be dodgy. Am I correct in thinking that the best ones by far are the ones which only require a zip code or email address? I live in Australia does anyone know of any Australian CPA companies or can Australian offers be found on the usual networks like CJ? Also is the fact I live in Australia likely to preclude me from being accepted by the CPA networks targetting the USA?
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10-13-2011, 12:22 PM	#17
williamrs Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 3,496 Thanks: 174 Thanked 1,159 Times in 614 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense "you found that both forms of making money earned you roughly the same conversions from multiple tests" If both were making me the same amount of money I'd certainly go with AdSense, which is "lazier". However, I think most of the times CPA is more profitable if used properly, and it would change my choice. Regarding the shaddy offers, you don't necessarily need to promote them. There are both good and bad offers and it's up to you to choose which one you wnat to promote. I myself personally prefer to avoid the scammy offers, not just because I'm a nice guy (this is one of the reasons, though ), but also because I do list building and my lists tend to be profitable for a longer period of time if I don't burn them with scams. W
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10-13-2011, 01:11 PM	#18
Fraser SellHealth HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 275 Thanks: 31 Thanked 69 Times in 43 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: CPA vs. AdSense All i have to say about this topic , is that building your site around adsense profits can be a heart break story. Google doesnt hesitate to ban adsense accounts and it doesnt matter how much you are making, so you could be making a couple hundred a day and then bang no more adsense ,on the other hand promoting CPA's and CPS affiliates give you much more control on which ads you want to promote and there is minimal fear that you will get banned. On the flip side promoting CPA's & CPS's like @justin said you gotta stay on top of your game, gotta switch up your ads when ads go stale etc.. best call is using a bit of both, use a good reliable CPA/CPS network and use Google adsense in your articles for maximum clicks...
	Fraser Mackie Affiliate Manager Sellhealth.com

10-13-2011, 08:05 PM	#19
JMac HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ohio, USA Posts: 168 Thanks: 18 Thanked 51 Times in 26 Posts Social Networking	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Personally, I dont have a lot of time to devote to IM so I go the adsense route. I work on ranking the site when I have time and thats it. If I need to take a month off because the family/job get busy, I can and not have to worry too much about losing money. If you like the CPA stuff and you have time, stick with it. Or better yet, how about doing a bit of both and diversifying those web properties... No need to stick it all in one basket, make several sites of each.
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10-13-2011, 08:15 PM	#20
Tonylee93 Giant Squid Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: New York Posts: 402 Thanks: 29 Thanked 29 Times in 25 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I feel like there two different animals these days, Adsenses have to do with how much traffic you get and CPA has to do with how much targeted traffic you get to click on a link. I feel they are both hard and with hard work you can make an Income online. Money doesn`t come easy or fast its all about waiting and working hard.
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10-13-2011, 11:02 PM	#21
mark1230 Warrior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 21 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I think CPA is far better than adsense if you have targetted visitors,you get more share per sale plus you can appeal your website visitors to go for that product or service ...but google organic search is a main source for income for both of these products.
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10-13-2011, 11:04 PM	#22
jahangir87 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Pune,India Posts: 106 Thanks: 1 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense CPA is better than adsense from the prospect that it pays more but not too much in CPAs for the members outside USA or UK and this is why adsense is best.No matter from where the clicks come you will still make money.
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10-13-2011, 11:57 PM	#23
smartyjohn Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: india Posts: 60 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Social Networking	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I think Adsense is better than CPA for more people as it needs less effort and time to setup and track.
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10-19-2011, 03:51 AM	#24
safexsolutions Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 78 Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Depends on Niche, Traffic source and with a lot testing..No one can give you exact answer..Also depends what work for you best..

10-20-2011, 09:03 AM	#27
Kenster Krazy Kenster War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 5,111 Blog Entries: 11 Thanks: 672 Thanked 2,009 Times in 885 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense Rob...a good network for sure! Though I'm not Justin but that's just my opinion!
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10-20-2011, 10:45 AM	#28
PPC-Coach Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 2,547 Thanks: 44 Thanked 663 Times in 379 Posts	Re: CPA vs. AdSense I would got the CPA route. Make sure you put more then one offer in rotation in that spot. That way if one does go down, (which one probably will), you've got others in the rotation that are still working.