So, coming from the world of organic SEO and PPC services such as Adwords and Bing Ads – one might be a bit reluctant to dive in to the world of Native Advertising. I mean, aren’t these the little trashy ads below articles when reading a click-bait article? I thought so at least but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Why Taboola
Now, there are a few big hitters out there for Native Ads, but today I want to reflect on my experience with kicking off a “from scratch” campaign with Taboola. First off, when I say “from scratch” I mean it, I literally saw a clever sponsored Facebook video snippet from Taboola, remembered the strange name and typed it in the next morning. Why? Because I was burnt out on the high cost and competition of the new search engine standard being PPC.
Getting Started With Taboola
Again, being a long time user of PPC services I was used to speed, approval, and ready to burn some cash on what I thought was going to be a fast process. So, I entered into a simple and incredibly straightforward account, campaign, and creative setup then submitted my information. Easy enough right? Then, I was completely taken back that Taboola came back with a 1 to 2 day review/approval process. Now at first this bothered me, then once approved I realized how much I appreciated the fact that Taboola does in fact have quality standards…or do they? I was then granted access to a shrine of nifty targeting controls, tracking, and unique methods to tailor my Ad viewership.
Going Live With Taboola
When my Ad went live, I saw near immediate tracking based on their easy to implement pixel code. I was also able to setup very simple conversion markers based on my domain name end-points. The traffic began to steadily come through at an easy to swallow 42 cents per click (give or take) and since my audience was for the US only I did not see one stray “out of country” click.
Now being new with the Taboola platform I did not expect immediate conversions or the same conversion ratio compared to other more action based PPC services for that matter. However, based on my experience thus far, I’d expect I can use the Taboola platform to my advantage and could clearly see this as a great tool for targeted traffic.
So I thought.
My Conclusion & My Final Recommendation
Stay clear. Enter at your own risk. Do not try. Wow, sounds harsh right? Not really, based on the traffic experience as well as an in depth audit of the clicks that were received on a very well planned, transparent, and genuine campaign. The traffic was a complete waste and if we are being honest, I was not purely convinced that the traffic were even from human beings.
One might even come to the conclusion that the traffic was generated or fake.
The Taboola billing system is antiquated and completely lags in response to the traffic calculations which will leave you surprised and left with a large bill. Not to mention, even when ads are disabled, clicks continue to roll in and your rolling bill continues to climb.
So, what are your thoughts on Taboola or Native Advertising in general?
I would like to know what has worked for you and what you found valuable when working with Native Ads.