When I first started running CPA campaigns, I quickly realized that choosing the right traffic source was only half the battle. The other half was understanding the ad formats — how they work, when to use them, and what kind of results to expect.
If you’re using PropellerAds, there are two formats you’ll see everywhere: Pop and Push ads. They are simple, powerful, and surprisingly beginner-friendly — which is exactly why I recommend them.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through both formats in a practical way. No complicated theory. Just what they are, how they behave, and how you can actually use them to get results — even if you’re just starting out.
Overview of Onclick (Popunder) Ads
Onclick ads, also known as Popunder ads, are a type of advertising format that appears when a user visits a website.
Instead of showing directly in front of the user, the ad opens in a new browser tab — placed behind the main tab the user is currently viewing. That’s exactly why it’s called a pop-under.
When the user eventually closes the main tab, the ad tab is still there, waiting in the background. This makes the experience less intrusive compared to traditional popups, which is why this format is still widely accepted across many websites today.
Types of Onclick Ads on PropellerAds
On PropellerAds, the Onclick format isn’t just a single traffic type. In fact, it’s divided into three main categories:
- Website Onclick (Traditional Popunder)
This is the most common form and the original version of Onclick ads. It appears when users visit websites that have PropellerAds code integrated. - Direct Click
This is a very interesting type of traffic. It works when users mistype a domain name — for example, instead of visiting amazon.com, they type amzon.com and get redirected to an advertising page. - Social Traffic
With this type, publishers create viral or curiosity-driven content and distribute it across social media platforms. When users click on that content, they are taken to a page that contains Onclick code. Once they interact with the page, the ad is triggered.
Each of these traffic types comes with its own strengths and limitations, and they are suited for different budgets, experience levels, and campaign strategies.
Analyzing Onclick Ad Formats
As mentioned earlier, PropellerAds offers three main types within the Onclick format: Popunder, Direct Click, and Social Traffic. Each of them differs in how the ads are delivered, as well as in pricing and traffic quality.
Understanding these differences is important, because it directly affects how you test campaigns, control costs, and optimize for profit.
Traditional Onclick (Popunder Ads)
This is the most classic format within the Onclick category, and also the one most beginners start with when running CPA campaigns.
When a user visits a website (for example: streaming sites, manga sites, sports sites), the ad automatically opens in a new tab behind the main page, showing your landing page or offer.
The user doesn’t need to click anything — simply loading the page is enough to trigger the ad.
Key characteristics:
- Extremely popular: This format has been around for over 20 years and is still effective today.
- Massive volume: It’s integrated across thousands of high-traffic websites.
- Low cost: Priced on a CPM basis (cost per 1,000 impressions), often around $0.5 or even lower.
Because this traffic is very broad and users are not actively searching for a product, you should focus on simple, easy-to-understand offers such as:
- VPN apps: Users see a security alert → you recommend a VPN to “protect” them.
- Sweepstakes: Spin-to-win, email submits, PIN submits — minimal effort required.
- Software / app downloads: Utility apps, cleaners, antivirus tools, etc.
- E-commerce (CPA): Campaigns that pay per click (for example, $0.5–$1 per product click).
Direct Click (Expired / Mistyped Domain Traffic)
Direct Click is a unique ad format on PropellerAds that works very differently from traditional Popunder traffic.
When users mistype a domain name — whether it’s an expired domain or simply a typo — they get redirected to an ad page served by PropellerAds.
For example, instead of typing amazon.com, a user might enter amzon.com, amaz0n.com, or amazn.co. The system then automatically redirects them to a landing page — which could be your CPA campaign.
Key characteristics:
- High intent users: Since they actively type a domain, there’s usually some level of intent — they may be looking for information or ready to buy.
- Element of surprise: When the page doesn’t match their expectation, users may become curious and stay to explore the content.
If you already have some experience with traditional Onclick traffic and are generating stable profits, Direct Click is definitely worth testing as a higher-quality traffic source.
However, you should be prepared with a well-optimized landing page to capture attention quickly — because these users didn’t originally intend to visit your offer.
Social Traffic (Traffic from Social Platforms)
This is a newer Onclick format, and also the most expensive one within the Onclick category on PropellerAds.
The key difference is that users don’t come from websites with ad code installed. Instead, they come from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others.
Publishers create highly engaging, curiosity-driven content — such as shocking news, viral stories, personality quizzes, or unusual images.
They then promote or share this content on social media, encouraging users to click.
Once users click on the post, they are redirected to the publisher’s website — where Onclick code is installed. At that point, the ad is triggered and opens in a new tab (similar to traditional popunder behavior).
Why is it called Social Traffic?
Because the traffic originates from social platforms, where users actively click on content that captures their attention — rather than randomly browsing websites.
In essence, this format is a hybrid between paid social and pop traffic. It tends to generate higher-quality clicks, since users already show curiosity and engagement before landing on the page.
Advantages:
- Higher CTR: Users actively click on the content, making them more engaged from the start.
- Better conversion rates: Often 2.8–7x higher than traditional popunder, especially in verticals like sweepstakes, apps, and content-based offers.
- Cleaner traffic: Compared to classic pop-heavy websites, this traffic is generally more refined and less saturated.
Recommended Strategy for Beginners
If you’re just getting started with affiliate marketing using paid traffic, my advice is simple: keep things as straightforward as possible.
Among the three Onclick formats offered by PropellerAds, you should focus only on traditional Popunder in the early stage.
Why start with Popunder?
- Low cost: You can test campaigns with a budget of just a few dozen dollars per day.
- Simple setup: No need for advanced technical skills or coding — just understand the basics of campaign setup and tracking.
- Easy to optimize: With large traffic volume, you can gather enough data quickly to evaluate performance.
- Platform-independent: You’re not relying on platforms like Facebook or Google, which can be restrictive or unpredictable.
In short, think of Onclick as a training ground for mastering CPA advertising. Start small, understand each step clearly, and improve gradually — that’s the most sustainable path to success.
Push Notifications Ads: A Practical Overview
Push Notifications — often called push ads — are probably something you’ve seen many times already. Those small messages that appear in the corner of your screen, saying things like “You have a new message” or “Flash sale is live”.
But behind those tiny notifications is a multi-million dollar advertising industry.
Around 2018 to 2020, browsers and platforms (led by Google) began allowing websites to send push notifications to users. What started as a simple feature quickly expanded across the entire ecosystem. And from there, a full-scale push advertising “ecosystem” began to emerge.
Website owners suddenly found themselves sitting on a goldmine: every user who clicked “Allow notifications” became a subscriber. From that point on, platforms like PropellerAds could leverage this subscriber base to build a massive, scalable ad distribution network.
Two Common Push Ad Formats
When you start exploring Push Notification ads on PropellerAds, you’ll notice there are two main formats available:
- Classic Push Notification (Traditional Push)
- In-Page Push Notification (In-Page Push)
At first glance, these two may look quite similar — both appear as “notification-style” ads. But in reality, they work very differently and can deliver very different results depending on how you use them.
What is Classic Push Notification?
This is the “original” version of push ads — and it works based on users giving permission to receive notifications from a website.
However, it’s a bit different from what many beginners assume.
When a user visits a website, they’ll see a prompt asking them to “Allow notifications.” Once they click Allow, they become a subscriber.
But here’s the key part: after subscribing, users don’t just receive notifications from that website — they start receiving ads from advertisers (like you).
These ads appear as small notifications in the bottom-right corner of the screen (on desktop) or in the notification bar (on mobile).
Some advanced marketers make millions with push traffic — but they usually build their own subscriber lists and run offers within their own ecosystem. That’s a more advanced approach, so we won’t go into that in this course.
Advantages of Push Notifications:
- Massive traffic volume: There’s a huge number of available subscribers.
- Low cost per click: Very beginner-friendly in terms of budget.
- High scalability: Once you find a winning setup, it’s possible to scale campaigns to thousands of dollars.
However, there are also downsides:
Traffic fatigue over time: Subscribers become less responsive the longer they stay in the system. PropellerAds typically classifies them into High (new, highly engaged), Medium, and Low (older, less engaged). After about a month, engagement tends to drop significantly.
That said, publishers are constantly bringing in new subscribers — so the system keeps refreshing itself.
Carrier targeting is not always accurate: For example, a user might click your ad using mobile data (3G/4G), but open the landing page later on WiFi. This can cause mismatches in IP data and affect conversions.
Because of this, it’s generally better to promote offers that also accept WiFi traffic.
What is In-Page Push Notification?
In-Page Push is a newer and more advanced format. Unlike Classic Push, it doesn’t require users to subscribe or give permission. As long as they visit a website, the ad can appear — usually within the first few seconds after the page loads.
Advantages of In-Page Push:
- No traffic fatigue: Since ads are shown instantly, you’re not relying on old subscriber lists like Classic Push.
- Hard to spy: Tools like Adplexity or SpyPush can’t easily track this format.
- Safer campaigns: Lower risk of being copied by competitors.
- Accurate carrier targeting: Works very well for mobile content offers.
- Category targeting: You can choose to show ads on specific niches like Finance, Dating, Games, Shopping, etc.
- Longer lifespan: Campaigns can stay profitable for 2–6 weeks, or even longer with the right offer.
Disadvantages:
- Lower traffic volume: Compared to Classic Push, the available traffic is smaller.
- Higher CPC: Click costs are higher, so you’ll need a larger testing budget to scale effectively.
In short:
If you want high volume and easy testing → go with Classic Push.
If you want higher-quality traffic, less competition, and better long-term stability → In-Page Push is the better choice, especially for mobile offers or long-term campaigns.
Push Ads Strategy: How to Approach It
Once you understand the difference between Classic Push and In-Page Push, the next question is: which one should you run, and how do you run it effectively?
In this section, I’ll share a few practical strategies based on my hands-on experience with PropellerAds — what actually works, what to focus on, and how to avoid common mistakes when starting out.
Optimize by Niche & Website Category
One of the biggest advantages of In-Page Push is category targeting — the ability to show your ads on websites within specific niches.
For example:
- Running a finance offer → target Finance
- Promoting a mobile game → choose Gaming
- Sweepstakes or giveaways → go with Giveaway
- Dating offers → target Dating
Choosing the right niche can significantly improve your conversion rate, because you’re reaching users who already have some level of interest in what you’re promoting.
That said, going too narrow can limit your traffic.
If you test a campaign and notice low impressions, you can:
- Temporarily target broader categories (or even all categories) to gather more data
- Then filter out high-performing Zone IDs and keep only the ones that convert
In many cases, offers like Sweepstakes can perform well across multiple niches — not just the “obvious” ones.
Quick tip:
Sometimes, the best-performing combinations don’t make logical sense at first. Don’t overthink it — let the data guide your decisions.
Test – Scale – Duplicate Campaigns
One of the great things about PropellerAds is that it connects you to thousands of different publishers.
This means that once you find a website (or Zone ID) with the right audience for your offer, you can start generating consistent revenue.
For example, I once had an In-Page Push campaign that scaled steadily to around $100/day — driven by just a single Zone ID that matched perfectly with my ad creative.
Once you find a winning setup, you can:
- Scale the budget (increase your daily spend)
- Duplicate the campaign and test similar offers
- Run retargeting, if available
With In-Page Push in particular, scaling can feel much more “stable” — mainly because it’s harder for competitors to spy on your campaigns and copy what you’re doing.
Final Thoughts (From Practice)
Push Notification traffic — whether Classic or In-Page — is definitely worth testing if you’re running affiliate campaigns.
If your goal is to scale fast, get large volumes, and test quickly → start with Classic Push.
If you’re aiming for higher quality traffic with less competition → go with In-Page Push.
But more importantly, focus on understanding the nature of the traffic, testing with a clear strategy, and tracking your data closely. No matter which format you choose, it only matters if it converts — that’s what brings in profit.
Start small, but think like a big player.