Ok, so this technique isn't new or a secret by any means but I was talking to some affiliates who were wondering how to find out what other people are promoting with PPV.
The answer is really simple – simply install the software the PPV traffic source uses to serve their ads. For example:
Traffic Vance serves ads to people who have installed their Game Vance software
Media Traffic gets their traffic from people who have installed their Vomba Screensavers
So what you would do is install one of the above software and then start visiting URL's you are targeting or URL's that you see a lot of competition on. You will get served the ads that are targeting those URL's. Easy right? I would do this one at a time (install one software, then completely uninstall it before installing the other) so you know where the ad came from.
One note – I would recommend doing this on a computer that's not your main computer. You can remove these programs, but sometimes it can be tricky so it's best not to do it on your main work PC.
This is a great technique to see what your competition is up to. It also helps to understand what software people are installing to get served these ads. For example, if we can figure out the demographic of people who install Game Vance, we have a lot better chance at picking successful offers to run.
Any tips for doing this if you’re not in the US? I’ve tried using proxies but I’m still not seeing as many ads as I would expect.
Hmmm…are you visiting URL’s that you know your competition is bidding on? Try adding a bunch of targets to a PPV campaign and see which targets have a lot of competition, then visit those URL’s. What software do you have installed?
Yes, I saw some targets with ridiculous competition so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I also checked my own targets.
I have VombaShots installed. I do get popups for Canadian/international offers, but I want to see what Americans are seeing since that’s who I am targeting.
It could also be that your hitting the frequency cap set by the advertiser. Usually people set it so that their ad will only show to the same IP once every few days to a week.
I don’t seem to have any luck with getting any popups to show using Gamevance. I’ve installed the software but I never get anything to show up. Any ideas?
On the other hand, this idea works great with Vomba.
On one PC I had to install the Gamevance software twice…not sure why. You also might try getting a new IP and surfing again.
Do you know where AdOnNetwork gets their users? I have been searching high and low, and haven’t been able to find anything.
@ Garrett – They come from the My Geek (I think it’s called) shopping toolbar.
Great info!
Unfortunately I live outside the USA so I can not see US targeted ads.
How can I set my computer up so I will be able to see them?(proxy or how?)
Thanks in advance for your answer.
David, with widows you can create different users and separate desktop create one for gamevance, and create another one for vomba. login separately and check the url is bidding on.
this way it does not interfere with your working desktop, you go into each users whenever you need to see what is working for others. This is what i did and i hope this helps.
I installed Vomba, but nada so far…. any ideas?
Hello David,
I started to read your posts about PPV topic. Tried some campaign into LeadImpact network, but without success, I’m sure it’s only the first steps.
But still have a question about spying the ads from another advertisers in the same PPV network, if my location isn’t US.
Best Regards,
Vitaly
For all those who want to see US advertisements, you can connect with a VPN.. Then you should be able to see the ads.
Horrible idea! Especially if it is installed on your main machine. The pop-ups will kill your ability to do anything else online. If you can’t seem to develop your own campaigns that convert and you HAVE to do this to spy on other people, DO IT ON A SPARE MACHINE! You’ve been warned.