Push traffic — refers to visitors who reach a website by clicking on advertising push notifications. A push notification — is a small message with an image and short text that appears in the corner of a computer screen or in a phone's notification panel, just like app notifications.
Where notifications come from
On many websites, a pop-up appears when you visit: «Allow notifications?» If a user clicks «Allow», the browser saves this subscription. The website owner connects this subscriber base to an advertising network, and the network starts sending them ads in the form of push notifications.
Push notifications are delivered through the browser, not the website itself. So even if someone closed the tab a long time ago and is doing something completely different, a notification can still appear in the corner of their laptop screen or in their phone's notification panel.
Classic push notifications vs. in-page push ads
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Classic push notifications are sent only to users who have subscribed to notifications. They appear over other windows, even if the website was closed long ago.
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In-page push ads only look like notifications, but they're actually advertisements displayed within an open web page. They don't require a subscription, so they can also reach iPhone users, who rarely receive classic push notifications.
Push traffic in traffic arbitrage
Affiliate marketers buy push traffic from specialized advertising networks and usually pay for each click. Push notifications are used to promote health and beauty products, dating websites, online casinos, apps and much more.
Pros:
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low cost per click, especially in lower-income countries;
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large traffic volumes, making it possible to scale up quickly;
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less strict advertising rules than on Facebook or Google.
Cons:
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many accidental clicks: users click on notifications simply to dismiss them;
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subscribers quickly get tired of advertising, causing conversion rates to drop;
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traffic may contain bots.
Important: a cheap click doesn't necessarily mean a cheap lead. Traffic comes from thousands of different websites, and its quality varies significantly. Push advertising network statistics show which websites generate clicks, so sources that don't bring in leads should be disabled immediately.
