PPS , PPC and CPM; These acronym are used very frequently in Online Ad world but still these are alien to many publishers. So lets understand them first -
PPS ( Pay per Sale )
This is the mode wherein publisher is paid on the basis of referral sales. For Example - Publisher is only paid if user clicks the ad on publisher site and then makes a sale on the advertised site. Technically , the ad url contains an additional parameter ( like referrer code ), which identify the source of the sale. As very low percentage people ends up doing the sale , The percentage commission is highest in case of PPS programs. They pay between 4-20% of
each sale , depending on the program , products and number of sales made. Following is the list of sites that provide PPS affiliate program.
maxbounty.com
Amazon
Endless.com
MyHabit.com
Type of Ads
Textual as well as graphical.
Advantages
1. High percentage commission , Even if you make single sale in week , that could compensate as much as hundreds of clicks and thousands of impressions.
2. Very easy to get approved , as one is paid on the basis of sale only.
3. Mostly Static Ads and hence loads very fast.
Disadvantages
1. Paid only if impression resulted in Click, and click resulted in Sale.
2. So not good for small publishers.
3. No served ads ( search linked ) , and hence making it even hard to get customer to the advertised site.
PPC ( Pay per Click )
This is the mode where in publisher is paid on the basis of Ad clicks that take the user to the advertised site. As Average number of people clicks the ads so this program offer less percentage commission than PPS and more than CPM ads. They pay between $.25 to $1.25 for each click depending on the product and number of unique clicks. Following is the list of sites that provide PPC affiliate program.
Google Adsense
Clicksor
Adbrite
Adversal
Bidvertiser
Chitika
7Search
Types of Ads
Mostly Textual
Advantages
1. Reasonable percentage commission.
2. Served ads i.e dynamic ads on the basis of searches made.
Disadvantages
1. Paid only if impression resulted in Click.
2. Hard to Approve as can be easily misused.
3. Mostly text only and hence spoil the Page appearance.
4. Very low PPC if the visitor is from non developed country.
CPM ( Cost per Mille or Pay per impression )
This is the mode where in publisher is paid on the basis of Ad impressions on the publisher site. As mostly all visitors watches the ads so this program offer very less percentage commission than PPS
and CPM ads. They pay between $.25 to $4.00 per thousand impressions. Technically , they keep count of the impressions through the ad server hits. Following is the
list of sites that provide PPC affiliate program.
AdPepper
ClickBooth
Komoona
Tribal Fusion
Inter Click
Value Click Media
Types of Ads
Mostly Graphical
Advantages
1. Graphical Ads.
2. Mostly Served ads ie dynamic ads on the basis of searches made.
3. Publishers make something even with very few site hits.
Disadvantages
1. Low percentage commission.
2. Few Affiliates just pay for organic traffic.
3. Very low CPM for traffic from non developed countries.
Factors to be considered before choosing any Affiliate mode.
1. Number of site Hits
2. Traffic Source
3. Audience
1. Site Hits - One should choose the Affiliate Mode on the basis of following rule
Better goes the site visits, the publisher should move from CPM to PPC to PPS mode.
2. Traffic Source - If your site gets mostly organic traffic ( search engine ), PPC and Served CPM Ads are best for you. If the site gets repetitive customers , Non served CPM and PPS ads are good.
3. Audience - PPS is best if your site has negligible traffic from non developed nations. Better allign yourself to some affiliate program of local supplier. If you get traffic mostly from developed countries , PPC and CPM ad are good.
Here is a tool to identify what ad types and network best suite your site.