right, so i was digging through some old campaign folders for a client audit and found the spreadsheets from like 2020. remember when these platforms weren't just a dumpster fire for bot traffic? comparing taboola and mgid back then was actually a thing, you could make money. my top performer was a home repair cpa offer, the kind that pays on a quote form submit. on taboola, i was getting clicks for around $0.28, ctr hovering at 0.8%, and a CR just above 4%. not amazing, but the volume was stupidly consistent, i could scale to $500 a day and the numbers would just hold, lmao. mgid was the annoying little brother. cheaper clicks, like $0.19, but the ctr was a joke, barely 0.4%, and the traffic was so much junkier. the only way it worked was with super aggressive, conspiracy-adjacent headlines on finance offers. conversion rate was half, maybe 2.2%. but the roi was weirdly similar because the cpm was so low. you'd spend all day optimizing out the trash placements tho. now? both feel like playing a slot machine that only pays out in expired coupons. i'll believe they're viable again when i see a csv from this year that doesn't look like a random number generator
a quick, nostalgic look at taboola vs mgid when they didn't suck
- Thread starter Bounty
- Start date
a quick, nostalgic look at taboola vs mgid when they didn't suck
yeah man, I feel u. those good old days when it was more about real traffic and less about dodging bots. now it's like trying to hit a moving target that's only moving in circles. sometimes I wonder if it was really better or just nostalgia making it seem that way. maybe we just remember the wins more than the fails
Locus
New member
Yeah, I get the nostalgia but honestly I think it's a bit of rose-colored glasses. Sure, bots are a pain now but I've seen enough old campaigns that were so spammy and bot-infested they were barely playable. The grass isn't always greener, just different weeds. Back then the scale was insane, but the quality? questionable at best. Today it's more about being smarter with traffic sources, not just throwing money at the wall hoping it sticks. I'd argue that if you want real ROI, you gotta adapt, not just reminisce. Besides, those old days?
Ah man, those were the wild west days, huh? When ad networks actually did what they promised without turning your site into a spam magnet. Now it's a mess of ad fatigue and low quality traffic, and everyone just wants a piece of the pie without breaking the bank. But yeah, nostalgia for the simpler times when you could actually trust the platform to do its job. Those days felt a lot less like fighting for scraps.
Shunt
New member
hard disagree. Ad fatigue and low quality traffic are partly on the networks and partly on us for not tracking right. If you're not server-side, you're guessing, and guesswork leaves money on the table. That pie's only getting bigger if you juice your data instead of chasing shiny objects.
Haha yeah, those were the days when you actually had to know your shit or get burnt. Now it's all about automation and safety nets, which is fine but I swear everyone's chasing the same cookie cutter formula. The real juice used to come from those weird niches and messing around with networks that still had some soul. Now it's just cookie cutter campaigns, big data, and trying to hit the same KPIs everyone else does. Honestly, I don't miss the chaos so much as the opportunity to find those edges before everyone else caught on. The thing is, everyone wants to relive the old days but nobody's asking what got lost in the shuffle, the human element, the gut feel, the weird angles. That's where the real conversion magic lived and it's still there if you look hard enough.
Vanguard
New member
Those were the days when native actually meant native not just a damn banner with a fancy name. Taboola and MGID used to crush it with quality native traffic. Now it's a mess trying to find decent placements that perform without wasting budget. Back in the day owning your traffic meant owning your funnel. These networks got greedy and lost sight of the basics. Native ads still outperform PPV and banners for adult traffic if you find the right placements and creatives. Don't forget that. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of the old school LPs and a single CTA.
classic case of traffic quality dropping hard when the networks get greedy, now it's all about volume not conversions anymore, the old days were different but the numbers now are what matter so show me your CR and EPC now because that's what decides if you keep spending or not
Liquid
New member
Been there, tested that. The good old days when native was really native and traffic quality was actually decent, those were the sweet spots. Now it's all about volume and pushing through capped out T1s, so nostalgia is nice but I'd take proof of current CVR and EPC over memories any day.
Budding
New member
honestly I think the nostalgia is a bit rose-tinted. sure back in the day native traffic was better quality, less volume chasing and more targeted, but that was also a different landscape. the industry moves fast and the networks are gonna chase the bigger pools of volume, it's just basic sysadmin stuff - you gotta adapt or die. the real trick is not just whining about how it used to be, it's about understanding how to work with what we got now. you can still find good pockets if you dig deep enough, but it takes more technical setup, better filtering, and sometimes even custom scripts to clean traffic before it hits your offers. the old days of simply slapping a native wrapper on crap traffic are gone. tbh, if you're just nostalgic w/o adjusting your strategies, you're gonna get left behind. native traffic used to be about quality, now it's about volume. that's not gonna change, but we can still game the system if we get smart with our tech. don't get caught up in the "it was better back then" mindset, focus on what works today.
exactly, industry moves fast and if you're not adapting you're dead in the water. what worked yesterday is just smoke and mirrors today. gotta stay sharp, keep testing, learn the new angles, or you end up pushing crap traffic and wondering why your stats look like a train wreck. native used to mean native, now it's a game of volume chasing quick wins. gotta keep an eye on the bigger picture, keep tweaking that LP and find what sticks, or you're just spinning your wheels.
you're hitting on the core truth right there. nostalgia is a funny thing especially in this game where what worked yesterday might turn into a dead end tomorrow. I remember when native used to feel like a genuine conversation instead of a volume race. the moment networks started chasing numbers more than quality, the whole landscape shifted. it's like the old days of theatre where the best performances were the ones that felt real, but then came the era of spectacle and bigger-is-better. trust the process of constant testing and adapting because the truth is the talent that keeps evolving is the one who stays in the game. native used to be about trust and subtlety, now it's about volume and quick wins. but if you look behind the curtain, the real winners are the ones who still care about the quality of the audience and not just the numbers on the dashboard. that's where the true connection lives and where real conversions happen. the industry will chase the shiny thing every time but the creators who keep their eye on authentic engagement are the ones who come out ahead in the end
Daemon
New member
native used to mean native, now it's a game of volume and quick wins. the real truth is most of that "genuine conversation" got replaced by junk traffic and clickbait. if you're still chasing the old vibe, you're riding a dead horse, my friend. adapt or get left behind eating tire-kickers' dust. this is a level of cope I didn't know was possible.
Facade
New member
Honestly, I think nostalgia can be a trap. Yeah, those old days felt more genuine but they were also way easier to game. Today's landscape is just a grind for faster, volume-based wins and if you're still holding onto the old vibe, you're just fooling yourself. The game's evolved and so should your approach.
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