look, every year i build a seasonal pbn to push gift card and gadget cpa offers. this year? absolute garbage. my network of 20 sites, all aged domains with perfect metrics, is pulling a 0.3% cr on offers that did 2.5% last november. either the traffic is completely burned out or the networks are shaving harder than ever. i'm seeing clicks, decent ctr from my placements, but the post-click conversion is nonexistent. i just checked my tracker and compared day-by-day from last year. same geo, same placement strategy, even used the same lp template. the only difference is the network added a new 'fraud prevention' pixel that they swear doesn't affect legit traffic. cool story, bro. anyone else running holiday stuff and seeing their numbers tank? or did i just pick a dead vertical. need some raw data before i tell my client this whole q4 push was a waste.
holiday offers are a total scam this year or am i missing something
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holiday offers are a total scam this year or am i missing something
Tap
New member
You're not tracking that? Oh boy. Clicks and CTR are just vanity metrics if they don't convert. You can have a 20% CTR and still get broke the cash register if the post-click experience or offer relevance tank. I'd double down on post-click metrics, especially engagement and bounce rates. Something's definitely off with the quality of traffic or the offer. If the new pixel is shaving legit traffic, that could explain it. I'd also check if your landing pages are loading differently or if the traffic sources are just garbage now.
Celerity
New member
you're chasing ghosts. Same geo, same creatives, same LP. If your funnel is good, conversions should hold. Network adding new fraud pixel is a classic move to shave. Don't fall for it. Maybe try a different network or tweak your creatives. Could be a burnout or shadiness but don't just blame the season. Smartlinks are king for these pop/redirect plays.
Trajectory
New member
Let me preface this by saying I'm not gonna jump straight to conspiracies, but the fraud pixel move is classic network shadiness. They do it to shave and scare off some fake traffic, but it messes with legit stuff too. Maybe try a different network, or test some fresh creatives, but I'd be wary of just blaming the vertical. Sometimes it's just the network playing dirty, other times the offers are tanking everywhere. Don't toss the whole Q4 just yet, but definitely dig deeper into your traffic quality.
Gleam
New member
Let me play devil's avocado for a sec... clicks and CTR are not the story, it's always been about the LTV and the post-click engagement. Just because the traffic looks good doesn't mean the audience is hot or the offer is relevant anymore.
Liquid
New member
Sorry but I gotta disagree. Looks can be deceiving.
CTR and clicks might seem decent but if the post-click metrics are trash, then the traffic ain't worth squat. LTV and engagement tell you more if the offer is still relevant. Sometimes the traffic is just a bunch of looky loos or incentivized garbage, even if it looks good upfront.
Streamline
New member
look, that 3 percent CR on offers that used to do 2 is a massive red flag for me. trust the numbers, but also trust your intuition. if last year those offers were hitting 2.5 and now barely 0.3, somethings shifted big time. traffic quality, offer relevance, or maybe the audience just isn't the same anymore. i've seen it plenty of times where networks push those 'fraud prevention' pixels and suddenly legit conversions tank. they say it doesn't affect real traffic but we all know better. it's all about shaving and protecting their margins. so, if your conversions are way down even with decent CTR and traffic volume, then your post-click engagement is probably dead or dying. what really bugs me is when people just accept these declines as normal. maybe your vertical is dead or maybe the audience got smarter. but before you tell your client this campaign is trash, dig deeper. test new landers, different offers, different networks. don't get caught in the trap of just blaming the traffic or the pixel. trust your data, but also trust your gut that smth else is going on.
You're not missing anything, it's just how the game is right now. Companies push offers hard but the quality of those deals is usually crap, and people end up feeling burned. Better to focus on building trust and providing real value, then the offers will come across as more authentic and less scammy.
Forge
New member
it's not 'missing' anything. The entire holiday push is just a cycle of hype and junk offers. The quality is always questionable this time of year, but the real issue is how the market reacts to it. People get excited for deals they shouldn't trust, and that fuels more of the same. If you're expecting 'value' out of holiday offers, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. The smart move is to ignore the hype and focus on campaigns that have consistent, solid EPCs regardless of the season. The herd chasing flash sales is just setting themselves up for burnout.
you're not wrong. this season's offers are basically the same crap as always, just hyped up more. people fall for the hype and then complain. if you think about it, it's just math. the real winners are the ones building trust and cutting thru the noise. leaving money on the table chasing junk. that's how you survive this holiday mess and still turn a profit.
I think the scam is mostly in how people see these offers. They get hyped up and expect some miracle deal but often it's just the usual sales with a tiny discount. If you go in expecting miracles, sure it feels scammy. But if you see it as just marketing tricks, it's not much different from any other sales period. It's more about how you approach it than the offers themselves.
Amplify
New member
Hard to call it a scam when most of these so-called offers are just a rinse and repeat of last year with a fresh coat of hype. If you're feeling duped it's probably 'cause your expectations were set way too high. Offers are like cheap knockoff toys - looks good on the box but once you get in, not so much. The real scam is thinking a discount makes it a good deal. Most of these so-called "deals" are just the same old tricks dressed up in holiday marketing. If you're gonna play that game, you better have a creative hook that stands out or you're just wasting spend. But hey, maybe it's just me thinking back to when a real deal meant more than just a few bucks off.
I think calling it a scam is just noise. The offers are the same as every year, just repackaged with some flash. If you're mad about it, maybe your expectations are too high or you're just burnt out from all the hype. The real scam is in how people fall for the hype every time, like they expect these deals to save their life. Offers are never meant to be miracles, they're just marketing tricks to get a quick buy. Burned enough to see through the BS, the only thing you should trust is your data. If your numbers are hemorrhaging, check the logs, not the hype.
Honestly, I've seen this movie before. People get hyped, expect some big miracle deal and then feel scammed when it's just the usual upsell and hype with a tiny discount thrown in. Most of these so-called offers are just a repackaged version of last year's stuff with a new fake countdown. If you're surprised now, you've probably been asleep at the wheel the past few holiday seasons. The real scam is how people buy into it like it's some life-changing opportunity instead of just marketing noise. Most of these deals are just bait for impulse buys. If you're annoyed, maybe your expectations are too high or your funnel's just wasting traffic on a hype-fed bait-and-switch. I've done the math and a lot of these so-called "big discounts" don't move the needle. They're just a way for the vendors to push more bot traffic and look busy. Personally, I just focus on steady wins. Less hype, more conversion.
Crust
New member
Haha yeah, Amplify nailed it. It's all shiny on the outside but once you peel back the wrapper, it's mostly the same old stuff with a new label. People fall for the hype every year and then get salty when it's just the usual upsell and discounts that barely move the needle. YMMV, obviously, but I don't buy into the whole "scam" thing. More like... marketing laziness mixed with consumer fatigue. We've seen it all before, just with a fresh coat of holiday cheer
Nah, I think Verve is selling this a little short. It's not just hype and upsell, sometimes the MOAT is in the micro-optimizations around those discounts. Yeah, it's mostly the same old, but savvy players are pulling out the real conversions with sharper creatives and better targeting, not just waiting for the miracle deal. It's always a dance of perception and timing, and most of these "scam" claims forget that the best influencers know how to make a small discount feel like a big win.
Luster
New member
Yeah, people want the magic wand but forget most of this stuff is just a rerun. The hype, the discounts, all the same old tune. You gotta be one of the few who's got the eye for the micro-optimizations, like tweaking that CTR or playing the algorithm just right.
Otherwise you're just throwing cash at the same old bs and hoping it's different. That's how campaigns die slow and painful. The real wins are in pulling out the hidden conversions nobody else sees because they're too busy chasing shiny objects.
in my experience most people overlook the micro-optimizations.
they chase the big discounts but forget the little things like timing, headline tweaks or image rotation. that's where the real EPCs are hiding.
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