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CPC Advertising on Facebook Now Open

UPDATED NOTICE : As of now, it looks like Facebook is going in and taking -maybe legal- action against affiliates using the system to their advantage. I have no clue why or what’s going on, but I would advise doing anything major with Facebook for the next few weeks until we get some more clear answers. Thanks.

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Facebook has launched a both CPC and CPM based advertising platform called Facebook Flyers Pro (the CPM is Flyers Basic). This application allows users to create flyers that are distributed throughout the network where you choose to target it. The minimum bid is currently set at $0.01, and it seems they have some sort of quality score in determining how much you pay per click. From their FAQ :

We select the best ad to run based on the cost per click and ad performance. We have a process in place that will automatically calculate the minimum price that the advertiser could pay and still have the highest cost per click Flyer, and the advertiser will only be billed that price. This price may be below the advertiser’s maximum cost per click. Because we lower the cost per click on your behalf, we recommend that you enter your true maximum cost per click when creating an ad – this will increase the likelihood that you do not miss out on clicks that you otherwise could have received.

What does initially attract me to this is the targeting options they have, here’s a screenshot :

screenshot of Facebook Flyers Pro

They have a number of pretty nice targeting options that would work out pretty accurately I think. I do know someone in the industry who tested a little with a cellphone ringtone-ish application, and he hasn’t had much success, but it’s only been on a small scale. Given these targeting options though, here’s what I would do (and probably will test) :

  • Turn the targeting to singles, ages 18-99, all education.
  • Use keywords like “looking for date”, “looking for chat”, “singles chat”, “looking for love”…just keywords like those.
  • Run dating offers all day and night.

Now I have no idea how this will work so don’t come after me if you lose some money because you set you CPC uberhigh and lost a nice chunk of cash. It is something to think about and something I’ll play around with and report results.

EDIT: After throwing some flyers up, it looks like the total of all your flyers’ daily spending limits can only be $50…which is pretty beat. Maybe they’ll update it as your account matures, who knows. Maybe I’ll shoot support an email and see if they get back to me with anything.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Controversial Niches and the Future

There’s been some “buzz” in the industry recently related to ringtones and payday loans.

Rumors are going around that ringtones are going to be changing soon, that a new step will be added in to again confirm the $9.99 charge made to their mobile account. A lot of people out there are stupid, and for some reason don’t realize they’re being charged, even after they read a text message that says “9.99/mo”. I guess it’s all a little shady, but the shadyness is going to start to go away, and this may have a big impact on conversions. Let’s take a look at the trends for “ringtones” :

google trends graph for ringtones

As we all know, ringtones have been on a steady decline and have started to level off. I don’t think that’s going to change, ringtones will still be in demand. But it may have an effect on the publisher side of it, as you may have to play the game and started shifting your campaigns to be more overt about the fact that they’re getting charged.

Another niche that’s getting some attention recently have been payday loans. Payday loans are short term cash loans with HUGE interest rates…and I mean huge – and it’s screwing a lot of people. Just search “payday loan scam” and you’ll see what I mean. Being one of the niches that I run, I was a bit bummed when I got a call from Azoogle on Friday telling me that all their payday loan offers are gone. I moved over to Hydra, which wasn’t a big deal, and then a day later the offer I’m running drops in payout drops 20%. Payday loans are another “controversial” niche, and changes may be coming to payday loan companies. In the future, many states may ban payday loans…something to keep your eye out for. Checking out the trends though :

google trends payday loan graph

Payday loans look to have a healthy increase in trends, so for now hopefully we’re still in the clear.

The point I’m trying to make with this post is, I always try and have some “safe” niches that I’m running. Sales where the future looks stable, and nothing is too shady. That way, you don’t lose a niche making a lot of money due to volatile changes in the industry. I’m not saying that these niches aren’t worth any time, because shady offers convert the best :). I’d just try and work on offers that look like they’ll be clean and healthy for the long run.

Popularity: 4% [?]