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>If they supposedly pay so well, I wonder where the money for that comes from. Just high ad-density? Probably because ad-networks pay per click, and if you hav

>If they supposedly pay so well, I wonder where the money for that comes from. Just high ad-density? Probably because ad-networks pay per click, and if you have something SO clickbaity like these ads there's a lot of ad clicks. For example if google ads and Outbrain both pay $7 per thousand clicks (I have never used either so this is just a random number) and google ads bring in 1000 clicks while outbrain brings in 3000, you're making 3 times as much money.

ryan-c 10y ago
Some ad networks pay per click, some pay per thousand impressions. The numbers I've seen tend to be several dollars per thousand impressions, or a significant fraction of a dollar to several dollars per click. Random blog post I just found talking about rates: https://www.hochmanconsultants.com/cost-of-ppc-advertising/ https://www.hochmanconsultants.com/cost-of-ppc-advertising/
mbesto 10y ago
From someone I know who advertised on Outbrain, he said the CTR was way higher on Outbrain than it was on AdWords...so while we may all sit here and talk about how crappy those ads are for general use, they do in fact drive traffic.
- chipperyman573 10y ago
  That doesn't surprise me at all. Hell, I've clicked on them before and I could tell exactly what they were. I'd imagine that the average user probably clicks on them significantly more than they click on any other type of ad.
  - robryan 10y ago
    It is mostly just an arbitrage, the site advertising their click bait content just needs to get more money from the numerous ads on their page than they spent on the outbrain click.
- anexprogrammer 10y ago
  Doesn't surprise me at all. Every time I've clicked on one it's been because I've been under the impression it's another story on the Independent or whoever. Of course those clicks generated 100% bounce rate.
FussyZeus 10y ago
That's because they aren't immediately recognizable as ads. More deception, in this case leading to a site with a lot more deception. Ad networks need to die, and about 70% of news organizations also need to die. Then I think we'll be in a good market balance to where journalism can actually be profitable again.

ryan-c 10y ago

Some ad networks pay per click, some pay per thousand impressions. The numbers I've seen tend to be several dollars per thousand impressions, or a significant fraction of a dollar to several dollars per click. Random blog post I just found talking about rates: https://www.hochmanconsultants.com/cost-of-ppc-advertising/ https://www.hochmanconsultants.com/cost-of-ppc-advertising/

mbesto 10y ago

From someone I know who advertised on Outbrain, he said the CTR was way higher on Outbrain than it was on AdWords...so while we may all sit here and talk about how crappy those ads are for general use, they do in fact drive traffic.

chipperyman573 10y ago
That doesn't surprise me at all. Hell, I've clicked on them before and I could tell exactly what they were. I'd imagine that the average user probably clicks on them significantly more than they click on any other type of ad.
- robryan 10y ago
  It is mostly just an arbitrage, the site advertising their click bait content just needs to get more money from the numerous ads on their page than they spent on the outbrain click.
anexprogrammer 10y ago
Doesn't surprise me at all. Every time I've clicked on one it's been because I've been under the impression it's another story on the Independent or whoever. Of course those clicks generated 100% bounce rate.

FussyZeus 10y ago

That's because they aren't immediately recognizable as ads. More deception, in this case leading to a site with a lot more deception. Ad networks need to die, and about 70% of news organizations also need to die. Then I think we'll be in a good market balance to where journalism can actually be profitable again.