The issue with CPA Ad Networks

I’ve been experimenting this week with CPA Ad Networks and trying to figure out how they can help me monetize my sites in a post-amazon California. I have so far signed up with 2 providers who I shall not name at this time. Both approved me quickly and have been very supporting and helpful.

With the first one, I was browsing for CPA Ads that were simple, straightforward and would fit my consumers. I found one where it was a simple Survey, choose national brand a or b. There didn’t seem to be any issues with the ad so I grabbed the html and put it on one of my sites as a test. I went to the site, clicked on the ad and… wham all the alarms went off in my browser complaining about “possible malware distribution site” and basically blocking me from going to the landing page.

I talked with my “ad manager” from the ad network and informed them of the issue I found. The response I got was underwhelming. The main response was to look for other ads and see if they also had issues and choose the ones that did not. This tells me the companies are more concerned about their bottom line then the quality of what they provide.

I then went and signed up with a second company, which is rated highly in the CPA/CPC space. At first everything looked good, I found an ad that I liked and felt would match my customer base, put it on my site to test it. No problems with the ad. I went looking for another ad that would match a different site, and when I clicked to preview it.. wham again, all the alarms went off and I was informed that this was yet another known malware distribution site.

I am currently 2 for 2 on choosing bad companies. Is the CPA/CPC Ad space just this bad? I have an ethical issue with serving any ads to my viewers that might harm them. I can’t trust either of these vendors and I don’t know if there are any others that are any better.

If you want to know who the networks are, just drop me a line.