Traffic Quality

[Mike Robertson]

Hi all,

In light of recent discussion regarding "Traffic Quality," I would like to detail what we consider to be high quality traffic and what traffic is considered low quality or fraudulent.

The best quality traffic on the internet is "Primary Traffic". In order for traffic to be primary it required that the user types something using the keyboard. A user has an original thought like "I needs some tools" and they live in Houston. They then type either "houston tools" in a search engine or houstontools.com into an address bar. The user is having an original thought that is actioned without being enticed by an offer of reward or having ads pushed at them.

When a user clicks on links, gets a SPAM e-mail, has a banner pushed at them and is tricked into clicking the traffic is NOT primary traffic.

We can further classify this traffic as either generic or brandable intent :

Generic Intent: The houstontools.com domain can also be used as an example of a domain with generic intent. The user actions an original thought for a generic product, service or information. They want tools in Houston and the intent is generic in nature and clear. The user has primarily qualified themselves to have a strong interest in a particular product or service and therefore, given relevant ads/listings are available the likelihood of click through, leading to purchase is greatly increased.

Branded Intent: This is when a user has typed in a domain expecting to find a specific business or product they already know and make a mistake in finding it. An example of this would be microsof.com, mysonyproductsonline.com, or xo55het.com. These domains are representative of either trademark infringement, typographical error or unsensical traffic. It is apparent that the user either didn't know what they wanted or are not getting what they expected. These domains produce large quantities of traffic with a very low conversion rate for the advertiser.

To further illustrate the difference; let’s say someone wants to buy a new computer, so they type www.computers.com directly into their address bar of their browser. This is an example of direct navigation with generic intent. On the other hand, if they were to type in www.Dell.com this would be direct navigation with brandable intent.

As such, we have found that commercial English language .com domains (those that consist of two-three word generic keyterm/phrases) with generic intent type-in value yield the best result for the advertiser. They also are the domains that are accepted into and produce the best revenue for the affiliate in the Fabulous.com 4.0 program.

Dan Warner, Dark Blue Sea COO, recently made a presentation at the TRAFFIC East domain conference which among other things addressed the issue of “Changes towards a Value Based Market”. If you are interested in viewing the notes from his speech you can do so by downloading it here.

What is unacceptable traffic ?

Forms of traffic that are generated by, but are not limited to:
- redirection of one domain name to another
- hyperlinks to other domain names
- email messages
- newsgroups
- message boards / forums / chat rooms / guest books
- banner network
- incentivized / paid to click

All mediums mentioned above have the ability to generate high volumes of traffic, yet because it may be forced, misleading, basically of an un-natural or questionable disposition, the quality is dramatically reduced. In effect, most instances result in the publishers reducing advertising expenditure, lowering PPC, thus offering a lower PPC to all affiliates involved.

This traffic is unacceptable for monetizing via Fabulous.com and anyone whose domains receive traffic from these sources should consider another program.

All customers using the Fabulous.com parking program, are made aware of these Terms and Conditions upon registering for an account and we expect them to be adhered to. A copy of these Terms can be found here.

If anyone has any concerns regarding their traffic/domains and whether they are suitable for our parking program, I would encourage you to contact myself or our 24 hour support staff before sending us your traffic.


Michael Robertson
Senior Account Representative
Fabulous.com

[KwelX]

Thank you for this very informative post and the link to the .pdf Mike

[Drop Business]

Mike,

Thanks for the very comprehensive post.

I have a question. Fabulous is a great place to centrally control domains and monitor stats. For domains which don't direct fall into either 'intent' category can we still use fabulous' dns to redirect? Such as to sedo, etc.?

Thanks,

DB

[Mike Robertson]

Hi DB,

If you have domains that don't meet our requirements, but would still like to use our domain management tool, you can create custom redirects. To do this please follow the instructions below:

Portfolio > Redirection Admin > Create a Custom URL > follow the prompts.

Once this Custom URL has been set up you can select it as a redirect from the "Traffic Control" section under "Custom URL's".

I hope this information has been of assistance. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Cheers,

Mike

[Edwin]

Some very clear points re. traffic quality.

What about non-.com domains with generic intent primary traffic? For example, 100% generic .co.uk domains that generate typein visits (e.g. computers.co.uk)?

How do you rank such domains in the quality hierarchy? Would they also qualify for Fabulous 4.0, and would that be at the same rate as .com traffic?

[Mike Robertson]

Although we prefer .com domains we realize that other TLD's have value in the market place. As such we are happy to review quality, .net, .org, .co.uk, .com.au, .ca and .us domains and allow them on the Premium 4.0 program. All domains will receive the same rev share rate regardless of the extension.

Cheers,

Mike

[Edwin]

Thanks for the clarification.

[alldig]

What about typo domains (direct navigation) with generic intent? For example: wwwusedcars.com or reelestate.com. Would they be accepted to your program? How would you classify the quality of this traffic? How does the conversion rate of this traffic compare to non-typo domains with generic intent?

[Mike Robertson]

Currently there are no laws against monetizing typo domains that have generic intent. As such we would accept these on our 4.0 program.

In regards to the quality and conversation rate of typos, we have found domains of this nature to be marginally lower compared to properly formed domains. Of course some will work better than others.

Cheers,

Mike

[alldig]

Thanks for the clarification Mike. Your 4.0 program has been working fabulous on my generic .coms : )

Keep up the good work.

[evibe]

Great post mike

[noelius]

Well, thanks for your post. I'm sorry for not being accepted into your site.

[NavySeals91]

Quick response for application, Thank you!