Experimenting with Paid Ads on X and Reddit: Here's What Happened

[bluesky68]

@facesofthemoon I understand... thank you anyway for reviewing the landing!

 

[redlands4]

@bluesky68

The number of clicks doesn't match the visit metrics on my platform (I use Plausible for tracking)

This sounds like advertising fraud is going on.

The duration of most 'visits' from these clicks is extremely short, typically 0-1 seconds.

This also sounds like advertising fraud.

Check your server log files as well, as these log entries cannot be blocked with any adblock software. As in, if a user visits your website, your server logs will indicate a lot of information.

I understand some users might have ad blockers, but the discrepancy (especially on Reddit) is significant.

You're missing a gigantic detail here: If a user had an adblock software, they would also be blocking Reddit ads. This means if a user were running adblocking software that disabled web user javascript tracking, it would also stop them from seeing the ad in the first place, thus making users who click your ad require them to NOT have ad blocking software.

In my opinion, when I read your post, it indicates to me that you are the victim of advertising fraud.

 

[pneumatos]

@redlands4 Clicking a Reddit ad in-app opens on system browser and I have AdBlock on my system browser but not on my Reddit app.

 

[bluesky68]

@redlands4 I don’t know, the truth is it’s complicated to know. I will check the logs as you suggest, it’s a good idea. Maybe the landing page isn’t perfect, but it’s rare for a user to not spend even 1 second reading it… perhaps accidental clicks, who knows

 

[jmichael07]

@bluesky68 What a good CTR would be?