I was just curious, how much should I test? when do I know that the campaign is successful? How much do I spend on one campaign before I know it isn't working?
Thanks for the helo
it really depends on your system, the payout, and the number of variables u are testing. for example i tested around 1500 on a vertical and geo and i am not experienced at and i didnt get much information. but with better experience, i managed to find a similar vertical and smaller geo with less variables and managed to make it profitable with less than 500, and of course that comes with a bit of luck and a few other failed campaigns.
As always, it depends, but you should compartmentalise your tests and use offer revenue/payout as an initial indicator.
E.g. if you have a $50 payout, aim to spend at least $200 on traffic from a specific source, a mix of placements/banners/etc before calling it quits.
If your offer has a low conversion rate you'll need to spend more to get data on conversions, and usually a lower conversion rate correlates with higher payouts (ignoring terrible offers).
You will of course have to assess other factors, ad and traffic performance, performance vs other sources/offers, etc. There's no easy way to do AM and just focus on one rule to decide campaign profitability and potential.