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Native testing strategy (13)

05-29-2019 12:09 AM #1 dbmedia (Member)
Native testing strategy

Was wondering what your guys' testing strategy was for native (specifically on Taboola and outbrain)

I usually like to do:

-Split mobile/tablet and desktop
-High bid with low budget per day (ie 100/day)
-3 headlines, with 2 images (I like to test headlines first, then images)

Then i like to find the highest ctr ads, keep those then try to beat them

What are your guy's testing strategies?

05-29-2019 02:31 AM #2 jack_l (Veteran Member)

Same thing pretty much.

On Outbrain I like to Rev the engine a little more aggressively, say super high bid on 20$ budget, then immediately start lowering bid + raising budget.

On Taboola I prefer to bid just a little high but use SmartBid, and just let SmartBid do its thing.

And then same thing, I just let their algorithm's determine the best ads and unless those ads have really low lp ctr or cvr I keep them and pause the other ones and then upload more trying to beat the winners

05-30-2019 05:23 PM #3 dbmedia (Member)

How do you balance lowering your bid on Taboola and outbrain and getting impressions on the Tier 1 placements?

06-02-2019 02:23 AM #4 thedudeabides (Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by dbmedia View Post
How do you balance lowering your bid on Taboola and outbrain and getting impressions on the Tier 1 placements?
Bid high, then lower over time pretty much, over whatever timeframe best suits your budget.

You can also make use of manual bid adjustment if the smartbid isn't raising the bid high enough. I think it's still capped at 50% of baseline bid though.

06-02-2019 05:56 PM #5 dbmedia (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by thedudeabides View Post
Bid high, then lower over time pretty much, over whatever timeframe best suits your budget.

You can also make use of manual bid adjustment if the smartbid isn't raising the bid high enough. I think it's still capped at 50% of baseline bid though.
What are your rules when it comes to blocking placements?

I know people like to block after Xcpa spend... but since I start my bid high, I usually only put this rule into effect when my bid is normalized

06-02-2019 11:18 PM #6 thedudeabides (Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by dbmedia View Post
What are your rules when it comes to blocking placements?

I know people like to block after Xcpa spend... but since I start my bid high, I usually only put this rule into effect when my bid is normalized
I don't have a set in stone rule per say, but I do think the whole xCPA rule isn't the best approach, or even practical depending on the payout.

Mainly if you're blocking a bunch of placements at the start, then it's probably just not a good enough offer. The quality of Taboola & Outbrain is good, so generally I'm blocking very few sites, usually the bigger ones that I can't make work even at lower bids.

But overall I think ones time and money is best spent trying to find better performing ads rather than trying to micromanage sites and bids, and will yield better results in the longterm.

06-04-2019 09:38 AM #7 gogo2go (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by thedudeabides View Post
I don't have a set in stone rule per say, but I do think the whole xCPA rule isn't the best approach, or even practical depending on the payout.

Mainly if you're blocking a bunch of placements at the start, then it's probably just not a good enough offer. The quality of Taboola & Outbrain is good, so generally I'm blocking very few sites, usually the bigger ones that I can't make work even at lower bids.

But overall I think ones time and money is best spent trying to find better performing ads rather than trying to micromanage sites and bids, and will yield better results in the longterm.
You believe the ad is more important in Taboola and Outbrain than the site it appears on?

06-04-2019 03:05 PM #8 dbmedia (Member)

Regarding Outbrain, how do you test new ads in a current campaign when the server always favors 1.

For example I have a campaign with 2 current ads that get all the traffic, then when I add more ads the new ones don't get a share of the impressions.

How do you guys go about testing new creatives on Outbrain? new campaign? pause existing ads?

06-04-2019 11:18 PM #9 thedudeabides (Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by gogo2go View Post
You believe the ad is more important in Taboola and Outbrain than the site it appears on?
Yes ads are everything. That's what the biggest affiliates I know focus on to drive the insane volumes, not spending their time messing around with individual sites and bids. Obviously MSN and other huge volume site being exceptions, but even then it's still predominately about the ads and your CPMs.

06-10-2019 09:15 AM #10 gogo2go (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by thedudeabides View Post
Bid high, then lower over time pretty much, over whatever timeframe best suits your budget.
1.If our CPA is $75, what would you consider as high bid?

2.Let's say we start with $X bid, by how much would you decrease it every time?

06-10-2019 10:27 PM #11 thedudeabides (Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by gogo2go View Post
1.If our CPA is $75, what would you consider as high bid?

2.Let's say we start with $X bid, by how much would you decrease it every time?
1. Depends on the source and their traffic quality, but in general I'd say for high bids on desktop $0.75, and $0.5 for mobile and tab. Also it's more about EPC than offer payout or CPA. If you have a great EPC then you can afford to bid more usually, provided your LP CTR is decent.

2. Usually 10% at a time, or around 5 cents from the high bid, until performance is looking promising, then a smaller adjustments.

06-12-2019 03:30 PM #12 vvm_54 (Member)

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. I have a couple quick questions for you two. 1. What verticals are you guys running? 2. Would you say that Taboola and Outbrain are the best places to run native on? Right now I'm on MGID, and pushing nutra trials. We're not having the best results as of yet. Just wanted your opinion on this. Feel free to PM me if you want, if you don't want to divulge it all here.

06-12-2019 05:07 PM #13 dbmedia (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by vvm_54 View Post
I've really enjoyed reading this thread. I have a couple quick questions for you two. 1. What verticals are you guys running? 2. Would you say that Taboola and Outbrain are the best places to run native on? Right now I'm on MGID, and pushing nutra trials. We're not having the best results as of yet. Just wanted your opinion on this. Feel free to PM me if you want, if you don't want to divulge it all here.

For native I run wh lead gen. For lead gen I've found Outbrain and Taboola to be best. Could never really get Revcontent and the other platforms to work for me. Pretty sure you'd have to cloak for nutra trials on Taboola and Outbrain

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