Direct link traffic
Buy direct-link traffic on Adstean: a single smart URL that sends real visitors straight to your landing page, priced by auction and filtered by country, device and frequency. No creative to design — just your link.
A direct link (also called a smart link) is the simplest way to buy traffic. You give us one destination URL and we route matching visitors to it. It is ideal for offers, smartlinks, and testing pages fast, because there is no banner or creative approval — the visitor lands on your page directly.
Same auction pricing as the rest of the network: default 1.00 CPM, minimum 0.10, Smart Bid pays the second price + 0.01 CPM. Set a daily budget and delivery stops when it is spent.
Create advertiser accountWhat's included
- One destination URL, no creative needed
- Country, device and schedule targeting
- Frequency cap so the same visitor is not overspent
- Auction pricing with per-impression records
- Live reporting of delivered visits and cost
How it works
- 1Sign up and add your link
One destination URL is all you need. - 2Pick country and device
And a frequency cap to keep it clean. - 3Set bid and budget
From 1.00 CPM; pause any time.
What happens in the half second after the click
A direct-link visit goes through the same decision path every time. Knowing it helps you set the campaign up so it wins the visits you want:
- The visitor arrives on the publisher's link and the network reads country and device
- Campaigns whose targeting does not match are discarded
- Campaigns this visitor already saw inside their frequency window are skipped, so they move to the next candidate
- Campaigns that have spent their total or daily budget are removed
- The remaining campaigns compete in the auction: highest bid wins, ties are decided at random, and Smart Bid pays the second price plus 0.01 CPM
- The visitor is sent to the winner's destination URL; if no campaign qualifies, they are redirected safely instead of seeing an error
Direct link, popunder or banner?
| Direct link | Popunder | Banner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative needed | No — just a URL | No — just a URL | Yes, per size |
| What the visitor sees | Your full page | Your full page in a background tab | A small ad |
| Time to launch | Minutes | Minutes | Days, with creative review |
| Best for | Offers, smartlinks, landing tests | Volume at low CPM | Brand recall |
Measuring what the link brings
Each campaign view shows won and lost auctions per minute, the last 100 auctions with the winning bid, and the price paid. Add a conversion postback to attribute sales or sign-ups, and use token lookup by website ID to see which sources send the visits that convert, then block the ones that do not with an IP or website list.
Frequently asked questions
What is direct-link traffic?
Traffic sent to a single destination URL with no banner or creative. The visitor lands on your page directly, which makes it fast to launch and easy to test.
How is it priced?
By the same second-price auction as the rest of the network — from 1.00 CPM, minimum 0.10 CPM.
Can I cap how often a visitor sees it?
Yes. The frequency cap (default 1 per 24 h) is applied to direct-link delivery too.
Can I use several destination URLs?
Yes. A campaign accepts one URL per line, so you can rotate landings and compare them in the reports.
What if my budget runs out mid-day?
Delivery stops for that campaign at once. With a daily budget it resumes the next day; with a total budget it stays stopped until you add budget.
Read more
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