Buying traffic when you need it bad

Is it a bad idea? What are the pros and cons?

[Tapolyai]

With the use of the "nifty" Google search for WebmasterWorld, I got several advertisements for "cheap" traffic.

I see these adds for $89 for 30,000 unique and targeted visitors, all from North America.

How are these visits "normally" created?

What are the impacts of such campaign to SEs, and ranking?

Are there other negative impacts?

Have you done such campaign? What were the results? Were you satisfied with it? what were the long term effect?

(Yes, I know about increase good inbound links, add good content constantly, hone keywords, advertise with Adwords, at al.)

[Dogza]

It all junk traffic. They use a simple .php script which sends a bunch of hits to your website. It's basically the same thing as clicking the 'refresh' button on your browser 30,000 times. You won't get a single sale or adsense click from it.

[Tapolyai]

Hmmm... I think there might a bit more to then just a simple PHP script.

Some guarantee unique traffic, with tracable to non-sequential block IPs.

They would have to have to have a distributed network with a heck of a lot of unique IPs.

I seen one that uses pop-unders. What are the other ways they "get" the impressions?

[gregbo]

The general consensus around these parts is that it's a bad idea to buy traffic. Chances are, you're not going to get "traffic of good intent." (Translated: you'll get automated or manual clickers.)

Could certainly be more than a simple PHP script, e.g. a well-written virus that compromises machines and issues clicks in such a way that it would be difficult to distinguish them from "good intent" traffic.

[Rado]

This traffic usually comes from traffic exchanges and "get paid to surf" websites. The quality is VERY LOW (close to 0).
There are some specialized traffic exchanges, which may have a slightly better quality traffic, but I think that ppc is still a better option.

[greenleaves]

I see these adds for $89 for 30,000 unique and targeted visitors, all from North America.

It doesn't take a math genious to figure this out. If you had 30,000 unique REAL visitors, interested in a product, wouldn't you sell that trafic to something like adwords where you can get real money? Why would they be selling it for $89, when, depending on the industry, you could get a minimum of a few hundred dollars to several thousand through pretty much any PPC. Also, why would the whole online marketing industry be spending millons of dollars on PPCs when they could just buy traffic from these "great" sites at a fraction of the cost?

If it sound to good to be true, it almost always is.

[JoeGrossinger]

I have tried it.
I bought 100,000 visitors for my website.
Not one sale.
This makes sense since going by the 1% rule of thumb, I should have had a thousand sales!
That would make this kind of advertising pure gold.
However, it's junk.

I have also found that PPC does not work for me. The clicks cost more than I make on the sales. I have mostly tried Google, with a nickel limit.
Anyone else have that experience?

If you use the 1% rule then even with just five cents, a sale will cost around $5.00!
Lot's more if you getting into a bidding war.
I don't see how folks make this pay on items selling for $50 or less.

[Tapolyai]

Joe thanks for you feedback..

Do you have some insight where the traffic came from/was generated through/with?

[Sifi]

I would just stay well clear of anyone trying to sell 'Guranteed' Visitors or Top SEO and PPC Positions. They are just praying on these people who do not have the skills to do it themselves and also want something for nothing.

Spend some time learning how to do these things yourself. You will find some good advice in hear (Not all of it is good mind) and also use the training guides on the SE's.

If your still failing to achieve your targets, thenseriously consider spending a bit more cash and seek services of a proper PPC agency, There are some very good ones out there.

[WebStart]

Buying that "traffic" is a waste of money. After 5 years of internet retailing and trying virtually every trick/promotion in the book, I have found the only thing that really works is either a good natural listing/position on google, yahoo or msn, or all three of them, or paid ads for a good position on those through google ad words or overture, and those do not always work. But nothing else does. Go figure:

4 Mainstream Search engines bring most of the valid trafic on the internet. Google alone brings in around 40% of all searches on the internet. Yahoo and MSN and AOL (which uses Google) account for most of the rest.

You can't beat those stats.

[ByronM]

I've had decent luck with expired domain traffic, but then again my site is a search engine so i was able to translate that traffic into queries and get some decent results.

Was it worth it? iffy.. good places will bump up your alexa ratings and such but unless you can sustain the funding or stick with a partner for the long haul and your not trying to sell something you should do alright.

(traffic monetization mainly..)

[scjack]

DON'T BOTHER!
I once tried those 'Guarenteed targetted traffic 10,000 hits etc etc' when I was new and didn't know any better.
I got unique visitors alright, 98% from Brazil and the rest from Argentina. Not a single one from USA and no more than 3 of these went past the index page!
The norm is to promise people in poorer countries $150 or so per month to browse the web, essentially clicking on your link and a host of others.
These also operate in UK and US, you must have seen the ads 'Get paid to surf the web'

All I can say is 'leave alone'

BTW I only got about 1500 in total anyway, I did manage to get a refund from one which was a surprise, but the next day I got a snotty e-mail saying 'account refunded in error, please return funds IMMEDIATELY' Yeah right, didn't pay them back and told them where to go!