MetricsDirect

Payper click

[travisbickle]

Anyone have any experience with using them either good or bad?

[travisbickle]

Thanks...I decided to start with them because this is my first foray into a web based business and they were offering $100 of free advertising and clicks as low as $0.02.

[travisbickle]

I read a few of the forums that you suggested. I am really a novice to this type of advertising/marketing and I don't fully understand how their business model works. I don't run an affiliate site. My site is a database of private schools in the United States. I won't list the URl because I don't want to be accused of self promotion. It was my understanding that MetricsDirect worked similiar to overture or google adwords - an individual would type in a keyword that I am bidding on and my ad would pop up on the page somewhere. I assumed that these ads would be on second tier search engines that I hadn't heard of. It seems that a lot of people are angry at 180solutions (metricsdirect)and I don't fully understand why?

Can some one summarize their business model for me? if they are doing something illegal then I may have liability for it.

[travisbickle]

After further investigation I think I can answer my own question. The company installs software on a users computer - sometimes in a manner that is questionable as to whether the user consented to this.

When the user browses on the Internet, pop up ads are displayed that are targeted to sites and keywords that the user is surfing and typing in.

Advertisers (like me) pay per click for these pop ups.

And last somehow, third party affiliates are being bypassed when they refer people to these advertisers sites.

is all this correct?

[wayne]

You are pretty much correct on that. Their crappy
software used to get on computers through drive-by
downloads, but the SP2 update may be stopping most
of that. Another way is by bundling it with other
free programs available online. Their software really
slows down your computer and most people have no idea
that they have it or where they got it from, and do
not want it. Many times they sign up in affiliate
programs themselves and popup the exact same site over
top of other affiliate sites with their id, stealing
the commission. They have no traffic of their own,
just do everything they can to get their crappy
program on others computers, and then steal the sales
of others. You can also find more information here:
[benedelman.org...]

[wayne]

Also be aware that more and more affiliate programs
are not allowing this type of advertising, so if
you are using this you could possibly see your
affiliate account getting terminated and losing your
commissions.

[wayne]

Also, you can search on Google for Metrics Direct or
180solutions or Zango to find out more about them.

[Drewbert]

MetricsDirect/180solutions/Zango

Just say no.

[bostonseo]

I would avoid metrics direct and other programs they offer. Did not work at all for any of my clients.

[bedelman]

A bit more as to the question of how 180 software sneaks onto users' PCs: I have personally observed their software installing itself through security holes in users' web browsers. No consent, no EULA, no nothing. Nasty business. I can provide details (video, packet log, you name it) if anyone needs more info about this.