Popunder traffic is the visits generated when an ad opens a full landing page in a new window or tab behind the page a user is reading. This guide covers what a popunder is, how it differs from a popup, how a popunder ad network sells inventory, how pricing works, how to run a controlled buying test, and the quality checks to run before you scale.
What is a popunder ad?
A popunder ad is a full advertiser landing page that opens in a new browser window or tab behind the user’s current page, usually after the user clicks on the publisher’s page. The user keeps reading and sees the ad page only when they close or switch away from the original tab. There is no banner or text creative: the landing page is the ad.
That is the popunder meaning in one line: the ad loads under the content, not on top of it. The visits those windows produce are what advertisers buy and publishers sell through ad networks.
Popunder vs popup: what’s the difference?
Schematic illustration, not a live ad.
A popup opens in front of the current page. A popunder opens behind it. Both open a new browser window or tab, and modern browsers require popup windows to be opened in direct response to user input, per MDN’s window.open documentation.
Terms that get mixed up
Each term below is a different mechanism. Do not compare their benchmarks as if they were the same traffic.
| Term | Mechanism |
|---|---|
| Popunder | Landing page opens in a new window or tab behind the current page, usually on a user click |
| Popup | New window or tab opens in front of the current page |
| Pop traffic | Visits from pop inventory. Ask each network whether it means popunder only or popunder plus popup |
| Redirect | The browser is sent from one URL to another. Google lists auto-redirects without user action as an abusive experience |
| Push | Notification-style ad delivered to users who opted in to a site’s browser notifications |
| In-page push | Notification-style ad shown on a website, with no opt-in |
Before treating any network’s pop ads campaign type as popunder inventory, read its format page.
How does popunder traffic work for publishers and advertisers?
The process works as a chain: a publisher adds a network’s pop code, a user clicks on the page, a new window opens behind the content, and the landing page of the advertiser with the highest competing bid loads. The publisher earns from the visit. The advertiser pays for it and judges it on conversions.
- Pop codePublisher adds the network’s code to the site
- ClickA user clicks on the publisher’s page
- AuctionThe highest competing bid wins the slot
- Landing pageThe ad page loads behind the content
The moving parts:
- Trigger. A user click on the page opens the new window, because browsers block popup windows opened without user input.
- Impression counting. Ask the network what counts as a billable pop: the window opening or the landing page loading.
- Frequency cap. A limit on how many pops one user sees in a set period. Ask who controls it and at what level.
- Bidding. Advertisers bid in an auction, and the highest competing bid wins the slot. Rates vary with GEO (country), season, and competing bids.
- Source or zone identifiers. Ask whether the network passes a placement ID to your tracker, so you can read results by source.
- Landing-page delivery. The landing page appears in full, with no creative in front of it. The first screen has to work on its own.
What publishers should know before adding popunder ads
Pop under advertising can add revenue, but it has a policy cost for the site. Google AdSense does not allow Google ads on sites that contain or trigger pop-unders, per its ad placement policies. A publisher running AdSense has to choose one or the other.
Judge pop revenue with publisher metrics, such as revenue per thousand pageviews, not the buyer’s cost per conversion. If you are choosing a monetization stack, start with our guide to ad networks for small publishers.
How should advertisers compare popunder ad networks?
Compare networks on the same checkable criteria: GEO and device reach, vertical fit, pricing model, bid controls, minimum deposit, source transparency, anti-fraud, frequency controls, reporting, moderation, and support. A popunder ad network that fits one GEO and budget can fail another, so final judgment comes from your own test data.
Nothing is ranked here. Any list of the best popunder networks only holds for the GEOs, verticals, budgets, and policy profiles it was tested on, on the date it was tested. Use the checklist and run the same capped test on each shortlisted network.
| Criterion | What to ask |
|---|---|
| GEO and device reach | Daily pop volume in my GEO, device, and OS? |
| Vertical fit | Is my offer allowed, and which verticals buy most on this inventory? |
| Pricing model | What exactly am I billed for: window open or page load? |
| Bid controls | Per-source bid adjustments and a recommended bid range? |
| Minimum deposit | First deposit, payment methods, refund terms? |
| Source transparency | Do I see source or zone IDs, and can I pass them to my tracker? |
| Anti-fraud | What is filtered before billing, and is invalid traffic refunded? |
| Frequency controls | Per-user cap per day or per hour? |
| Reporting | Breakdowns by source, GEO, OS, browser, hour? |
| Moderation | Review time and clear rejection reasons? |
| Support | A named manager with a real response time? |
A popunder network that hides source IDs leaves you blocking whole campaigns, not weak placements.
How much does popunder traffic cost?
Popunder ads are often priced per thousand impressions, called CPM (cost per mille), and set by auction. Rates vary with GEO, season, and competing bids. Check your network’s billing rules to see how the price you pay relates to your bid.
- Bid floor: the minimum the network accepts for a GEO, device, or source.
- Your bid: the maximum you are willing to pay per thousand pops.
- Paid price: what you were actually billed, read from the network’s report, per source.
Pop rates are set by auction and move with GEO, season, and competing bids, so take them from the source on the day you buy: your network’s dashboard or your account manager. Log the date next to every rate you record.
Why a low CPM does not prove a low acquisition cost
Cost per conversion is spend divided by conversions. A hypothetical illustration, with 1,000 pop visits per source:
| Source | CPM | Conversion rate | Conversions per 1,000 visits | Cost per conversion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source A | $1.00 | 0.02% | 0.2 | $5.00 |
| Source B | $3.00 | 0.10% | 1.0 | $3.00 |
Hypothetical figures for illustration only.
Source B costs three times more per thousand and is still 40% cheaper per conversion. Cut sources on conversion cost, not on CPM.
How do you buy popunder traffic step by step?
To run a controlled pop test, confirm the offer is allowed, install tracking before the first visit, pick one GEO and one device group, set a frequency cap and a capped budget, read results by source, block weak zones on pre-set rules, and scale only on stable conversion data. This is an editorial test framework, not a platform rule.
- Confirm offer and policy eligibility. Check the network’s moderation policy and the advertising rules for your offer in each target GEO.
- Implement tracking. Pass the click ID and the source ID to your tracker and fire a server-to-server postback on conversion. Our postback setup guide shows how the click ID macro works.
- Choose GEO and device. One GEO and one device group per campaign, so the data stays readable.
- Set frequency and budget. Cap pops per user where the network allows it, and set a daily budget you are prepared to lose on the test.
- Launch a source-level test. Write kill rules before launch, for example: block a source after it spends a set multiple of your target cost per conversion with zero conversions.
- Exclude weak zones. Block sources that fail your rules and keep a list of the ones that pass.
- Scale against conversion economics. Raise bids or budgets on proven sources in steps, and recheck cost per conversion after each step.
Before scaling, run the same offer through a second channel. On Adskeeper, push and native campaigns are bought per click, and rule-based optimization blocks widgets or adjusts the bid automatically on conversion cost, conversion rate, or ROI. Our push ads and push traffic guide covers that side.
How do you check the quality of pop visits?
Check source quality by matching what the network billed against what your tracker and analytics recorded. Compare billed pops with real landing-page sessions, read conversions per source, and look for duplicate users, abnormal time on page, conversions that arrive impossibly fast or too late, and sources that behave nothing like their peers.
| Check | Red flag |
|---|---|
| Invalid traffic | High bot or data-center share in your tracker or anti-fraud tool |
| Duplicate users | Many pops, few unique users, despite a frequency cap |
| Abnormal dwell time | Sessions near zero seconds, or identical times across visits |
| Pop-to-session mismatch | Big gap between billed pops and landing-page sessions |
| Conversion lag | Conversions within a second of the visit, or long after your normal window |
| Source-level variance | One source far outside its peers on CR or time on page |
| Postback validation | Conversions in the network report that your tracker never received, or one click ID converting repeatedly |
The Media Rating Council publishes invalid traffic detection and filtration guidelines. Ask every network how its filtering compares and whether invalid traffic is credited back.
What browser, consent, and moderation rules apply to popunders?
Popunders sit under three sets of rules: browser behavior, platform policies, and the network’s own moderation. Browsers require popup windows to open in response to user input. Google treats auto-redirects without user action, fake system messages, and misleading close buttons as abusive experiences. On pop the landing page is the ad, so check the network’s landing-page rules first.
- Browsers. Popup blockers stop windows not opened by a user gesture, per MDN.
- Abusive experiences. Google’s abusive experiences list includes fake messages that resemble system dialogs, auto-redirects without user action, misleading site behavior, and browser history manipulation. Keep all of them off your landing page.
- Consent. If your landing page sets cookies or tracks users, check privacy and consent requirements for each GEO with your legal team.
- Moderation. Read the network’s policy before building the page.
Popunder ads examples
These popunder ads examples are neutral schematics, not live campaigns. The first screen is the whole ad. Copy the structure, not the words.
| Vertical | First screen headline | What the first screen shows | Design goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce | Running shoes, 30% off this week | Product photo, price, size picker | Offer clear before any scroll |
| Utility app | Free up phone storage in one tap | App screenshot, install button | One action |
| Online course | Your first Spanish lesson is free | Short benefit list, start button | Low-commitment first step |
What is missing on purpose: fake virus warnings, fake chat messages, and fake close buttons. All of them fall under Google’s abusive experiences list.
Frequently asked questions
What is a popunder ad?
What is the difference between popunder and popup ads?
How much does popunder traffic cost?
Where can advertisers buy popunder traffic?
How should advertisers compare popunder ad networks?
How can advertisers filter low-quality pop traffic?
Where to go from here
Treat popunder traffic as a controlled test: tracking first, one GEO, frequency caps on, kill rules written down, and scaling only on stable conversion data. A cheap CPM is a starting point, not a result. The popunder ad network you keep is the one whose sources convert in your tracker.
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