Is VirUrl Just a Haven For Click Fraud and Bots?

Is VirUrl Worth Any Investment At All?


In the never-ending pursuit of marketing and advertising efficiencies, my research pointed to 2 emerging advertising networks that are supposedly designed for spreading the news about small business blogs and the content.


These are OutBrain and Virurl.


I wanted to test them out and kick the tyres – so you don’t have too.


I submitted some GeekandJock content to OutBrain and, for reasons that defy me, they knocked my content as being unsuitable and low quality for their network as well as having Opt-Ins.


Well, just a little bit of digging revealed other sites are using the same (if not worse) layouts and methods to promote interaction and broadening their subscriber base. I can only surmise that maybe a few articles relating to ‘s e x’ might have turned them away.


Let’s Test Out VirUrl


While OutBrain lists some heavy-hitting websites that display their advertising and promoted web content, I was slightly anxious VirUrl doesn’t.


In fact, the first thing you see on their site is a prominent pop-up to create an Advert, pay for it and get going.


That’s a slick method and an easy one so you don’t jump through hoops.


OK, let’s give it a go.


As a test, I wanted to gauge engagement on 2 articles that already had a good number of existing comments, on my GeekandJock site.


the 2 Virurl ad campaignsLooks good, doesn’t it?[/caption]


The premise was simple: if traffic driven to these articles were real people, there would be interactivity since conversations were already established.


Be in mind, the minimum spend is $20 per Ad.


So let’s get started.


The first thing I noticed that looked suspect and would have a potentially detrimental affect is all referring traffic comes from spn.sr which is VirUrl’s own domain and URL Shortening service. Ideally, from Google’s point of view and the benefit of a good mix domain referrers, this should be the site source of the traffic such as Twitter or the referring Blog URL domain.


The second concern when looking at VirUrl’s own Dashboard, was all traffic was coming from either the generic Tumblr.com or Twitter.com domains.


Twitter and Tumblr traffic only1st Ad – only Twitter and Tumblr[/caption]


Second virurl Ad - same result2nd Ad – same result – only Twitter and Tumblr[/caption]


An email to their support people suggested they wouldn’t tell me which micro-tumblr-sites the clicks were emanating so they could well have been bot-scripts, for all I knew.


Face Value Result


  • $40.00 Campaign Spend that lasted less than 24 hours

  • 2383 Click-Throughs

  • 0 Engagement – not a single comment

  • 0 Social Shares

  • 2 Traffic Sources – Twitter and Tumblr Micro Sites

Dashboard Overview


On face value, there isn’t any value from VirUrl.


What is even more suspicious, is checking Google Analytics and the Visitor Flow.


While VirUrl tells me they sent 800 Paid Clicks, GA records only 553.


Who’s Dashboard should I really believe here?


Suspicions Now


Check the Visitor Flow – click the image to pop it out bigger too.


VirUrl Visitor Flow small Click for Larger View[/caption]


Does that look like an automated bot/script activity to you?


Majority of second and third clicks are going to the second Paid Ad?

Then clicking back on the original Ad?


My Conclusions


  • VirUrl is a total fraud

  • They actively promote Ad Clicking

  • Their ‘Terms of Quality’ are a sham

  • Even a cursory analysis points directly at click fraud and bot use

  • A $40 Ad Spend brought ZERO benefit, no engagement and no social sharing

Recommendation


If you have money to give away, use VirUrl.

If you’re looking for a low cost advertising platform, keep VirUrl off your list – in my opinion, they’re a fraudulent platform inhabited by click-bots.


Let me know your thoughts in the comments below though.



Is VirUrl Just a Haven For Click Fraud and Bots?

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