Dao.Ad Review: A Deep Dive Into Its Features and Advertising Performance

Dao.Ad At A Glance

Dao.Ad: Offers & Verticals

Ad types: Push Notification, In-Page Push, Native, Popunder, Video

Verticals: Gambling, Dating, Betting, Utilities, Cryptocurrency, Finance, Nutra, Sweepstakes, Others (WAP click, Youtube, News, Blog, and other content promotions)

Dao.Ad: Payment & Investment

Cost Model: CPC, CPM (clicks are also paid per thousand here)

Minimum Deposit: $50

Payment Methods: Stripe $, Stripe €, Paxum, Capitalist, Payoneer, Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, Tether USD, and Tron), ACH and wire transfer

Dao.Ad: Support

Personal Account Manager: Yes

Knowledgebase: It has no FAQ section. It only has an introduction page on how you can use the platform, which you can find under the Support section.

Support Response Speed: Good.

Support Rating: Good.

Contact Methods: ticket system, email, Skype, and Telegram (contact details can be found here: https://dao.ad/en/support)

Email Contact: account@dao.ad

Key Takeaways

• Dao.Ad offers a varied selection of ad types, including Push notifications, In-Page Push, Native, Popunder, and VAST. This diversity allows affiliate marketers to choose the most appropriate format for their specific campaigns.
• Dao.Ad operates on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) and Cost-Per-View (CPM) model, with bids for every thousand clicks or views.
• The minimum deposit is conveniently low at $50, making the network accessible for marketers of all levels.
• The platform has a simple interface that even complete beginners can navigate and use easily.
• Traffic quality is pretty good when you choose High and Premium levels. However, these are more expensive than Regular and Low (which is equal to remnant traffic).

What is Dao.Ad?

Dao.Ad is an innovative advertising network that was established to provide diverse ad types and high-quality traffic. Founded in 2019, Dao.Ad bridges the gap between advertisers and publishers with several different ad types.

It delivers ads to almost 249 countries worldwide, having traffic even from the most obscure of places. It even has audiences coming from towns with a population of less than 20 thousand.

Right now, the platform delivers a massive 1.8 billion views every single day.

The network prides itself on delivering quality traffic, a wide array of features, and excellent customer support. In recognition of its outstanding services, Dao.Ad secured the title of ‘Best Mobile Advertising Network’ by AffBank in 2019. This accolade testifies to the network’s dedication to excellence and its commitment to the success of its clients.

Dao.Ad Features

Let’s dive into the heart of Dao.Ad — its features. This section will focus on the unique and powerful functionalities provided by this platform that enable advertisers to effectively target their audience and drive impactful campaigns.

Five Advertising Types & Traffic Volumes of Each

Utilizing a diverse range of ad formats can significantly enhance the reach and impact of advertising campaigns, catering to different audience preferences and behaviors. Here’s what Dao.Ad has in store for us:

• Popunder: Has more than 880 million views per day, charged per thousand views or impressions (CPM). The lowest possible bid is $0.1. Offers that work best for Dao.Ad’s popunder traffic are Gambling, Dating, Betting, Utilities/Software, and WAP Click. Its top countries are Vietnam, Indonesia, the United States and India.

• Push: Dao.Ad’s push advertising format is most effective for Finance, Sweepstakes, Crypto, Gambling, and Utilities. Traffic volume for this format is more than 866 million per day, with Brazil, Thailand, India, and Indonesia. It follows a CPC bidding model, although bids are placed per 1,000 clicks. The minimum bid is $1.0 per thousand clicks.

• In-page Push: In-page push traffic from Dao.Ad is ideal for Gambling, Dating, YouTube promotions, and News promotions. This one also follows the CPC bidding model, with a minimum of $0.10 per thousand clicks. When it comes to traffic volume, though, Dao-Ad does not provide specific info for this. It’s possible that the push ads traffic volume already includes in-page, but the network does not explicitly say so.
• Video: This ad format from Dao.Ad proves highly effective for Wap Click, Dating, Gambling, News Promotion, YouTube Promotion, and Betting categories. This is particularly useful if you are in need of YouTube channel impressions and would like to receive authentic views. The average viewing time is 30 seconds.

With an impressive traffic volume of 64 million views per day, this format provides an expansive reach for your campaigns. The top countries for VAST are India, the United States, Germany, and Brazil.

Dao.Ad operates on a CPM bidding model for the video ad format, further enhancing its potential for a wider audience reach and engagement. The minimum bid is $0.10.

• Native Ads: Dao.Ad’s Native ads format is an effective tool for Dating, News Promotion, Nutra, Gambling, and WAP categories. Boasting a daily traffic volume of 50 million views, this format facilitates the seamless integration of ads into the user’s browsing experience, contributing to higher engagement and conversion rates.

The top countries for native ads include the United States, Indonesia, India, and Canada, providing a broad geographical reach for advertisers. The network adopts a CPC bidding model for native ads, where bids are again placed per 1,000 clicks. The minimum bid is set at $1.0, making it an affordable yet highly potent advertising format for marketers.

To view the available views per country depending on traffic type, advertisers can visit Dao.ad’s traffic volume page. There is no need to sign up for an account to see available volumes.

Quick Campaign Moderation

One of the standout features that Dao.Ad offers to advertisers is its swift advertising campaign moderation. Advertisers, especially those engaging in media buying, value speed in launching their campaigns.

Due to the dynamic nature of the industry, some offers rapidly rise in popularity and just as quickly lose momentum. This ‘boom and burn’ cycle necessitates immediate action to capitalize on trending opportunities.

Recognizing this, Dao.Ad ensures fast moderation, allowing advertisers to initiate their campaigns as quickly as possible, thereby utilizing the peak periods of their offers efficiently. This feature significantly enhances the ability of advertisers to respond promptly to rapid market changes, maximizing their potential for success.

Moderators are available all week, from 7:00 to 23:00 Central European Time (yes, even weekends!)

To top it off, in case your advertising campaign is rejected, the ad network provides adequate feedback on the cause of the rejection. In short, it is not bot moderated, so advertisers know which part of their campaigns to adjust to get them to be approved.

Targeting Options

When it comes to targeting, this advertising network is not one to be left behind. You’ll find targeting filters here that are on par with other, more well-known platforms.

These options include:

• Country, region, and city
• Connection type
• Mobile provider or carrier (works with English-named telcos only)
• User-agent language
• Operating system (OS)
• Browser
• Age of subscription (for push ads only)

It also has a few filters unique to it, namely:

Vertical – The vertical of your offer or landing page. This is a required filter, with the following choices:

• Adult games
• WebcamPush Subscription Landing
• WAP Click
• Website Promotion
• YouTube Promotions
• News Promotion
• Brand Promotion
• E-commerce
• Sweepstakes
• Nutra
• Utilities or Software
• Gambling
• Betting
• Finance
• Dating
• Crypto
• Mix

Category – This includes Mainstream, Adult, Racy, with the letter meant for ads that are suggestive but are not fully naked or are less explicit.

Traffic quality – This is an important parameter that determines the effectiveness of traffic, categorized into Low, Regular, High, and Premium levels based on user activity.

A higher traffic quality generally implies more active and engaged users, thus increasing the potential for higher conversion rates and successful advertising campaigns.

How to Start Advertising with Dao.Ad

Getting started with advertising on Dao.Ad is a straightforward process with minimal hurdles, as they maintain relatively relaxed requirements for advertisers. This approach makes it easy for anyone, regardless of their level of experience in online advertising, to join their platform.

Creating an Account

To create an account on Dao.Ad, follow these simple steps.

Go to the registration page and fill in your details. Make sure to add your contact details for both Skype and Telegram for your registration to proceed.

You only need to confirm your email for your account to be opened.

The first thing you see when you log in for the first time is the welcome page (the Dashboard), which gives media buyers a brief introduction to the platform. It discusses its ad formats, how to top up your account, how to create a campaign, and how to view the reports.

You can always come back to this page by choosing the Support tab in the menu, under Getting Started.

Once you have campaigns running, the Dashboard will show summary tables of the performance of your campaigns in all ad formats.

Funding Your Account:

To add funds to your account, you need to deposit a minimum of $50. You can do this using several payment methods available:

• Stripe $: Accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, UnionPay.
• Stripe €: Accepts iDEAL, Bancontact, giropay, Przelewy24, EPS.
• Paxum
• Capitalist
• Payoneer

For those interested in digital currencies, Dao.Ad accepts various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, Tether USD, and Tron.

If you are considering larger transactions, there are options for that, too. Wire transfers and ACH Payments are available for funds of over $1000. Note that an IO agreement is mandatory for these types of transfers.

Setting Up Your First Campaign

Start by choosing your preferred ad format by hovering over the Campaign link on the menu.

The interface is the same for whichever format you choose (with slight differences when it comes to adding creatives), so let’s choose Push for this guide. You’ll be taken to the Push campaigns page, where all your push campaigns will be listed.

Click on the Create Campaign button above the list.

Place the name of your campaign. If you want the campaign to start running the moment it is approved, select “Started” under “Work Status”. Or choose “Paused” if you don’t want it to run immediately. The “Archived” status is for when you want to archive the campaign after it has run its course.

Immediately underneath is the Targeting section.

You can run multiple countries per set, per campaign. You can also have multiple Country Sets, so that you can separate your bids. Each set only has one bid (Price per 1000 clicks or views). I recommend creating one campaign per country, though, so that you can easily monitor and manage campaigns.

You can also narrow your target down to regions and cities. For every country set, you can opt to limit the number of shows (views), clicks, or sum (ad spend) per day.

After placing your target filters for all other options (OS, browser, mobile provider, etc.), you can place your sources blacklist or whitelist (once you have enough data).

It is also possible to set up automatic blacklisting, though setting up your postback is necessary for this to work. You can create up to 5 rules per campaign.

The next step is to add your ad creatives. For all ad formats (except popunder, which only needs a landing page), you can add Emoji to your text. If you want your ad to be a bit more personalized to the viewer, you can add the {city} syntax within the ad title or description to dynamically change the word to the viewer’s city.

If you’re running push notifications, you can also choose a badge (like an icon) that goes with the ad.

When you scroll further down the ad creative page, you will also find the details on how to properly integrate your tracking system into Dao.Ad with the right macros. The ad network provides the template for campaign links based on your tracking platform.

They have integrations with Keitaro, AdsBridge, Voluum, Binom, RedTrack, and Bemob. If what you’re using is not listed here, just select the Dao Advertising icon for a generic URL template.

You’ll also find the postback URL here.

You can add several creatives per campaign.

Once you’ve uploaded all your creatives, scroll down to the Limits section and set your frequency cap and all campaign limits.

The most important one here is the “Limit on charge” and the “Limit on charge per day,” which are basically the total budget and daily budget.

It’s up to you if you want to limit the shows (views or impressions) and clicks per day or in total.

Save the campaign and wait for it to be approved.

Monitoring and Optimizing Your Campaign

Once your campaign is up and running, the critical next step is to evaluate its performance. This involves consistently monitoring your campaign’s metrics, analyzing its outcomes, and making necessary adjustments to optimize results.

Keeping a close eye on parameters such as impressions (views), clicks, and conversions (leads), can give you an understanding of how well your campaign is resonating with your target audience.

Focus on win rates if you want to know how competitive your bids are.

The stats can be displayed (or grouped by) based on:

• Hours
• Days
• Months
• Countries
• Geo Set
• Browsers
• Platforms
• OS Type
• Campaigns
• SubID
• Sources

You can also display campaign performance based on country, browser, platform, campaign, and date. The downside is that you can’t do nested reports. For example, trying to determine the stats for all OS for specific hours of the day would not be possible. You’d need a third-party tracking tool for this.

Its detailed traffic statistics dashboard is easy enough to use, even for the total newbies, with different ad formats having their own dashboards to avoid confusion.

Dao.Ad Pros and Cons for Advertisers

To make the most out of your advertising experience, it’s essential to consider the advantages and drawbacks of using any platform. In this section, we delve into the strengths and weaknesses of Dao.Ad for advertisers, providing you with an overview that will guide your decision-making process.

Pros

• Large traffic volume: Dao.Ad impresses with its enormous traffic inventory across several ad formats, clocking in over 1.8 billion daily page views.
• Diversified ad formats: A variety of ad formats are supported on the platform, from push notifications (classic and in-page) to popunders and video ads.
• Flexible targeting options: Media buyers can effectively reach their target audience through the platform’s flexible targeting options, which include country, region, city, OS, browser, vertical, and more.
• User-friendly interface: Even first-time users will find it easy to navigate through Dao.Ad’s user-friendly interface and create campaigns without any major complications.
• Low deposit requirement: To start running campaigns on Dao.Ad, only a minimum deposit of $50 is required, which means even smaller advertisers with limited budgets can work with it.
• Wide range of funding options: Dao.Ad offers users from different parts of the world a wide range of payment options, including digital currencies, making it easier to fund their accounts.
• Refunds available: If you’re not satisfied with the quality of Dao.Ad’s traffic, they offer refunds on your remaining balance, provided at least $50 has been spent.

Cons

• Lack of advanced features: Compared to other advertising platforms, Dao.Ad lacks some advanced features, such as retargeting and A/B testing.
• No FAQ: The best you can do is connect with the support service team through their social media channels. The Guide is very basic.

How to Earn Money as a Publisher with Dao.Ad

As a publisher, Dao.Ad presents an enticing opportunity for you to earn from your existing traffic. The platform works closely with its publishers, serving exclusive traffic that maximizes revenue potential.

With Dao.Ad’s comprehensive analysis and optimization tools, you can easily monitor your earnings and optimize content to enhance visitor engagement. If you’re keen to monetize your traffic, Dao.Ad offers a compelling platform to do so.

You have 5 options for ad formats to place on your website and earn: classic push notifications, in-page push, video ads, native ads, and popunder ads.

Unlike other advertising networks that have strict requirements, Dao.Ad accepts all kinds of publishers. However, the site still needs to be approved by their moderation team before ads are shown. No information is provided as to minimum traffic requirements, so you’ll just find out for yourself if your website is acceptable.

Getting Started

Simply sign up as a publisher to get started, then confirm your email.

Upon signing in, you will be shown the ropes around the platform. But before you can do anything, you must first complete your profile and payout details.

Then, you can proceed to create ad codes and embed them on your website.

Hover over the Sources tab, then select your ad format of choice. The process of creating and adding codes to your website is similar across all ad formats.

You’ll simply need to answer the required fields and then place the verification file or code on your website.

You will also be asked to provide a link to your analytics so that the moderation team can have a look at your traffic volume and other data.

The ad network promises webmasters that its ads are safe against search engine sanctions, though I would recommend excluding popunder ads as Google hates those.

If you don’t have a site and just plan on sending traffic through a link, that’s fine, too. This means you can earn from visits from newsletters, socials, or traffic you purchase elsewhere for cheap (traffic arbitrage).

There’s no need for an analytics link in this case. Plus, you won’t even need a landing page since Dao.Ad can provide that for you (attached to the link that you’ll get).

Dao.Ad offers an impressive range of over 30 pre-tested landing pages. These pages span across various niches and geographies, each with its own translations. Moreover, the platform automatically splits these landing pages to boost conversion. This feature ensures that you’re effectively engaging your audience and earning well from them.

Payment Method

Publishers can earn money on Dao.Ad through a RevShare commission model. You’ll get between 85% and 90% of the revenue. The minimum payment threshold is notably low, set at only $10.

Once you accumulate earnings of $10 or above, you are eligible for a payout. What sets Dao.Ad apart is its daily payment frequency, ensuring that publishers can access their earnings quickly and efficiently.

Payments can be made through several methods to accommodate publishers from different locations and preferences. These methods include PayPal, Capitalist, and Tether USDT. This diverse range of payment methods ensures a convenient and seamless transaction process for publishers globally.

In addition to the regular payment schedule, Dao.Ad also offers an “Urgent Payment” feature. If you need your payout promptly, you can opt for this service. Upon an urgent payment request, your payout is processed and dispatched within a few hours (not more than 24 hours).

This makes Dao.Ad stand out as a highly flexible and considerate platform, meeting the immediate financial needs of its publishers.

Lastly, Dao.Ad also provides an additional income stream through its referral program. It offers a competitive referral commission of 5%. This means that for every new publisher that you refer to Dao.Ad, you earn 5% of their earnings, providing an opportunity to boost your revenue further.

Dao.Ad Pros and Cons for Publishers

To harness the full potential of Dao.Ad as a publisher, it’s necessary to understand its key strengths and weaknesses.

Pros

• High Revenue Share: Dao.Ad offers up to 90% in ad revenue share, which is considerably high compared to other advertising platforms.
• Variety of Ad Formats: Publishers have access to a wide range of ad formats, such as classic push ads, in-page push, video ads, native ads, and popunder ads.
• No website needed: Unlike other ad networks, Dao.Ad accepts publishers without a website, making it an accessible option for those with social media followings, email lists, or other source of traffic. Even landing pages are provided.
• Low Payment Threshold: The minimum payment threshold is only $10, enabling publishers to access their earnings faster.
• Daily Payments and Urgent Payouts: Publishers can benefit from the daily payment frequency of Dao.Ad. But if that isn’t enough, you can request to get your earnings urgently.
• Diverse Payment Methods: Dao.Ad has a wide variety of payment methods for publishers to get their money.

Cons

• No information provided about minimum traffic requirements: Before publishers can show ads, their site needs to be approved by the Dao.Ad moderation team. How long the review process takes is not disclosed and neither is the traffic requirement.
• No choice of ad type: Publishers cannot filter out adult and racy ads. If the moderation team considers their website applicable to adult ads, they have no choice in the matter.

Dao.Ad Verdict

All in all, Dao.Ad is a pretty decent advertising network with good traffic. Even though it just opened its doors in 2019, it is now on par with other ad networks when it comes to ad types and traffic volume.

Those who are running CPA campaigns would do well with the High and Premium quality traffic options. These might be more costly due to demand, but it’s definitely worth it.

The platform can still be improved, but what they have right now is enough for adept advertisers to work with.