Understanding Traffic Categories: What VPN, Streaming, and Adult Labels Mean
Most ad networks show you "desktop" or "mobile" and call it targeting. PopTrade exposes traffic categories that reveal the actual nature of traffic—information most platforms deliberately hide.
Understanding these categories transforms how you optimize.
VPN/Proxy Traffic
What it means: User's real IP is masked through a VPN service or proxy server.
Characteristics:
- Geographic targeting unreliable (user in India shows as US)
- Often privacy-conscious users (less likely to convert on data-heavy offers)
- Higher than average bot/automation rate
- Can be legitimate users protecting privacy
When to include: VPN offers, privacy tools, international services where geo doesn't matter.
When to exclude: Geo-specific offers, local services, anything requiring accurate location data.
Adult Traffic
What it means: Traffic from adult content websites.
Characteristics:
- Users in specific mindset (entertainment-seeking)
- Privacy-conscious (private browsing common)
- Desktop-heavy (people avoid adult sites on shared devices)
- Night-time peaks in most geos
When to include: Dating, entertainment, gaming, mobile apps, certain verticals that align with the audience.
When to exclude: B2B, professional services, family-oriented products, anything brand-sensitive.
Streaming Traffic
What it means: Traffic from video streaming, live streaming, or media consumption sites.
Characteristics:
- Users actively engaged in content consumption
- High tolerance for interruption (used to ads)
- Often seeking free alternatives to paid services
- Strong mobile presence
When to include: Entertainment apps, streaming services, mobile games, utility apps.
When to exclude: Offers requiring immediate attention or complex decision-making.
File-Hosting Traffic
What it means: Traffic from download sites, file sharing platforms, torrent-adjacent services.
Characteristics:
- Users waiting for downloads (captive attention)
- Tech-savvy audience
- Comfortable with software installation
- Higher ad blindness
When to include: Software, utilities, browser extensions, tech products.
When to exclude: Premium products, luxury goods, services requiring trust.
Premium/Verified Traffic
What it means: Traffic from publishers with established reputation and verified quality metrics.
Characteristics:
- Lower fraud rates
- More consistent performance
- Higher floor prices
- Better conversion rates on average
When to include: When quality matters more than volume, brand campaigns, testing new offers.
When to exclude: Rarely—usually you want this traffic, question is whether you can afford it.
Using Categories Strategically
Don't just include/exclude blindly. Use categories to:
- Segment testing: Run same offer across different categories, compare performance
- Adjust bids: Pay more for premium, less for high-risk categories
- Time optimization: Adult traffic peaks at night, adjust schedules accordingly
- Creative matching: Different creatives for different traffic types
The goal isn't to avoid "bad" categories—it's to match your offer to the right audience. VPN traffic isn't bad; it's bad for geo-specific offers. Adult traffic isn't bad; it's bad for family products.
Category visibility transforms traffic from a black box into an optimizable system.