Push or in-page push, how to choose between them
Both look like a notification and both are bought per click. Where they appear, who they reach and how to write for each are not the same.
· 4 min read
Push and in-page push share a look: a short title, a line of text and a small icon. They are bought the same way, per click. Beyond that they behave differently, and picking the wrong one for an offer is one of the more common reasons a test fails before it has a fair chance.
Where each one appears
Push is a real notification. It reaches people who agreed to receive notifications from a publisher's site, and it arrives on their device the way any other notification does, whether or not they are browsing at that moment.
In-page push is drawn inside a web page. It looks like a notification card in a corner of the screen, but it needs no subscription. The visitor sees it while they are on a site that carries the tag, and it disappears when they leave or close it.
That single difference explains most of what follows.
Reach, and the iOS question
Classic push depends on the browser's notification system. On UluMob it reaches subscribers on Android and on desktop Chrome, Edge and Firefox. It does not reach iPhones.
In-page push is part of the page, so it works in any browser that loads the site, including Safari on iOS and macOS. If your offer is built for iPhone users, or your best countries lean heavily towards iOS, in-page push is the format that can actually show them your ad.
| Push | In-page push | |
|---|---|---|
| Needs a subscription | Yes | No |
| Reaches iPhone and Mac Safari | No | Yes |
| Shown when the visitor is | Anywhere on the device | On the publisher's page |
| Pricing | CPC or CPA | CPC |
| Subscriber age targeting | Yes | Not applicable |
| Default floor | $0.003 per click | $0.003 per click |
Floors vary by country. The traffic volume page lists the floor and available volume per format and country.
Creatives that fit the format
Both formats take the same building blocks:
- a title up to 30 characters
- a description up to 45 characters
- an icon of 192 by 192 pixels
- for push only, an optional image of 360 by 240 pixels
Thirty characters is short. Write the title first, then check whether it still makes sense with the description hidden, because on some devices and in a quickly dismissed card that is all the reader takes in.
For push, the notification competes with messages from apps and people the subscriber cares about. A clear, specific title that names the benefit works better than a vague teaser. The image, where it shows, can carry the product.
For in-page push, the visitor is reading something else and can close the card at once. The first two or three words carry the message. Avoid anything that imitates a system alert, a chat message from a contact or a security warning: those creatives are refused in review, and they would not earn trust anyway.
Upload three to five variations per campaign and let them rotate. Rotation can follow eCPM, be random, or follow weights you set.
Bidding per click
Both formats are bought per click. In the auction, every bid is converted to an eCPM so that click bids can compete with impression bids for the same visitor. A click bid is multiplied by a click rate expected for the format. That rate is set per format, not per creative, so your bid decides how often you win. A stronger creative pays off differently: more of the people who see it click, and more of those clicks convert.
A few practical points:
- Start at or a little above the floor in your main country and watch how quickly the budget spends. If spend stays far below your daily budget, raise the bid in small steps.
- Set per-country bids on the ad if your countries differ in value. Each country bid has to clear that country's own floor.
- Push only: use subscriber age. Fresh subscribers tend to click more, older lists cost less. Splitting a campaign by subscription age lets you price each group separately instead of averaging them.
- Use CPA on push if your postback is in place and you would rather pay only for results. Your CPA bid is what you are charged per signed conversion, not the payout value your tracker reports.
The minimum daily budget is $15 for both formats.
When to use which
Choose push when:
- your offer reads well as a one-line message, such as a finance lead, an app, a mobile service or a sweepstakes
- your audience is on Android or desktop
- you want to reach people outside the moment they are browsing
- you want to bid on subscriber age or pay per conversion
Choose in-page push when:
- you need iPhone and Mac visitors
- you want the notification look without relying on subscriber lists
- your offer suits someone who is already browsing and may act right away
Run both when an offer works across platforms. Keep them as separate campaigns rather than one, so their reports and bids stay apart. Tag each with its own sub-ID in the destination URL if your tracker groups campaigns by source.
Tracking for both
Whichever you choose, put {click_id} in the destination URL and send conversions back through the postback URL. Adding {zone_id} and {subid} lets you see which placements and sources convert, so you can block the rest from the report. The macros list covers every value you can pass.
A simple first test
- Pick one offer and two or three countries.
- Build one push campaign and one in-page push campaign with the same three creatives, adapted to each format's rules.
- Bid at or slightly above the floor and set a daily budget you can treat as learning spend.
- After a few days, compare cost per conversion by format, then by device and OS.
- Keep the format that pays, and move its blocked sources into a saved source list for the next campaign.
Ready to try both side by side? Create an account.