Glossary

Direct linking

Direct linking is sending ad traffic straight from the ad to the offer's landing page, with no prelander in between. It maximizes the share of clicks reaching the offer at the cost of sending them cold.

When it wins

Direct linking works when intent already exists or the offer page itself sells well: search traffic on branded terms, retargeting, simple sweepstakes with a strong native landing page. Every prelander sheds a share of visitors; skipping it keeps that volume.

It loses on cold impulse traffic — push and pops especially — where an unprepared visitor bounces off a form they have no context for. The practical rule: test direct against one good prelander per offer-source pair and let full-funnel EPC decide. Some traffic sources and offers also mandate or forbid one of the two, so check the offer's rules first.

Related terms