Quick answer: Push notification ads are ads delivered as browser or device notifications to people who opted in to receive them. Affiliates buy them per click or per thousand views through push ad networks. For casino and betting offers they're cheap and fast to test, but traffic quality varies, and browsers now block sites that send misleading notifications.
I'm Rihards, founder of Seven Affiliates, and I've spent five years in iGaming. Push is often one of the first traffic types paid affiliates try, mostly because the entry ticket is small.
A push ad is a tap on the shoulder. [Taps shoulder. Person turns around. Awkward pause.]
Done well, it's a friend saying "the match starts in ten minutes". Done badly, it's a stranger tapping you forty times a day about a prize you didn't win, and browsers have started treating those strangers accordingly.
What are push notification ads?
PropellerAds, one of the networks that sells them, defines it simply: "Push notification advertising refers to the delivery of ads through push notifications to a user's mobile device or desktop computer" (PropellerAds). A person visits a site, agrees to receive notifications, and later receives ads through that same channel.
| Part of a push ad | What it is |
|---|---|
| Title | A short headline, a handful of words |
| Message | One line of text |
| Icon | A small square image |
| Main image | A larger picture, on devices that show one |
| Link | Where the tap leads: your landing page |
That's it. You have about nine words and a thumbnail to earn a click. It's the haiku of advertising, written mostly by people who have never read a haiku.
Web push vs in-page push: what's the difference?
Web push is a real browser notification, sent to people who opted in. In-page push only looks like one: it's a banner drawn by the website itself. PropellerAds describes in-page push as "Browser-based notifications for all platforms and devices, iOS and MacOS included. They look native and don't require users' opt-in consent" (PropellerAds).
| Web push | In-page push | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A browser notification | A notification-style banner on a web page |
| Opt-in needed | Yes | No |
| Shows when the site is closed | Yes | No, only while someone is on the page |
| Affected by browser notification rules | Yes | Much less, it's ordinary page content |
So one is a tap on the shoulder from someone you gave your number to. The other is a person standing in the shop you're already in, holding a sign shaped like a tap on the shoulder. Both work. They're just not the same thing, whatever the dashboard calls them.
How does push opt-in actually work?
Through the browser, not the advertiser. A website asks the browser for permission, and the browser asks the person. Mozilla's developer docs describe the request as one that "requests permission from the user for the current origin to display notifications", with three possible results (MDN).
| Permission | What it means (MDN) |
|---|---|
| granted | "The user has explicitly granted permission for the current origin to display system notifications." |
| denied | "The user has explicitly denied permission for the current origin to display system notifications." |
| default | "The user decision is unknown; in this case the application will act as if permission was denied." |
On iPhones it's stricter still. Apple added web push in 2023: "Now with iOS and iPadOS 16.4, we are adding support for Web Push to Home Screen web apps", and only when the request "is in response to direct user interaction" such as tapping a subscribe button (WebKit).
In plain English: on an iPhone, the person has to add the site to their home screen first. That's not a tap on the shoulder. That's a formal written invitation.
My read, not a published finding: this is a big part of why in-page push exists at all. It's the workaround for everyone the real thing can't reach.
What do browsers block?
Misleading notifications, and the sites that send them. Google defines the problem plainly: "Abusive notifications are browser notifications that mislead users or promote malware, phishing, or scams" (Google). That includes permission requests "designed to mislead, trick, or force users into allowing notifications".
| What Chrome does | In Google's words |
|---|---|
| Quieter prompts | "A website can still ask you to allow notifications, but no pop-up prompt will show." |
| Blocks intrusive senders | "When you browse sites with intrusive or misleading notifications, Chrome automatically blocks notifications" |
| Cleans up old permissions | "Chrome may remove notification permission from sites that you haven't visited in a while." |
Source: Google Chrome Help.
For affiliates, the practical meaning is that subscriber lists shrink over time and the worst creative styles get punished. A push ad dressed up as a system warning ("Your phone has 3 viruses!") is exactly what Google means by "fake messages". Don't be the virus warning. Nobody likes the virus warning.
How do you pay for push traffic?
Usually per click or per thousand views, through a push ad network. Some networks also offer a target-cost model, where you set what you're willing to pay for a conversion and the network optimises towards it.
| Model | You pay for | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| CPC (cost per click) | Each click on your ad | Testing creatives, since views are free |
| CPM (cost per thousand views) | Every thousand times it's shown | Proven creatives with a strong click rate |
| Target cost per conversion | Bids set automatically towards your goal | Scaling once tracking is solid |
Networks advertise very low starting prices, and I'm not going to quote them, because a starting bid is a marketing number, not a result. The price that matters is what a depositing player ends up costing you. A click that costs almost nothing and converts never is still expensive. It's just expensive quietly.
Do push ads work for casino and betting offers?
They can. The format suits time-sensitive messages, like a match about to start. But the same rules apply to your message here as anywhere else your audience lives.
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Say plainly what the offer is | Imitate system alerts, messages or missed calls |
| Send people to a real landing page | Promise winnings or "guaranteed" anything |
| Target only countries the offer accepts | Use cartoon or youth-style creatives |
| Show key bonus terms on the landing page | Hide the terms behind the click |
The youth-appeal point isn't just good manners. The UK advertising code bans gambling marketing "likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture" (CAP Code 16.3.12). Our guide to compliance rules for gambling affiliates covers the main markets, and our landing page guide covers what the page after the click needs.
How do you test a push campaign?
Small, tracked, and one variable at a time. Push is cheap enough to test properly, which is the whole point of it.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Set up tracking | A tracker and a tested postback URL |
| 2. One offer, one country | Confirm the offer accepts push traffic there |
| 3. Several creatives | Different titles and images, same landing page |
| 4. Judge on deposits | Clicks and registrations flatter everything |
| 5. Cut by source | Block the placements that click but never deposit |
In practice, creatives tire quickly. The same people see the same tap on the shoulder, and by the third tap they've stopped turning around. Rotate them, and read our guide to traffic arbitrage for the maths of when a campaign is worth scaling.
How we approach push traffic at Seven Affiliates
We're building a curated network of private iGaming offers, and each offer has its own rules on traffic sources. Before you send push traffic to an offer, ask your account manager whether that offer accepts it, and in which countries.
We offer CPA, RevShare and Hybrid deals, with RevShare calculated on NGR, 35% by default, and no negative carryover. Our dashboard tracks your traffic in real time, which matters with push, because you want to spot a dud source within hours, not at the end of the month.
| Before you send push traffic | Check |
|---|---|
| Offer accepts push | Your account manager, in writing |
| Approved countries | Your account manager |
| Deal type | Our CPA vs RevShare guide |
| Creatives | Honest, adult, no fake alerts |
FAQ
What are push notification ads?
Push notification ads are ads delivered as notifications to a person's phone or computer, usually through their browser, after they opted in to receive notifications from a website.
What is the difference between web push and in-page push?
Web push is a real browser notification sent to opted-in subscribers, even when the site is closed. In-page push is a notification-style banner shown on a web page, which needs no opt-in and works on iPhones.
Do push ads work on iPhone?
Web push works on iPhone only for sites added to the Home Screen, since iOS 16.4, and only after the person taps to subscribe. In-page push works on any device because it's part of the page.
Are push ads allowed for gambling offers?
Many push networks accept gambling advertisers, but the advertising rules of your audience's country still apply, and each affiliate offer decides which traffic sources it accepts. Check both before launching.
Why does Chrome block some push notifications?
Chrome automatically blocks notifications from sites it finds intrusive or misleading, and Google classes notifications that mislead users or promote malware, phishing or scams as abusive.
Testing push traffic? See how the Seven Affiliates iGaming affiliate program works, then apply here and tell us your traffic sources.