CPA
CPA stands for Cost Per Action. As a Publisher, your job is to advertise links. Inside of these links, the user will have to complete a survey, fill out a form, join an E-mail list to be sent various mail, starting trials, etc. Advertisers are the ones who are paying for this, as it's a great way for them to get their product out there to the mass market. Once the user has finished their survey, they will be redirected to the content in which the Publisher was advertising. This is typically in form of a website or a file in which they would like to download. This would be called an incentive.
PPD
PPD stands for Pay Per Download. This works identically to CPA, however there are a few differences. With PPD, there is now a middle man. This middle man will optimize the links in which CPA companies provide their Publishers, giving the Publisher (You) the easy task of simply promoting their links. The downside of this, though, is that they too take a cut of the commission that a CPA company would take. It's often not a large percentage, but some Publishers tend to notice it more than others. The owners of the PPD company will often release exclusive content to their network in which will allow the Publisher to earn more than you typically would. The end goal is to make as much money as possible, and if simplifying tasks does it, so be it.
What Should I Choose?
Choosing whether you should go with CPA or PPD can be a rather daunting task, considering so many others have opinions on the matter.
Look at the benefits before joining. With a CPA network, you will have to optimize and watch your survey links to make sure that you are earning as much as you possibly can. Although you don't have to do it often, it can sometimes make you earn much less than you typically would if you chose a PPD network. With a PPD network, you will be earning at a steady rate, however you may see a small loss per download due to the PPD company taking a percentage of the commission. This is often not noticeable, however.
My thoughts?
If you think you can handle it, I'd say join a CPA network. There are many CPA networks you can choose from, such as:
AdWorkMedia (AWM)
AdscendMedia
AdNooka
PPD networks are also not a bad idea at all. I highly recommend joining one before a CPA network due to the simplicity of it. Once you get a hang of that, I suggest you ‘promote' yourself to a nice CPA network from above. Below are the only two PPD networks I'd suggest you to join, with the first one as a main selection:
-Fileice (FI)
-Sharecash (SC)
I Hope I helped you out.
