Traffic Generator Program Review: InstantBuzz

by Mohamad Zaki Hussein

Published on this site: May 17th, 2005 - See more articles from this month...

The first time I found this traffic generator program, I was very skeptical. I thought it must be the same as some of the other "junky" traffic generator programs out there. But what made me curious at that time was that one of the names associated with InstantBuzz was Mark Joyner. Well, some people may not like him, but it doesn't change the fact that he is one of the legends of internet marketing.

Mark alone didn't eliminate my skepticism. I've used many traffic generator programs and the only thing that I've found was that they all require some kind of tedious work, or initial traffic to generate traffic, and the results are poor. That's why I'm so skeptical at those generators on the net.

However, the name "Mark Joyner" successfully triggered my curiosity and so I joined this program.

After I joined InstantBuzz, I asked my upline, Javier Salces from Opt-InLeads.com, about his result with this program. And his email really changed my mind. In only two weeks, he earned 30 new subscribers, 15 new members to his viral list builder and $134 from two direct sales. While this may have happened because he has many referrals, his answer gave me a picture of the potentials of this program.

OK, so what is InstantBuzz and how does it work?

InstantBuzz is a viral traffic generation program and it has three advertising options, namely the bar ads, the mailspace ads and the hyperspace ads. Each of them uses three different "internet real estates," i.e. browsers, emails, and web pages, and work just like any ad exchange, where in return for showing other members' ads, you will get credits to show your ads. They're also viral in the sense that you'll also earn credits when your downlines show other members' ads.

The bar ads is a text link ad that appears in InstantBuzz toolbar. You're required to download and install the toolbar when you first join InstantBuzz. The toolbar looks similar to Google or Alexa toolbar and at the time I wrote this review, it only works on Internet Explorer.

From the three advertising options in InstantBuzz, I found the bar ads as the best feature of InstantBuzz, because it overcomes the shortcomings of other types of ad exchanges. To know why, I'll just make some comparisons here...

In hit exchanges, to generate traffic you need to do the tedious work of clicking and the traffic is of poor quality, because users are forced or persuaded to see other users' sites.

In InstantBuzz bar ads, you still need to surf to generate traffic, but it is different from surfing in traffic exchanges. You only need to surf as you normally would, e.g. to Google, to your favorite websites and forums, etc., and every time your browser reloaded, you will earn credits which will be used to show your ads. And the traffic might be better in quality than traffic exchanges, because members aren't forced or persuaded to click on your ads. They click on your ads voluntarily.

In banner exchanges, text ad exchanges or any kind of pop up exchanges (pop under, pop exit, fly-in ads, etc.), you don't need to do that tedious work of clicking like in traffic exchanges. But you do need to have traffic first to generate the ad impressions.

In InstantBuzz bar ads, you don't need to have initial traffic to generate the ad impressions. As I've mentioned above, you only need to do your usual daily surfing.

Now, what about the other advertising options in InstantBuzz?

The mailspace ads is a text ad that appears on your outgoing emails. You're only allowed to use this feature on personal one-to-one emails and it only works on a "client-side" email application such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc. When you activate this feature, the mailspace ads will be automatically displayed on every email that you send via your email client.

The concept is actually great, because it uses one of the underutilized "internet real estates," i.e. your personal emails, as a vehicle for a viral ad exchange. But since the ads appear at the top of your outgoing emails, they're quite obstructive. However, the new owner of InstantBuzz, Mike Filsaime, said that the mailspace ads will be redesigned and will appear at the bottom of your outgoing emails.

As for the hyperspace ads, it's only a closeable pop up that appears in the upper right corner of your web pages. There is nothing new and unique about it. In fact, it is quite ugly and can clutter your web pages.

At the time I wrote this review, there are no ad categories in InstantBuzz. You can't opt to receive ads or target your ads to specific categories. This mean that while the clicks on your ads might be targeted, the ad impressions themselves are untargeted.

However, since the bar ads is a "peer-to-peer" ad exchange and all members of InstantBuzz are marketers, you can get targeted audiences if you promote marketing products or services or business opportunities. But this only applies to the bar ads. For the mailspace ads and hyperspace ads, it is impossible to predict the types of audiences that will receive and read your ads.

Also, InstantBuzz doesn't provide its members with any affiliate url. You can only recruit referrals to Instant Buzz by using an invitation or by using a link in the mailspace ads or hyperspace ads. This limitation might make you difficult to promote and recruit referrals to Instant Buzz. However, this could be overcome by a little creativity.

Mohamad Zaki Hussein is a web traffic junkie. To learn how to build a perpetual traffic engine by combining InstantBuzz and other viral marketing programs with RSS and Blog, grab the FREE "Instant Traffic Formula" report at http://www.webtrafficideas.com/getviral