Traffic Source Report Card 2026: Pop Networks Graded A+ to F (Updated Aug)

We grade the pop/push networks we actively measure — from live production data, not surveys: 96,000+ zones tracked across 60+ networks, every zone re-judged every ten minutes by an 18-layer detection engine plus zone intelligence. Grades below reflect the August 2026 state of each network’s pool.

How grades are set (no judgment calls): purely by the share of a network’s tracked zones our engine has hard-blocked as confirmed bad supply. A+ <0.1% · A <3% · A− <10% · B <25% · C <50% · D <70% · F ≥70%.

Each network receives a letter grade based on its bot zone rate, the presence of gold (Trusted) zones, and the overall quality of traffic it delivers to media buyers.

The Report Card

Updated August 2026: grades below reflect the current zone-intelligence engine (96,000+ zones tracked, hard-evidence standard, false-positive recovery). Earlier versions of this card used our first-generation April engine on a ~10x smaller sample; several grades changed materially with better measurement — most notably HilltopAds, and a series-editing bug that listed one network twice has been fixed.

Independent cross-check: OfferVault’s Summer 2026 network rankings — compiled from advertiser votes, entirely independent of us — crowned Galaksion and PropellerAds as top networks. Our zone-level measurement, built purely from live traffic evidence, graded both A with under 0.3% blocked zones. Two unrelated methodologies, same winners — that is what real signal looks like.

Network-by-Network Analysis

HilltopAds: A+ (0.03%)

A single hard-blocked zone across the entire measured pool, a 93% clean-traffic rate over seven months, and 82 zones holding TRUSTED status. The cleanest supply on record — and the biggest grade correction of the year (full story). Best for discovery-then-whitelist buying at low CPMs.

AdOperator: A+ (0.0%) — with an asterisk for age

Zero blocked zones across everything we have measured, with 16 already trusted. The honest caveat is history length: it has been measured for less time than the veterans, so the pool has had less chance to disappoint. On the data so far, it belongs at the top and is worth a serious test budget.

PropellerAds: A (0.2%)

Genuinely clean at real scale — a fraction of a percent of the pool blocked. Fewer trusted-gold zones than the leaders (5), so quality is broad rather than concentrated.

Galaksion: A (0.2%)

Only a handful of blocked zones — and a notably strong trusted core (25 gold zones) for its footprint. A quiet overperformer.

RollerAds: A- (7.0%)

Moderately clean — but RollerAds’ real distinction is verifiability: 119 TRUSTED zones, the most of any network we measure, an exclusion API with full readback, and the only network where render is measurable end to end. Deep dive.

PopAds: A- (8.9%)

Clean pool with the highest per-zone trust averages we have recorded (9.4/10 on its best zones). One structural caveat: blocklists are account-global — one list covers every campaign you run. The corrected numbers.

ZeroPark: B (15.2%)

By far the largest pool we track — 58,000+ zones. Mid-pack quality that is workable at scale with active automated exclusions; the catch is premium pricing without premium quality.

EvaDav: B (20.9%)

One in five zones blocked and, notably, zero zones have earned trusted status yet — quality is passable but nothing has proven itself gold. Run it with exclusions on and modest expectations.

ClickAdu: C (43.2%)

43% of a large measured pool hard-blocked. Buyable, but only as a curation project with automated exclusion sync from day one; six zones hold trusted status, so gold exists — buried deep.

PopCash: D (60.5%)

Six in ten zones are confirmed bad supply. It escapes an F for one reason: price. Heavily curated PopCash can still be some of the cheapest real-human pop traffic available — but the operative word is heavily (the toxicity dial).

AdMaven: D (65.0%)

The dirtiest graded pool: two of every three zones are confirmed bad, and the network rotates fresh junk placements in as fast as old ones are excluded — we measured a blocklist there grow 140→296 in a single day. Whitelist-mode campaigns are the only sane way to hold budget here.

Adsterra: A+ (0.0%) — growing sample

Everything we have measured from Adsterra so far has come back clean — zero hard-blocked zones. The sample is smaller than the top-tier veterans’, so treat the A+ as earned-so-far and watch it firm up.

The Cost Comparison

Here is what each network really costs when you account for bot waste:

Rather than guessing CPMs, here is the pure math: the waste multiplier — what an unfiltered dollar of spend really costs per clean dollar, computed as 1 ÷ (1 − blocked share):

Network	Blocked zones	Waste multiplier (unfiltered)
HilltopAds	0.03%	×1.00
AdOperator	0.0%	×1.00
Adsterra	0.0%	×1.00
PropellerAds	0.2%	×1.00
Galaksion	0.2%	×1.00
RollerAds	7.0%	×1.08
PopAds	8.9%	×1.10
ZeroPark	15.2%	×1.18
EvaDav	20.9%	×1.26
ClickAdu	43.2%	×1.76
PopCash	60.5%	×2.53
AdMaven	65.0%	×2.86

Reading it: on an A-tier network your dollar buys a dollar of human traffic. On the D tier, every clean dollar costs $2.50–$2.90 unfiltered — which is why zone filtering (or whitelist-mode buying) is not optional there; it IS the price difference.

The "Effective CPM (With Blocklist)" column assumes PureGuard zone blocklists reduce bot rates to approximately 5-10% residual (from neutral zones with insufficient data). The improvement is most dramatic for the dirtiest networks.

Recommendations by Use Case

For Arbitrage (Buy Low, Monetize via Smartlinks)

1. PopCash + heavy curation. The cheapest real-human pop traffic on the market when whitelist-heavy; a money pit when run broad (59.6% of zones are bad). High effort, highest margin.
2. HilltopAds + whitelist strategy. Gold zones deliver nearly 100% human traffic. Build a whitelist over 2 weeks, then scale it.

For CPA (Direct Offers, Lead Gen, Dating)

1. RollerAds. The most verifiable traffic: 117 trusted zones, readback-confirmed exclusions, measurable render. Worth the CPM premium when you need predictable funnel performance.
2. HilltopAds gold zones. If you already have a whitelist of gold zones from a discovery phase, these deliver CPA-quality traffic at pop traffic prices.

For Scale (Maximum Volume)

1. ZeroPark + blocklist. 58,689 tracked zones — more inventory than every other network combined. The 16.6% blocked share drops well under 5% with active filtering.
2. HilltopAds + PopCash combined. Run both networks with PureGuard blocklists for maximum geo and zone coverage at low CPMs.

Networks to Avoid

• Any unfiltered campaign on a majority-toxic pool (PopCash-class, 55%+ blocked zones): spending most of your budget on bots is not a strategy. Whitelist-heavy or don’t buy.
• Ungraded networks at premium CPMs: if a network cannot show recent verifiable volume, do not pay premium prices to be its test traffic.

There is no perfect pop network. There is only the right network for your use case, paired with the right filtering. The data decides.

Want the full methodology behind these numbers? Read our Complete Guide to Pop Traffic Bot Detection. Ready to see your own data? Start with Shadow Mode.