Mediabids: performance print

Mediabids runs the established performance marketplace for print: instead of buying a page, you pay per qualifying phone call, lead or sale the ad produces. Participation is free for publications and payouts run monthly via Tipalti.^[1] One correction to the folklore: the per-inquiry prices are not a public menu. Terms are agreed campaign by campaign, and payout structures are visible only after registration. Quote-only, like nearly everyone.

How the model works

You define a qualifying inquiry with the marketplace: minimum call length, qualifying criteria, what counts as a lead. Publications with unsold pages opt in and run your ad at their own space risk; you pay only when the phone rings to the campaign's tracked number and the call qualifies.^[1] Economically this is remnant space with the pricing flipped from cost-per-page to cost-per-response, which is why the desk covers it in Step 04.

Tradeoffs vs buying direct

• You get capped response risk, access to titles you would never prospect yourself, and a live experiment in which books pull for your offer.
• You give up title selection control (inventory is what opted in), position, timing certainty, and brand-context curation. The per-call definition is the contract; negotiate it like one.
• The math discipline: your cost per qualifying call must clear what the same call costs you from search or radio. Track it like any channel, per Step 09.

Who it fits

Call-driven, offer-led categories with broad geography: insurance, home services at scale, health offers, continuity products. Evergreen creative, since issue timing floats. It fits badly for brand campaigns, date-locked promotions and businesses that cannot answer their phones well; per-inquiry pays for calls, and wasted calls are on you.