Pepperjam Review

I started as an advertiser with Pepperjam in July 2012 with high hopes that it would be a good fit for AltDrive and drive signups and conversions.  After a number of issues with their staff failing to understand my website and its integration with their API, the program was finally launched.  They do not have a very deep knowledge of integrations, at least at that time.

As expected, it would take some time to build up publishers. Like most, I was interested in appealing to the big names, so I offered 22% for a conversion and $1 per landing. I felt this was an excellent deal.  Slowly the big name publishers approved.  Unfortunately, banner adverts do not work well.  There were not many landings and only a small percentage of those resulted in actual conversions.

In Mid-Jan 2017, I decided that since AltDrive was not taking off due to insufficient conversions, I would shut down operations and refund every customers annual payment prorated for when the operation shut down on 28 February 2017.

I notified Pepperjam of my cancellation of their service.  They demanded full payment until July 2017.  The last time I had this feeling was with my old Bally's gym membership.  So, I reviewed the contract signed in June 2012.  In it, it said:

Renewal Terms. After the initial Term, this Agreement shall automatically renew for additional twelve (12) month term. ("Renewal Term") unless either party provides the other with thirty (30) days notice of termination.

Read it closely. Note that the wording is poor.  In fact, the statement in the contract is poorly written, per my attorney's advise.  They interpret it that the only termination window is the annual renewal.  I interpret it that after the 2nd year, it could be terminated at any time because the first "Renewal Term" and did not start over as an "Initial Term".  Granted this is legal semantics; however, the consumer should be protected.  It was not worth defending the $1250 Pennsylvania claim for those remaining months because the cost in doing so would be greater than the $1250. So they won.

I hope this helps any prospective advertiser as a data point about that company and how they may operate.

TLDR; Pepperjam terms are like a gym membership and is not worth the money.