This guide compares the three publisherPublisherA company or individual that generates leads, usually through websites, ads or content, and sells them to brokers or buyers. Glossary verticals from a media buyer's point of view: auto and home insurance, MVA (motor vehicle accident) and home improvement. By the end you will be able to explain who buys each lead, what the consumer wants, which fields buyers read and which rules apply, and pick the vertical that fits your traffic.
The three publisher verticals in brief
- Insurance affiliate program
Drivers, homeowners and home buyers who want a quote on an auto or home insurance policy. Buyers are carriers, captive agencies and independent agencies.
- MVA affiliate program
People involved in a vehicle crash who want to speak with someone about legal representation. Buyers are personal injury law firms and their intakeIntakeThe process a law firm or its intake team uses to screen a potential client, collect the facts of the accident and injury, and decide whether to take the case. Glossary teams.
- Home improvement affiliate program
Homeowners who want a specific project done, such as a roof or a bathroom. Buyers are contractors and the companies that book appointments for them.
MVA and home improvement offers cover all U.S. states. The insurance offers will work on the same model: you send traffic to a Summit lander, Summit captures consent and offers each lead to buyers by real-time ping/postPing/postA real-time selling method in which a lead is pinged to buyers with partial data, buyers bid, and the winning bidder receives the full lead by post. Glossary, and the offers will pay rev share on sold leads, with payment terms agreed during onboarding. If you only need MVA and home improvement compared, read MVA vs home improvement for affiliates.
Insurance vs MVA leads for affiliates: side by side with home improvement
| Insurance (auto and home) | MVA | Home improvement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who buys | Carriers, captive agencies and independent agencies | Personal injury law firms and their intake teams | Contractors and appointment-setting companies |
| Consumer intent | Wants a quote on a policy | Wants to talk to someone about legal help after a crash | Wants a project done on their home |
| What triggers the need | A renewal, a new car or home, a move, a change in the household | A single event: a crash | A problem or a plan: a leak, an old room, a draft |
| Time sensitivity | Moderate. Many shoppers have a renewal or closing date | High. Buyers prefer recent accidents | Varies. Some jobs are urgent, many are planned |
| Typical lead fields | Location, current coverage, vehicles and drivers (auto) or property details (home), contact details | How recent the accident is, injury, whether the person has a lawyer, fault, contact details | Project type, homeownership, property location, timeline, contact details |
| Main rule sets | Platform policies, state insurance rules, TCPA consent | Attorney advertising rules, platform policies, TCPA consent | Truthful claims on prices and programs, platform policies, TCPA consent |
| Offers in the program | Two: auto and home insurance | Four: car, truck, motorcycle and rideshare accidents | Five: roofing, bathroom remodeling, window replacement, flooring, and siding and gutters |
The table describes what each market generally looks at. The exact qualifying criteria for every offer are confirmed with each publisher during onboarding.
Who buys each lead
The buyer decides what a good lead looks like, so it is the first difference to understand.
- Insurance buyers want to quote a policy. A carrier writes the policy itself, a captive agency sells one carrier's policies, and an independent agency compares several carriers. Each filters by state, and by vehicle, driver or property details. See insurance leads for agents.
- MVA buyers want to sign a client. Law firms look for a recent accident, an injury and a person without a lawyer. See MVA leads for buyers.
- Home improvement buyers want to book a job. Contractors look for a homeowner in their service area who can approve the work. See home improvement leads for buyers.
Because all three use real-time ping/post, demand for each lead changes with the buyers bidding at that moment. How ping/post affects affiliate payouts explains what that means for publishers in any verticalVerticalThe industry or product category a lead belongs to, such as roofing or car accident. Glossary.
Consumer intent and where verticals overlap
The three verticals sit close together in two places, and mixing them is a common source of leads that do not sell.
Auto insurance and MVA
Both involve cars, but the person wants different things. A driver comparing car insurance quotes is an auto insurance lead. A person hurt in a crash who wants a lawyer is an MVA leadMVA leadA motor vehicle accident lead: a person injured in a car, motorcycle, commercial vehicle or rideshare accident who is looking for legal help. Glossary, even though an insurance claim is part of their situation. An ad about "insurance after an accident" can pull in both and satisfy neither. Read MVA leads vs auto insurance leads for the full comparison, then keep auto insurance offers and car accident offers in separate campaigns.
Home insurance and home improvement
Both reach homeowners. A homeowner who wants a quote on a policy is a home insurance lead. A homeowner who wants a roof replaced is a home improvement lead, even when an insurance claim is involved. Read home improvement vs home insurance leads, and keep home insurance offers and roofing offers apart.
Compliance considerations by vertical
All three verticals follow Summit's traffic guidelines and the policies of the platform you run on. Meta's Advertising Standards and Google's misrepresentation policy apply to every vertical. The rules that cause most trouble differ:
- Insurance. Ads lead to a regulated financial product. Savings and price claims, carrier names and logos, and suggestions of a government program cause most problems. States also regulate insurance advertising and who may solicit insurance. See ad claims to avoid in insurance offers and the insurance lead gen compliance guide for affiliates.
- MVA. Ads lead to legal services, which are regulated state by state. Promising outcomes or settlement amounts is the most common problem. See attorney advertising rules for MVA traffic.
- Home improvement. Problems usually come from claims about prices, rebates or government programs the offer does not provide. See ad claims to avoid in home improvement offers.
In every vertical, buyers call and text the people who submit a form, so consent for calls and texts applies. The FCC's TCPA rules are published at 47 CFR 64.1200. For insurance specifically, see TCPA compliance for insurance leads. For all publishers, see TCPA basics for lead gen affiliates.
This section is general information, not legal advice. Ask an attorney about the rules that apply to your ads and your business.
Which traffic sources fit each vertical
The four accepted sources are the same for all three verticals: Meta, Google, native ad networks, and SEO and rank-and-rent sites. How each one works differs.
| Source | Insurance | MVA | Home improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quote searches show clear intent; negatives for claims and customer service searches matter | Accident lawyer searches show clear intent; attorney rules shape the copy | Searches for a specific job show clear intent; location targeting matters | |
| Meta | Reaches shoppers before they search; ads name a renewal, a purchase or a move | Reaches people who have not searched; copy must qualify without stating the reader's injury | Reaches homeowners before they search; project angles work well |
| Native ad networks | Pre-landers about reviewing a car or home policy | Advertorials that explain next steps after a crash | Advertorials about a project, a problem or home value |
| SEO and rank-and-rent sites | Content answering coverage questions for drivers, owners and home buyers | Pages answering accident questions in target states | Local service pages for one trade in one area |
For source-level detail on insurance, see how to run insurance traffic on Meta, how to run insurance traffic on Google Ads, native ads for insurance offers and SEO for insurance lead sites.
Steps to choose a vertical
List what you already run
Write down your sources, past verticals and the angles that worked. Finance or comparison content points toward insurance. Legal experience points toward MVA. Local services or home content points toward home improvement.
Match the intent to your audience
Ask what your audience is doing when they see your ad: shopping for a policy, dealing with a crash, or planning a project. Pick the vertical whose intent matches.
Write sample ads within the rules
Write three ads for each candidate vertical without savings claims, outcome promises or price claims. Pick the vertical where your ads are clear and still within the rules.
Check timing
If you can react quickly, MVA suits you. If you plan around renewals and closings, insurance suits you. If you plan around seasons, home improvement suits you.
Pick one offer
Inside the vertical, choose one offer: auto insurance, car accidents or a single trade are common starting points.
Plan the test
Use how to plan a first test campaign and judge it on sold leads and returns.
Considering insurance traffic? Tell us your sources, states and expected volume.
Running more than one vertical
Many publishers add a second vertical once the first is stable. Treat each new vertical as a new test. Results in one do not predict results in another, because the buyers, the consumer and the rules are different.
- Use separate campaigns and separate tracking links for each vertical and each offer.
- Keep sub ID naming consistent across verticals so reports line up.
- Re-read the ad rules for the new vertical before you reuse any angle.
- Start the new vertical in a small group of states.
To get started in insurance, read how to become an insurance lead affiliate. For the other two, see how to become an MVA lead affiliate and how to become a home improvement lead affiliate.
Common mistakes
- Choosing on assumptions about payout. What a lead sells for depends on buyer demand at that moment and on your sold rate, not on the vertical name.
- Mixing crash and insurance audiences. An ad that mentions both an accident and an insurance quote reaches people who fit neither offer well.
- Sending contractor traffic to home insurance. A homeowner who wants a repair is not shopping for a policy.
- Reusing angles across verticals. A savings angle that is already risky in home improvement is a policy problem in insurance.
- Starting all three at once. You split budget and learning across three sets of buyers and rules.
Frequently asked questions
How is an auto insurance shopper different from an MVA lead?
An auto insurance shopper wants a quote on a policy. An MVA lead was in a crash and wants to talk to someone about legal help. They go to different buyers, so they belong in different campaigns. See MVA leads vs auto insurance leads.
Can one campaign feed insurance and MVA offers?
No. Run each offer in its own campaign with its own tracking link or sub ID. The audiences, ad rules and buyers are different, and mixing them makes your results hard to read.
Which of the three verticals has the most ad rules?
All three have category rules. MVA carries attorney advertising rules, insurance carries state insurance rules and strict limits on savings and brand claims, and home improvement needs truthful claims about prices and programs.
Can I add insurance offers to a publisher account I already have?
Tell us which insurance lines you want to run when you email team@summitleads.ai. The offers on each account are set during onboarding. See the insurance affiliate program.
Related guides
Sources
- Introduction to the Advertising Standards, Meta Transparency Centertransparency.meta.com
- Misrepresentation, Google Advertising Policies Helpsupport.google.com
- 47 CFR 64.1200, Delivery restrictions, eCFRecfr.gov
Pick your vertical and tell us about your traffic
Every publisher is reviewed before going live. Email us the verticals, traffic sources, states and expected volume you plan to run.
Or write to team@summitleads.ai. We reply by email.
What happens next
- Step 1: You email us.
- Step 2: We reply by email.
- Step 3: Every publisher is reviewed, and return and payment terms are agreed during onboarding, before you go live.
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