Written by Krisztián Stark
Key takeaways
- Most unfinished offers come from a mismatch: the wrong device, unclear steps, or a funnel longer than the user expected.
- Tracking breaks when users switch devices, browse privately, clear data, or use a VPN, so tell them before they start.
- Explaining pending times and pointing users to History turns silent drop-offs into finished offers and fewer tickets.
Why do users start offers but not finish them?
Users abandon offers for a handful of predictable reasons: the offer does not fit their device or country, the requirements were not clear, the funnel was longer than they expected, the tracking broke because they switched devices or used a VPN or private browsing, or they gave up waiting for a credit that was simply pending. Most of these can be reduced by the publisher: an honest entry point, a short explanation of how offers work, clear pending times, a link to the offer history, and fast support.
A low offerwall conversion rate is rarely about the offers alone. It is usually about what users expected when they clicked, and what happened between the click and the credit. This guide starts where a user has already opened the wall and picked an offer, and goes through each cause and what you can do about it. Getting more users to open the wall in the first place is a placement question, covered in Offerwall placement.
First, measure where users drop off
“Conversion rate” can mean several things on an offerwall, so pick the ones you track:
- Open to start: users who started at least one offer divided by users who opened the wall.
- Start to credit: users with at least one credited result divided by users who started an offer. This is where unfinished offers show up.
- Revenue per active user: credited payouts minus reversals, divided by your active users. This is the number that decides.
On Sharklio, Reports, Conversions lists every result with its status, and the Reporting API returns clicks and conversions grouped by day, country, offer, or sub ID. If you add a sub ID for each entry point to the wall link, you can see which placement brings users who finish. eCPM and EPC explained shows how to turn these into comparable numbers.
The seven reasons users do not finish
| Cause | What the user experiences | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong country or device | Starts on a laptop, the offer needs a phone | Tell users that offers depend on device, and offer a way to open the wall on their phone |
| Unclear requirements | Installs the game, does not know level 10 was the goal | Teach users to read the steps before starting |
| Long funnel | Gives up on day 3 of a 5-day goal | Explain that bigger rewards take longer, and show progress |
| Ad blocker, VPN, or privacy tools | The offer page does not load, or the wall blocks the network | Explain before they start that a VPN blocks offers |
| Broken tracking | Finishes, but nothing is recorded | Explain: same device, same browser, no private window |
| Unrealistic expectations | Expected instant coins for a long task | Describe the wall honestly at every entry |
| Slow credits | Sees nothing for two days and stops trusting the wall | Show pending results and typical review times |
1. The offer does not fit the device or country
Offers are bought for specific countries and devices. A mobile game offer opened on a desktop leads nowhere useful, and an offer for one country does not pay a user who is somewhere else. The Sharklio wall only shows the offers available for the user’s country and device, which removes most mismatches, but problems remain when a user starts on one device and finishes on another.
Fix: say near the entry point that offers depend on the device. If your property is mostly desktop, make it easy for users to open the same wall on their phone after signing in there. One user ID for the same person on every device keeps the history in one place.
2. The requirements were not clear
Many unfinished offers are offers the user thought they had finished. They installed the app but did not reach the required level, or created an account without confirming the email. On multi-step offers, users sometimes miss that each step pays separately.
Fix: a short “How to complete offers” note on your earn page goes a long way: read every step before starting, finish them on the same device, and check the time limit. Earn page: how to write one that converts shows where that note and your credit times fit on the page.
3. The funnel is longer than expected
A game offer that pays well often asks for days of play. That is fine for players who enjoy the game and painful for those who only wanted the reward. Long offers have the largest drop-off, and that is partly by design: advertisers pay for users who stay.
Fix: set expectations. A line such as “Bigger rewards take longer, some games take several days” filters out users who want quick wins and sends them to shorter tasks. Offers with several steps help too, because users earn along the way instead of only at the end.
4. Ad blockers, VPNs, and privacy tools
Ad blockers and privacy extensions can block the redirects and pages that offers rely on, so the offer page may not load or the start may not be recorded. VPNs and proxies are a different matter: they hide the user’s real location, which is not allowed on Sharklio, and the wall can show “Access blocked” when offers are not available from the user’s network. Traffic that disguises its location can also lead to reversed results later.
Fix: state your rules plainly: no VPN or proxy, and if an offer does not open, try with the ad blocker paused for that page. Traffic quality rules for publishers lists what is never allowed.
5. The tracking broke along the way
Between the click and the result, many offers depend on the advertiser’s own tracking, which often relies on the same browser or device. It can break when the user:
- starts in a private or incognito window and finishes in a normal one,
- clears cookies or app data before finishing,
- switches from phone to laptop, or from one browser to another, halfway through,
- installs an app from a link other than the one the offer opened,
- had already used the app or service before, which many offers exclude.
Fix: add these to your “How to complete offers” note. They are the most common reasons behind a ticket that says “I did everything and got nothing”. Handling missing reward tickets walks through how to answer those tickets.
6. Unrealistic expectations
If your entry point says “Earn $50 today”, every user who earns less feels cheated, and many leave halfway through their first offer. Overselling also brings in users who never planned to finish anything.
Fix: label the wall by what users do and get: “Earn coins by playing games and completing tasks”. Only show reward ranges you actually see for their country, and never promise an income.
7. Slow or invisible credits
A user who finishes an offer and sees nothing in their balance often concludes that the wall does not work, and never starts another one. Usually the result is simply pending. On Sharklio, a task with proof can take up to 3 days while the advertiser reviews it, and an offer step is credited as soon as the advertiser reports it.
Fix: turn on pending events in your postback settings and show pending rewards as pending in your own balance history. Tell users roughly how long each kind of offer takes. And refresh the visible balance when users come back from the wall.
Illustrative example: fixing a leaky funnel
A rewards site sees 2,000 users start an offer in a month, and 300 of them get a credit, a start-to-credit rate of 15%. The owner adds a five-line “How to complete offers” note, a VPN warning, a pending rewards list, and a link to History from the balance page. A month later, 1,900 users start an offer and 380 are credited, 20%. Fewer starts, more finishes, and fewer support tickets. The figures are invented to show the method, not a benchmark.
Point users to History
The single best tool against silent drop-offs is a place where users can see where every offer stands. The Sharklio wall has a History view that lists everything a user started or finished, each with its state: In progress, with the time left to finish, Pending review, Credited, Rejected with the reason, Disputed, Reversed, or Expired. A rejected task can be disputed from My disputes.
Link to History from your balance page and from your support page: “Missing a reward? Check History on the offerwall first.” Users who can see “In progress, 2 days left” come back to finish, and users who see “Pending review” stop worrying.
What you control: a checklist
- An honest label on every entry point, with no promises of fixed earnings.
- A short “How to complete offers” note: read the steps, same device and browser, no private window, no VPN.
- Pending rewards shown as pending, with typical review times.
- A link to History from your balance and support pages.
- A support form that asks for the user ID, offer name, and date.
- Offer filters that fit your audience. On Sharklio you can turn tasks or offers on or off, hide categories, and set a minimum payout per offer; see how to choose which offers your users see.
- A sub ID per entry point, so you can see which placement brings users who finish.
An offerwall that shows users where every offer stands
On Sharklio, users only see offers for their own country and device, every offer they start appears in History with its current state, and every result reaches your server by postback, including pending events if you turn them on. You decide which offer types and categories appear on your wall. Publisher applications open soon; prepare with Get your publisher account approved.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good offerwall conversion rate?
There is no single good number, because it depends on your audience, countries, devices, and offer mix. Compare your own rate over time and between placements, and judge changes by revenue per active user after reversals.
Why did a user finish an offer but not get credited?
The most common reasons are that a requirement was not met, the result is still pending, or the tracking broke because the user switched device or browser, used a private window, or used a VPN. Check the offer’s state in History first.
Do VPNs stop offers from tracking?
They can, and VPN or proxy traffic is not allowed on Sharklio. The wall can block offers from such networks, and results that disguise the user’s location can be reversed.
How long does an offer stay pending?
On Sharklio, a task with proof can take up to 3 days of review, and a dispute can add a few more days. An offer step is credited as soon as the advertiser reports it.
Will more offers on my wall raise my conversion rate?
Not by itself. Offers that do not fit your audience add starts that never finish. Filtering out categories that do not fit and setting clear expectations usually helps more.
