What is Ping Post?

Ping Post Systems 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Real-Time Lead Buying and Selling

Jul 1, 2025

5 mins. read

Introduction

Ping post has become a buzzword in online lead generation – but what does it actually mean? If you’ve been buying leads the traditional way (e.g. purchasing lists or getting leads at a fixed price) and are new to ping post technology, this guide is for you. Ping post is essentially a two-stage, real-time auction for leads. It allows lead sellers to “ping” potential buyers with a snapshot of a lead, get bids from interested buyers, and then “post” the full lead details to the highest bidder. This process happens within seconds, enabling a fast, competitive marketplace for lead trading. Large companies have used ping post for years to source leads and set their own prices – it gives buyers direct access to many lead sources and greater control over what they pay. In this article, we’ll explain in simple terms what pings and posts are, how a ping post system works step by step, why real-time exclusive leads are so valuable, and what common issues (like rejected pings or posts) you should be aware of. By the end, you’ll understand the basics of ping post and how platforms like Standard Information make it easy to leverage this model for better lead buying results.

What Are “Ping” and “Post” in Lead Generation?

In the context of lead generation, ping post refers to a method where selling a lead is split into two parts – a ping and a post.

  • Ping: A ping is a preliminary data snapshot of a potential lead, sent from the seller to prospective buyers. Importantly, the ping does not include personal contact details (no name, phone, email, etc.). It only contains key info that helps buyers judge the lead’s value and relevance. For example, a ping might include a lead’s general details such as their location, age range, income bracket, or other relevant criteria, but without any personally identifiable information (PII) like name or phone number. This anonymity protects consumer privacy while giving buyers enough information to decide if they’re interested in the lead.

  • Post: A post is the full lead data delivered to the buyer after a successful ping. When a buyer “wins” the ping (more on that process below), the seller then posts the complete lead information to that buyer – including contact details (name, phone, email, etc.) and any other fields not shared in the ping. In other words, the post is the actual lead in entirety, sent in real-time to the winning buyer so they can reach out to the consumer. The post only occurs for the buyer who offered the highest bid (or otherwise was chosen) during the ping stage.

In summary, the ping is like an appetizer of data – enough to entice buyers to bid – and the post is the main course – the full data delivered to finalize the sale. This two-step approach lets buyers bid on leads without seeing sensitive personal details upfront, ensuring privacy and efficiency in the lead marketplace. Now, let’s see how the whole ping post process actually works from start to finish.

How Does a Ping Post System Work?

Ping post systems operate as a lightning-fast auction for each lead. There’s no manual back-and-forth negotiation – the entire exchange is handled by software within seconds. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how a typical ping post transaction unfolds:

1. Lead Generation: It all starts when a consumer submits their information on a lead form (for example, requesting an insurance quote or a mortgage offer). This new lead (the consumer’s data) enters the ping post system immediately upon the consumer hitting “submit.”

2. Ping to Buyers: The lead seller (or lead platform) sends out a ping to potential buyers in real time. This ping includes the partial, anonymized data about the lead. Every buyer who is subscribed to that type of lead (and whose filters match the lead’s attributes) receives the ping almost instantly. For instance, if the lead is for a mortgage inquiry, the ping might tell buyers the applicant’s age range, income range, credit score bracket, and property location – enough to gauge interest, quality and what price they would like to bid on for that lead.

3. Buyers Evaluate and Bid: Upon receiving the ping, each buyer’s system evaluates the lead within seconds against their criteria. If the buyer is interested (the lead looks like a good fit for them), they respond with a bid, which is how much they are willing to pay for that lead. This is all automated – buyers often have pre-set bidding rules. For example, Buyer A might bid higher for a lead in a certain state or with a high credit score, whereas Buyer B might bid more for a first-time homebuyer, etc. If a buyer doesn’t want the lead (e.g. it doesn’t meet their criteria or budget), they either reply with a “no bid” or simply don’t respond, effectively rejecting the ping.

4. Collecting Bids (Ping Auction): The ping post platform or seller aggregates all the incoming bids, which typically arrive within a very short window (often a second or two). This forms an auction in real-time. Let’s illustrate with an example: say you’re selling a mortgage lead and you ping three buyers with the details mentioned above. In real time, you might get back bids like:

  • Buyer A: bids $50 for the lead (perhaps because the lead’s credit score is above 700)
  • Buyer B: bids $35 (perhaps because the lead is in a preferred geographic area)
  • Buyer C: bids $25 (perhaps because the lead is a first-time homebuyer, which they value moderately) In this scenario, Buyer A’s bid of $50 is the highest. The system determines the highest bidder and effectively “wins” the auction. (If no buyer bids at or above the seller’s minimum price, the lead might go unsold – more on rejection reasons later.)

5. Returning the Winning Bid (Ping Response): Once the highest bid is identified, the platform returns a ping response to the lead seller indicating a successful bid and its value. In a direct sale, this may simply be the bid amount. In some cases the lead might go through multiple parties. For example, a lead might flow from a website owner to an aggregator before being placed with the end buyer. Imagine a sub-vendor generates the lead, sends a ping to an aggregator (who in turn pings the end buyer). (In a simpler one-to-one ping post with no middlemen, the seller would just see the full highest bid directly.)

6. Posting the Lead (Lead Delivery): Now comes the post stage. The lead seller’s platform sends the full lead details to the winning buyer, usually immediately after the ping stage. This is done by an automated server-to-server “post” request containing the consumer’s contact information and all data collected. The winning buyer’s system receives the lead data in real time, typically logging it into their CRM or lead management system so their sales team (or automated dialer) can follow up right away. If you’re using a platform like Standard Information, this step is seamless – the platform transmits the lead info as soon as you win the bid, and you can have it routed to your CRM, emailed to your agent, sent via SMS, etc., all automatically.

7. Confirmation and Sale: If everything in the post matches the buyer’s expectations (the data is valid and meets any final criteria), the buyer accepts the lead. The sale is now complete – the buyer is charged the bid amount and now exclusively owns that lead’s information. They can immediately start contacting the prospect. From start to finish, this entire sequence – ping, bids, post – typically takes only a few seconds! It’s a silent auction occurring in the blink of an eye.

8. What if something goes wrong? In many cases, the highest bidder will accept the post (since they presumably bid on accurate ping info). However, if the buyer finds the full data doesn’t meet a requirement (for example, maybe the phone number was invalid or the ping and post data didn’t match), they might reject the post. In a later section we’ll cover common reasons for such rejections. If a post is rejected by the top bidder, some ping post systems will attempt to sell the lead to the next highest bidder if possible, or the lead may go unsold/returned to the seller. (Not all platforms have a “second-chance” mechanism like Standard Information, but some exchanges do allow it to avoid losing a sale if the first buyer fails validation.)

This process may sound complex at first, but modern software makes it quite easy to participate in ping post. As a buyer, you typically just configure your campaign on a platform and let it handle the rest. For example, Standard Information’s platform lets buyers set the price they want to pay per lead, along with desired filters (e.g. geography, demographics) and volume, and then automatically bids on incoming leads in real-time that match those settings. If you win the bid, the system instantly delivers the lead data to you (to your CRM, email, call center, etc.), and if you don’t win, you pay nothing for that ping. Everything is automated, so you remain in control without needing any technical integration on your end. Similarly for sellers, specialized ping post platforms (like Standard Information) handle broadcasting the pings, collecting bids, and posting the lead to the winner – you don’t need to build this infrastructure yourself. The result is an efficient marketplace where leads find the best match among buyers willing to pay the most.

Benefits of Ping Post and Real-Time Exclusive Leads

Ping post systems offer several advantages over traditional static lead sales. Here are some of the key benefits and features, especially when leads are delivered in real-time and sold exclusively to one buyer:

  • Real-Time Delivery: Ping post operates in real-time, meaning leads are delivered to buyers within seconds of the consumer submitting their info. There’s typically under a 15-second delay from the consumer pressing “Submit” on a form to the buyer receiving that lead. This speed is crucial – contacting a lead immediately (while their interest is highest) greatly increases the chance of conversion. As one platform notes, a consumer who just requested a quote has the highest intent right after pressing submit. Reaching out to them in minutes (or even seconds) gives you a far better chance of connecting and closing a deal than if you wait hours or days.

  • Exclusive Leads: In ping post, usually only one buyer wins and gets the lead, making it an exclusive lead for that buyer. The highest bidder is the only one who receives the customer’s information. This is a big shift from older lead buying methods where the same lead might be sold to multiple companies (shared leads). Exclusive leads mean you’re not competing with other firms for the prospect’s attention at the same time. You have a much better chance to make contact and pitch your service without the lead getting bombarded by several calls at once. It’s better for the buyer (higher conversion odds) and better for the consumer (a less overwhelming experience).

  • Competitive, Market-Driven Pricing: Ping post introduces an auction dynamic, which leads to competitive pricing for leads. Buyers only bid what a lead is worth to them, and sellers get to see the market value for each lead. This often yields more efficient pricing than flat-rate leads. As a buyer, you have control over your cost per lead – you can set bid caps or adjust your bids based on lead quality. You won’t overpay for low-quality leads (you might bid low or not at all on those), and you’ll invest more on the high-value opportunities. As a seller, you maximize revenue by always taking the highest bid in real-time, rather than a fixed price that might leave money on the table.

  • Better Targeting & Matching: Because buyers receive some lead details in the ping, they can effectively self-select the leads that match their target profile. This means leads tend to end up with buyers who truly want them. The ping post system ensures targeted matching between leads and buyers – for instance, mortgage brokers get the mortgage leads that fit their criteria, insurance agents get the prospects in their licensed states, and so on. Uninterested buyers simply don’t bid. This dynamic leads to higher quality matches and typically better conversion rates, since each sold lead was actively bid on by the buyer best suited for it.

  • Buyer Autonomy and Control: Ping post puts buyers in the driver’s seat. You decide your bid (the price you’re willing to pay) and can adjust it based on performance, giving you fine control over your ROI. You can also set filters for which leads you want (e.g. only leads in certain states or with certain answers) and volume caps. In other words, you “go to the source and take control of your lead buying” with the ability to cherry-pick and price leads to your needs. You’re not locked into a subscription or a fixed price per lead – you only pay for leads that meet your criteria and bid price. This level of control is a major reason many lead buyers choose ping post.

  • High-Intent Leads & Quality Focus: Since ping post systems emphasize real-time delivery and exclusive sales, they naturally encourage high-intent, fresh leads. Lead sellers in these marketplaces often focus on top-quality leads because those fetch higher bids.. Exclusive real-time leads give buyers the “best chance of contacting and closing the consumer” while the lead is hot. The overall effect is a marketplace where quality is rewarded – better leads get higher bids – creating an incentive for everyone to improve lead quality.

  • Transparency and Feedback: Many ping post platforms provide rich data and reporting. You can often see logs of your ping responses, what bids were returned, and why certain leads did or didn’t sell. For example, you might see that you lost some leads because another buyer bid higher, which could inform you to adjust your bidding strategy. Real-time reporting and logs (like those in Standard Information’s dashboard) let you monitor performance, identify trends, and refine your campaigns for optimal results. This transparency helps you quickly spot issues (like if your bids are too low or if certain filters are excluding too many leads) and optimize accordingly.

In short, ping post technology ensures efficient lead distribution, competitive pricing, and precise matching between leads and buyers. It’s a win-win: buyers get high-quality, relevant leads at a price they set, and sellers get the best price the market will bear for each lead, all in real time.

Common Terminology

For clarity here are some common terms and definitions as they are generally used in the ping post and lead distribution industry.

Ping Post: (ping-post, ping/post, ping / post) A two step lead distribution method centered around a variable price bid and lead auction. This method is used to create a real-time auction for a real-time lead. This method includes a Ping to determine price and a Post to deliver the lead.

Ping Post System: (ping-post system, ping/post system, ping / post system, platform, system) A software platform that is able to buy and sell leads using the ping post method. These systems are typically SaaS platforms or proprietary systems built by companies to enable buying and selling leads using ping post.

Ping Post Platform: (ping-post platform, ping/post platform, ping / post platform, platform, system) Used interchangeably with Ping Post System

Ping Tree: (Ping-trees, ping tree platform, ping tree platform) An outdated technology that was a precursor to Ping Post platforms. Ping Trees send a lead in a waterfall fashion to the first buyer who may accept or reject it, if the first buyer rejects the lead it goes to the next buyer in the ping tree.

Lead Distribution Platform: (lead Management system, LMS, lead platform, platform, system) A software platform that is built to distribute leads. They may or may not support Ping Post. All Ping Post Systems are Lead Distribution Platforms but not all Lead Distribution Platforms are Ping Post Systems.

Direct Post: (lead post, direct posting, direct post setup) A single step lead distribution method. This method requires that the price be pre-determined and the Direct Post is the same as the Post in the Ping Post method. This term is used to differentiate between the Ping Post method.

Ping: The first step of the Ping Post method. This step consists of an API call to determine the price of a lead from various potential lead buyers. Most often the ping does not send the personally identifiable information to potential buyers.

Post: (lead delivery, lead posting) The second step of the Ping Post method. This step consists of an API call to deliver the full lead to the selected buyer.

Bid: The price the lead buyer is willing to pay for the lead that was pinged to them. This is the price the buyer returned on the Ping Response.

Direct Post Price: (lead price) The predetermined price the buyer is willing to pay for a lead that meets its criteria in a Direct Post lead distribution setup.

Ping Request: The first part of the API call of the Ping sent by the vendors Ping Post System.

Ping Response: The buyer’s response to the Ping sent to their platform. This is the response to the API call for the Ping.

Ping Rejection: A negative response from the Ping that indicates that the buyer is not willing to bid on the Ping or a technical error that results in the Ping Post Platform not receiving a Bid for the Ping.

Post Rejection: (post reject, reject) A negative response from the Post or Direct Post that indicates the lead buyer is unwilling or unable to accept the lead. This can be rejection response that the lead in undesirable (e.g. bad phone number) or it can be a technical reason (e.g. Platform is unresponsive, post cap met, invalid format).

Integration: (ping post integration, direct post integration, api integration) The technical connection between the Lead Distribution Platform and the buyer. This can be a direct connection with the lead buyers CRM, the lead buyers Lead Distribution System or just the delivery method of the lead (e.g. email or SMS lead delivery).

Lead Validation: (validation, validate, verification, lead verification) the automatic process of validating that the information in the lead meets the criteria of the lead buyer.

Third Party Validation: (third-party verification) an automated real-time process of a third party to verify the information in a lead before a lead buyer purchases a lead. Most often offered as a service on a cost per verification basis.

Dupe: (duplicate lead, dupe lead, dupes) Shorthand term to describe the common lead rejection reason resulting from the lead already being in the lead buyers platform, CRM. Sometimes applied to pings to indicate the same ping has been received by the Ping Post Platform and is being rejected for being a duplicate of another ping.

Timeout (lead timeout, system timeout, platform timeout) a ping or post error where the lead buyers system does not respond in a timely manner. This is usually a set limit of a number of seconds in the lead vendors platform. Timeouts result in the presumed rejection of the ping or the post. In rare cases a vendor’s system may Timeout before the buyers platform responds back with its successful Post response resulting in a lead being recorded as purchased by the buyer and rejected by the lead vendor.

Real-Time: (realtime, real time lead, real time data) A lead that is sold to a lead buyer very shortly after being created. Usually delivered to the lead buyer in a few seconds.

Aged Lead: (aged data) A lead being sold or used that is not real-time. Aged Data may be as old as a few minutes to months or years. Term is used to describe a lead that is not Real-Time.

Exclusive Lead: (exclusive data) A lead that is only sold to a single end buyer to be contacted. Used to describe leads that are not shared.

Shared Lead: (shared, lead leg, shared data, shared leg) A lead that is sold to a number of end buyers who will each call the lead. Each sale of the Shared Lead is a “leg”. Shared leads are commonly sold with 3 or 4 legs.

Aggregator: (lead aggregator, lead marketplace, aggs, lead broker, broker) Used to describe a business that in part buys and sells leads. Most often Aggregators do not contact the lead and simply facilitate the distribution of the lead at a markup.

Mixed Setup: The ability for an advanced Ping Post platform like Standard Information to buy and sell between vendors and buyers using both Ping Post and Direct Post setups.

Ping Post to Direct Post: A method offered by advanced platforms like Standard Information where a vendor uses the Ping Post method to send in lead data and the lead buyer uses the Direct Post method to buy leads. In this case the Ping Post platform will create a Ping Response with the direct post buyers fixed rate to respond to vendors Ping Request.

Direct Post to Ping Post: A method offered by advanced platforms like Standard Information where a vendor uses the Direct Post method to send in full lead data and the lead buyer uses the Ping Post method to buy leads. In this case the Ping Post platform will create a Ping from the Direct Post to send the to ping post buyers and then will Post the data the winning buyer. The platform will not respond to the original Direct Post request until the lead is fully sold or rejected.

Margin: (markup) The amount an aggregator marks up a lead that it resells. This can also be used by an endbuyer to discount the price it is willing to pay.

Caps: (lead cap, post cap, posting cap, budget cap, ping cap, ping limit, post limit, budget limit) a general term used to describe limits (usually dollar limits or volume limits) on the number of number of total value of pings or post a buyer is willing to accept. This is most often a setting in the Ping Post Platform.

Source: (subID, source ID, SourceId, offerID, offer ID) a value passed with a lead used to indicate its origin. It is a very commonly used value for optimization. Source does not have a singular definition and can be used to refer to the entity that generated the lead, the traffic source, the campaign, the sub-supplier, or any other number of origin indicators. This value is usually encoded.


Why Might a Ping or Post Be Rejected?

Even in a smooth ping post system, not every lead results in a successful sale. There are points at which a lead can be filtered out or “rejected” either in the ping stage or the post stage. Understanding these common failure points will help you manage expectations and troubleshoot issues when they arise.


Ping Stage – Rejected or No-Bid Pings: A ping can effectively be “rejected” if buyers decide not to bid on it or if the platform refuses it. Here are typical reasons a ping might not get any bids or be declined by a buyer’s system:

  • Technical Error on Ping: If the ping message is malformed, missing required fields, or if there’s a timeout in the communication, buyers may automatically reject it or not respond. For example, if a lead seller’s ping doesn’t follow the expected API format, the buyer’s platform might throw an error. These are usually resolved by fixing the data formatting or connection issues.

  • Duplicate Lead (Ping): Buyers often have systems to detect if they’ve seen a lead before. If the ping contains info that matches a lead the buyer already purchased or received from another source, they will flag it as a duplicate and not bid. No one wants to pay for the same lead twice.

  • Blocked Source: Buyers can block certain lead sources or sub-sources. If the ping is coming from a vendor that the buyer has blocked (due to past quality issues, fraud, etc.), the buyer’s system will ignore or reject the ping. Similarly, if the lead traveled through an aggregator, the buyer might use a “sub ID” to identify the original sub-vendor and could block that ID if it proved problematic in the past.

  • Unwanted Lead (No Interest): Sometimes a ping is simply outside of the buyer’s target parameters. For instance, it might be a consumer in a state the buyer doesn’t serve, or an age range they don’t want, etc. In that case, the buyer chooses not to bid – essentially a silent rejection due to lead mismatch. The ping goes out, but comes back with no bid from that buyer because the lead wasn’t interesting to them.

  • Buyer Capacity/Caps Reached: If a buyer has their campaign turned off or has hit their budget or volume cap for the day, they might not bid on any pings during that period. In effect, the ping gets no response simply because the buyer isn’t active or is “full” at the moment. This could be temporary (e.g. they resume bidding the next day or once under cap).

If a ping is rejected or gets no bids from all buyers, the lead remains unsold at that moment. The seller might try again with different buyers or routes (or perhaps fall back to a fixed-price buyer if available), but that’s outside the immediate ping post transaction.


Post Stage – Rejected Posts: Even after a ping succeeds (i.e. someone bid and “won” the lead), the process isn’t 100% complete until the buyer accepts the full data post. There are cases where the buyer receives the post and then decides not to accept the lead (in which case usually they are not charged). Here are common reasons a post may be rejected:

  • Technical Error on Post: Similar to ping, if the full post data transmission fails – say the post isn’t formatted correctly, required data is missing, or the buyer’s server times out – the buyer may not accept the lead. Essentially the sale falls through due to a delivery/error issue. These scenarios require debugging the post integration to ensure the data is sent properly.

  • Data Validation Failure: Many buyers perform additional validation on full lead data. For example, they might verify that the phone number is a real working number, the email has a valid format, the ZIP code is valid for the given state, etc. If any of these checks fail (e.g. phone comes back as disconnected or email fails a syntax check), the buyer may automatically reject the post. From the buyer’s perspective, this protects them from paying for bad or fake leads. From the seller’s perspective, it’s important to send only valid data to avoid such rejections.

  • Duplicate Lead (Post): Even if the ping seemed unique, sometimes the full post reveals identifying info that triggers a duplicate check. For instance, the buyer might only recognize a duplicate once they see the name or phone number. If the buyer’s CRM or lead system says “we already have this contact,” they will reject the post as a duplicate. This can happen if the same consumer submitted multiple inquiries, or if two lead sellers ended up with the same lead.

  • Ping/Post Mismatch: This reason occurs if the information in the post does not match what was sent in the ping. For example, the ping said the prospect was in Texas, but the full post shows their address in New York – that’s a mismatch. It could indicate an error or a bait-and-switch. Buyers will reject the lead because they bid under certain assumptions from the ping data. Ping/post mismatches are often due to data entry mistakes or intentional misrepresentation in the ping (which is a serious issue). Ensuring the ping data is accurate and derived from the same source as the post data is crucial to avoid this.

When a post is rejected by the winning bidder, typically that lead goes unsold or is marked as a failed transaction. Some advanced platforms will then attempt a secondary sale (for example, offering it to the next highest bidder from the ping round, if their bid is still valid) However, not all systems do this – often a rejected post just means no one gets charged and the seller might try to resell the lead elsewhere.

Returned Leads (Post-Sale Returns): In addition to immediate rejections, many lead marketplaces have a concept of lead returns. This is when a buyer initially accepts (and pays for) a lead, but later flags it for return due to quality issues, usually under a return policy agreement. For instance, a buyer might have 7 days to return leads that are invalid. Common reasons for returned leads include: the contact information turned out bad (wrong number, disconnected phone), the lead was fraudulent (e.g. someone filled fake data or the consumer says “I never requested this”), or the lead had been sold before (the consumer had already been contacted by someone else, undermining exclusivity). In such cases, the buyer gets credit or a refund for that lead, and the lead is essentially marked as “rejected” after the fact. Returned leads transform an initially “accepted” post into a rejected one upon further review. For example, if a buyer bought 100 leads and later returned 20 of them as bad, they ultimately pay only for 80; the other 20 are deducted. From a seller’s perspective, returns mean you need to ensure lead quality – the goal is to minimize those reasons (provide valid data, prevent fraud, avoid duplicates) so that accepted posts stay accepted.

Understanding these rejection scenarios is important for anyone using ping post. If you encounter a low bid rate on your pings or a lot of post rejections, you can troubleshoot using the above reasons. Platforms like Standard Information provide detailed logs and error messages to help pinpoint why a ping was declined or why a buyer rejected a post – for example, showing “Rejected: email failed regex” or “No bid: filter mismatch” in the transaction log. This transparency allows you to take corrective action, such as cleaning up lead data, adjusting your targeting, or addressing any technical integration issues.

Conclusion

Ping post technology represents a powerful, modern approach to buying and selling leads. By splitting the lead sale into a quick preview (ping) and then a full transfer (post) for the winner, it creates a real-time marketplace that maximizes value for everyone involved. Buyers get fresher and more relevant leads through competitive bidding, and sellers earn the highest possible price for each lead by finding the most interested buyer in the moment. It’s no surprise that ping post is often described as “the future of lead buying and selling” – it addresses many pain points of traditional lead processes, from low conversion rates to inefficient pricing.

If you’ve been struggling with low-converting leads or feeling like you’re paying too much for mediocre quality, ping post offers a solution. The combination of real-time delivery, exclusive lead access, and dynamic bidding can dramatically improve your ROI. And thanks to user-friendly platforms like Standard Information, the technology barrier is low – you don’t need to be a tech expert or build custom software to start using ping post. These platforms are designed to get you up and running quickly (often within a day) and handle the heavy lifting (integrations, data transfer, security) behind the scenes.

In summary, ping post is the fastest and most efficient way to buy leads in today’s digital marketplace. It ensures that as a buyer you only pay for leads you actually want, and as a seller you get paid what each lead is truly worth. With this guide, you should now have a solid understanding of ping vs post, how the ping post system works step by step, why real-time exclusive leads are so beneficial, and how to avoid common pitfalls like rejected leads. You’re well on your way to leveraging this cutting-edge lead distribution model to grow your business. Happy lead hunting!





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