Working with Online Advertising Networks
by Tom Yamada
ContextWeb Publisher Advisor
OK… you have site traffic you want to monetize and have decided to work with online ad networks. Good. I believe that this is the fastest way to start earning dollars for your inventory.
Keep in mind the following to maximize your revenue:
Choices
Obviously you know that the online advertising boom is upon us. This is good since this creates numerous opportunities for you. There are online ad networks that specialize in display ads (such as ContextWeb, Valueclick, Tribal Fusion), behavioral ad targeting (such as Tacoda), contextual ads (such as Google, Yahoo, and AdSonar), and video ads (such as InStream – a unit of Advertising.com). To join an ad network, expect them to evaluate your site for content, traffic, and other factors. Apply to as many as possible so that in the end, you are accepted to at least two ad networks. This way, you can ensure that your users are seeing a rotation of different ads, rather than seeing the same ads over and over and over again.
Account Managers
Once accepted to an ad network, make sure you get the contact information for an account manager. Be proactive and communicate often. Ask about:
- Frequency caps - the amount of times, in a specified time frame, a particular ad can be displayed to a unique visitor.
- “Defaults” - when non-paying or house ads are displayed to users – be aware that you can set up another ad network as your “default” and minimize the amount of non-paying ads being served. Another reason to utilize at least two ad networks.
- If the ad network can monetize non-U.S. traffic.
- New initiatives from the ad network - your ad network may want to beta test new initiatives such as video ads or other formats with you… and…
- If your ad network offers guaranteed CPMs - typically, you will start on a revenue share basis, not a flat CPM. Over time, however, both you and your ad network will gain the metrics needed to evaluate whether a guaranteed CPM makes sense for both parties.
Channels
When setting up your site to serve advertisements, ask for multiple ad tags that are categorized into “channels” or specific areas of your site. You may even want to take it a step further and ask for different tags per channel per ad unit size. You may be surprised. Different ad networks may earn you higher revenues on different channels and/or different ad size units.
Metrics and record-keeping
Keep a daily “dashboard” and record all possible variables such as uniques, visits, impressions, clicks, default %s, etc. This way you can test different mixes of ad networks and optimize your traffic. In addition, when its time to test or implement a new ad network, you will know, in a short time, if it will increase your revenues.
Newsletters
Sign up for every email newsletter that covers the online advertising industry. This will keep you up to date on new ad networks, emerging ad formats, and possibly, information you didn’t know about the ad network you are currently working with. Email newsletters that I recommend are from The Interactive Advertising Bureau, MarketingVox, and Adotas.
Tom Yamada is a dedicated and results oriented professional with over 15 years of online, Internet, and premium online services experience. Tom currently serves as Vice President of Business Development at ALFY, Inc. where his responsibilities include, (i) subscriber acquisition and online media buying for CleverIsland.com (ALFY’s premium service for children), (ii) interactive advertising sales for Alfy.com (ALFY’s free destination site for kids), and (iii) partner and business development for both CleverIsland.com and Alfy.com. Previously, Tom served as Director of Business Development for Office.com, a leading online business service that was co-owned by CBS/Viacom and Winstar Communications.
-- From The ContextWeb Advisors
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