Ad Network Marketing

Ad Network Marketing: The Basics

People who are familiar with the principles of advertising already have an idea of what ad network marketing is. For those who don’t have any marketing or advertising background, understanding what ad networks are is quite simple. They are simply companies that connect potential advertisers with publishers within a certain media channel. Although the term advertising network can be applied to a company that works with any media channel, it is more commonly used nowadays to describe a company that connects advertisers with online hosts and publishers. As the middleman between the advertiser and the host sites, these networks need to maintain a stable inventory of hosts and channels in order to give their clients the best possible value for their money.

While some advertising networks charge a one-time or monthly fee for their services, typical network makes its money by sharing in the pay-per-click revenues which website owners and publishers earn whenever a potential customer clicks on an online advertisement. This is why unless an advertiser specifies the location in which they want their ads or links to be published, these advertising networks often help their clients choose where each ad goes depending on the host site’s relevance to the advertiser’s product or service. The cost and placement of the ad will also depend on what type of advertisement the client wants to employ. Gone are the days where banner ads on websites were the only piece of online advertising real estate for rent. Nowadays, online marketing involves other venues such as email, adware, pop-up and pop-under ads, and other forms of advertising potential customers encounter whenever they go online. Many services within ad network marketing offer one or several of these forms of advertising.

Choosing the Right Advertising Network

Most of the larger networks manage a substantial inventory of hosts including, but not limited to, websites, blogs, RSS feeds, (email) mailing lists, adware, and other online sources. This does not necessarily mean that getting the services of one of the larger ad networks will automatically give advertisers the results they want. They must first consider who their target audience is and where to reach them, and how much they are willing to pay for valuable online advertising space. In order to make the right decision, potential advertisers must first know what the types of ad networks are.

• First-tier networks – These are larger companies that manage and maintain their own inventory of hosts. Clients who hire the services of this type of network are guaranteed a wider choice of host sites. These networks are also independent and they are known to generate a big amount of traffic to the hosts in their inventory through their own channels.
• Second-tier networks – These networks work the same way as those in the first-tier in the sense that they have their own host inventory; however, this inventory is usually limited which is why they often rely on first-tier networks to create a wider inventory base. Having to go through two networks may add to the cost of placing an ad through second-tier networks, but the upside to this is that these networks are more collaborative with their clients in terms of where their ads are placed.

From here, ad networks can be classified further. Other network types include:

• Vertical networks – These networks directly represent the hosts in their inventory, making them very transparent with their clients as to where the ads will be placed. This also gives them the leeway to place site-wide ads for just one particular client. The online real estate they represent usually generate high traffic which is why this type of network is the favorite of brand marketers and large corporations who have the budget for a full-scale online marketing campaign.
• Targeted networks – These networks make use newer technologies that measure an internet user’s online behavior to determine which ads to run when the user visits a website that happens to be part of their inventory. They also make use of consumer clickstream data in order to identify which ads will generate more clicks from the user, making the campaign more efficient.
• Blind networks – These networks offer cheaper rates than other network types simply because they sell their inventory in bulk. The advertiser has no say where their ads will run, although some blind networks give advertisers the option to exclude certain sites that may cause a conflict of interest or may be detrimental to their brand’s name.

How Much Does Hiring an Advertising Network Cost?

Different ad networks offer different prices to their clients. It is possible that an advertiser can pay a higher amount to have their ad placed on a particular host site when dealing with one network than what they would have to pay when dealing with another one. Aside from the difference in the amount they would have to pay, the pricing scheme can also make a difference in how much hiring a particular advertising network would cost. Here are just some of the pricing schemes advertisers may encounter when dealing with advertising networks:

• One-time placement/Monthly fee – Some of the smaller first-tier networks offer monthly ad placement fees. These networks rotate their clients’ ads throughout their inventory for a 30-day period. This is a good option for advertisers who want to put a limit to their online advertising expenses; however, they have less control over what sites their ads are placed on.
• Cost per Impression – There are networks that give their clients the option to pay a certain amount per one thousand times their ads are displayed or seen by potential customers. This is seen as the cost of displaying the ad, much like what advertisers that pay a flat monthly fee do, except that the amount they pay would depend on how many people saw the ad or how many times the ad was displayed on a page.
• Cost per Click – Many of the large first-tier networks like Google AdSense offer this payment option. With this scheme, it doesn’t matter how many times an ad runs on a particular site. The client only pays if the website visitor or advertising email recipient clicks on the ad or the link provided in the email. This scheme may be more expensive in the long run, but it is definitely the most cost efficient of them all.

Ultimately ad network marketing involves advertising on targeted websites. There are many good advertising networks that offer good deals to advertisers and offer commission to publishers who have advertisements on their website.