Ad Networks and Ad-Serving Technologies
Ad networks are companies that have developed a network of advertising partnerships with numerous websites across the Internet. Ad networks give you access to a series of sites, and let you post your display ads on sites where the audience meets your target demographics.
Of the hundreds of ad networks, the most prominent are 24/7 RealMedia, Atlas Solutions, and DoubleClick (a subsidiary of Google). Also, the Google Display Network (formerly Google Content Network) allows you to post content-related display ads on websites owned by independent publishers. For example, if you’re marketing video games, they can connect you with video game blog owners who will post display ads for your games on their sites. Visit www.google.com/ads/displaynetwork for more information on posting display ads through Google’s ad networks.
Microsoft is currently offering placement of display ads on partner websites through two separate ad content networks. The Bing Content Network places display ads on commercial partner sites such as MSNBC and WSJ.com. The Microsoft Media Network places display ads on smaller, independently owned partner sites. Visit advertising.microsoft.com for more information.
Ad-serving platforms give you a lot of management and control over your display ads. The platforms include various ad-creation tools that enable you to create new display ads, store multiple ads in an online library, and post your ads on multiple target sites that have a partnership with the ad network. The ad-serving platforms also provide you with valuable analytics, so you can monitor the number of impressions and the CTR for each display ad you post.
On the business end, contracts with ad networks are often very easy to manage. You only need to sign one contract with an ad network. That contract then applies to every site that has a partnership with that network where you want to post a display ad. You don’t have to sign separate advertising agreements with each content site.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF AD-SERVING NETWORKS
There are several types of ad-serving networks that I should mention here:
Affiliate networks connect advertisers with independent website publishers who wish to be affiliate marketers. An affiliate marketer will post a content-related ad on their website for a company with an eCommerce site. If someone clicks on the ad and buys something from the eCommerce site, the affiliate marketer gets paid a commission.
For example, an affiliate marketer may post an ad for Best Buy on their website. If a visitor to their website clicks on the ad and buys something online from Best Buy’s e-commerce site, the affiliate marketer gets a percentage of the sale. Some of the largest affiliate networks include CommissionJunction, LinkShare, ShareASale, and ClickBank.
Lead-generation networks connect advertisers with a network of companies that provide ad space and promotions for products and services that complement their own. For example, LeadFEED (owned by TKL Interactive) has agreements with multiple publishers of industry and trade publications (e.g., Aviation Week, Marketing Weekly, ITPro) and with multiple advertisers in the same industries served by those publications.
When a consumer signs up for or renews a subscription to an industry or trade publication, the publication’s website presents them with display ads that are targeted to subscribers within that industry (e.g., an Aviation Week subscriber may get an ad for a company that produces airplane parts). The subscriber has the opportunity to sign up, or opt in, to receive special offers from the advertised company, thus becoming a lead. The lead-generation network’s interactive technology then sends the subscriber’s contact information (which they have provided to the publisher for their subscription) to the advertised company. There are also consumer-based lead-generation networks, such as MyPoints, Point.com, and Swagbucks.
Trading desk agencies focus primarily on websites that use an auction-based payment model. These agencies act as a go-between to help you place your ads on sites offering the lowest advertising rates. Trading desks have created automated arbitrage software tools that continuously monitor a group of sites, based on the demographic criteria of your target audience. When the software finds an appropriate site offering the cheapest rate (i.e., a $1.00 PPC rate), it immediately posts your display ad on that site. If the rate goes up on that site (i.e., it is raised to $2.00 per click), the trading desk software will automatically transfer your ad to another site with a lower PPC rate (e.g., $1.25 per click). The goal of a trading desk is to find the cheapest site where they can post your display ad at any given time.
Campaign optimization agencies (COAs) are ad-serving networks that allow you to track the interaction and buying behavior of website users after they see your ads. COAs have developed tracking technologies that allow them to track a Web user’s online movements after they view your display ad. This allows the advertiser and the COA agency to do “smart targeting,” to post display ads that are better suited to a user’s interests, even on websites that are not related to those interests.
For example, if a Web user views your Republican-targeted display ad on RedStates.com, the COA tracking technology targets them as (probably) being a Republican. Using cookies and IP address tracking, the COA platform can then serve Republican-targeted ads to them on nonpolitical sites. If the user visits a consumer site (e.g., Flowers.com, Gifts.com) where the COA agency has an advertising partnership, they may see the same Republican-targeted ad that they saw on RedStates.com.