While direct response marketers have benefited most from ad networks in recent years, major consumer brands and their agencies are discovering the value of working with an ad network to achieve awareness and a host of other online marketing objectives.
Direct marketers have traditionally used ad networks because they typically manage to a specific CPA objective and because where their ads appear is not as important. The most common objection to using networks among brand marketers has typically been a perceived lack of transparency. However, today's largest and most credible networks now offer full site disclosure and a commitment not to redistribute an advertiser's campaign to other networks that may lack the same standards for quality.
Understandably, brands are concerned that running across hundreds or even thousands of sites could pose a potential risk related to control and quality of their own brand. But the best networks have stringent policies about what sites are approved and both manual and technical monitoring capabilities to ensure the system is not being abused by publishers. By carefully selecting a network with the strictest quality controls, advertisers can have confidence that their ad network partner is an invested stakeholder in protecting their brand online.
Large brands and their agencies are increasingly more receptive to using networks as a complement to portals and individual sites for achieving brand marketing objectives.
