Does your ad network make the grade?

Hello Robert,
A quick question.
Am i safe to start with an ad network if i don't have my own ad server.
Can i trust the ad networks numbers?

As a person very experienced in the ad network space, I think Robert is spot-on with the considerations that one should consider. As an addition, I think the choice should begin with the advertiser's personal strategy. A network like Sportgenic is excellent to reach several audiences, Males, Athletes, maybe demographic, etc. Working with larger ad networks, they all offer different bells and whistles, and very few are ACTUALLY 100% transparent. There is really only one way to know if the network is / is not 100% transparent. Either they offer you a contractual guarantee that your ad will only run on the sites that you approve .... or they are governed by IASH. IASH is the British Standard and is much more strict than IAB. Networks that adhere to this standard have to be transparent or they lose their IASH rights.

Along the strategic outline, if your goal is branding, of course the sites listed are of primary importance. Perhaps your goal is conversions (new customers), then reach and creativity are very important. For example, the technology to retarget, BT, etc. all play into ways to grab that exact user you are looking for and bring them to your product. This will help you choose your company.

Finally, along with the IASH comment above, the person you are working with is of primary importance, but so is their team. How much access do you have to the people who deliver your campaigns at the back end? That will show you the kind of company that the ad network is. They may not agree to let you chat with their delivery team every day, but the ability to know who they are and what kind of care they take to execute goes a long way.

Depending on your vertical, ad networks like Sportgenic are great. It would take too long to recommend all the good ones. However, in the big network circle, Adconion Media Group has both international IASH approval and the large reach and technology that most advertisers are looking for. I have had good experiences with some of the others like Tribal as well.

The Critical Advertiser,
I hear you. The models are changing and we are constanly looking for ways to connect the marketer in a relevant way to the consumer. We did a campaign where we connected two non competitive advertisers to help each other. A credit card company looking for new card members and an athletic clothing company looking to brand. Instead of a free toaster we offered a significant discount on the apparel if you signed up. Both clients benefited and most importantly the client did as well.

You are right on metrics they are changing and we are seeing lots of ways advertisers are evaluating their media spends. Engagement, time spent, brand recall, purchase intent etc. We spend a lot of time researching how best to connect with our passionate audience and I completely agree we don't want to piss them off. This is their free time and if we are having an advertiser intrude is bad for all parties. So we don't just offer traditional IAB units but lots of custom solutions to integrate the brands into the user experience. We've done some great brands wraps, mobile experiences, podcasts, etc. This is about being apart of the user experience.

Randy,
We don't judge sites by size but by audience quality. Given our vertical focus a smaller site that has relevance to a specific category is of great value. We even try to work with partners to help them drive traffic across complimentary sites. With that said size does matter as advertisers are interested in reaching as many relevant people as possible. I would suggest you look at company's that can help partner with you to grown your audience pool.

How about ad models and ad units? What about their performance metrics? The traditional networks you're talking about rely on ever so slowly, failing ad formats that people block, skip or ignore. This leads to the remnant inventory you warn about, Cost Per Action type buys and lack of branding opportunities.

But there are some networks utilizing some of the best ad models out there like Virgin Mobile Sugar Mama, The Economist and FreeFi (a Wi-Fi network where you exchange an ad for free Wi-Fi at Denver airport). All nine points you list don't mean much if people skip the ads.

The Critical Advertiser

please address the issue of a quality content site that is not accepted by most ad networks due to lack of viewership. www.myinboxnews.com has professional content but is having a very difficult time attracting quality advertisers due to our newness and our current relatively small list of subscribers. any ideas on ad outlets for small sites?