Contextual Advertising: Is it Right for You?
Copyright 2007 by Merle
If online advertising had fads, contextual ads would be the latest
"in thing." Also known as "content targeting," they seem to be "popping
up" (no pun intended) all over the Web. From news sites to privately
owned websites, everyone and his brother seems to be dipping his "toe in
the water."
So what is contextual advertising and why should you care? I thought
you'd never ask. You know how when you read a magazine, the pages are
littered with ads? Context ads do the same thing, but with a twist. It's
a way of distributing Pay Per Click search results across the Net.
Here's how it works: the text of a web page is scanned for "keywords"
or a theme, then ads are shown that are related to the page's content. A
website's content is matched up with the advertisers' keywords. For
example,if I were reading a page about dogs. there would be pet related
ads, usually contained in the right hand side or sometimes the top and
bottom of the pages.
Unlike ads that are shown on Search Engine results pages, these ads
are dynamic and allow you to reach people in a different mode other then
search. Some call this more of a "shopping mode." Whatever you want to
call it, context ads are distributed through millions of partner sites
across the Internet.
Some advertisers claim that click thru rates are lower for this type
of ad, compared to standard PPC search results ads. You might want to do
your own testing to validate that claim for yourself.
There are two ways to approach contextual advertising: as a
publisher, and as an advertiser.
Website publishers can earn extra money by displaying ads and
enhancing their content. This is not a bad way to earn extra income that
might just pay for your web hosting bills, and then some.
Advertisers may find that context ads provide yet another means of
attracting targeted traffic. You only pay for click thrus, not exposure.
Make sure your ads are narrowly focused, i.e., they should only deal
with one topic. You can also "pre qualify" prospects by using what's
called "negative qualifiers" in your ad's description. Some examples are
"For men over 35," or "For Career Women." This helps to insure that only
your target market will click and not those for whom your product or
service may not be suitable.
If you've been doing Pay Per Click advertising with Google and
Overture, make sure you haven't been participating already in context
ads. Many times your ads will be shown on their context networks as the
default when registering, and it's up to you to opt out. You should
always manage your context ads separately from your search to see which
is working best.
Adland Digest Sponsor Message |
For just clicking my link you will get free gift
of value $24.95.
BUSINESS FUNDING SOLUTIONS
“The Secrets of Wall Street”
Your source for new business start-up money.
4 Easy Steps to get started!
A complimentary e-book entitled, "Raising
Capital for Start-Up and Early-Stage Companies"
is available on the web site for a limited time.
Get Your Copy TODAY!
Click Here.
|
Be a sponsor. Place your ad
here. (Spot II) |
Google and Overture are the "Kings of PPC"
and both offer contextual advertising, but there are many
other smaller companies to take a look at. Whether you're a
publisher with web pages to fill or an advertiser looking
for more exposure, there's something for everyone here.
1) Kanoodle: Calling their contextual ad program "BrightAds," small
to medium sized publishers may display Kanoodle ads on their sites.
BrightAds are more relevant to your site's content due to the fact
that they map ads by topics instead of keywords. It's easy to sign up
and Kanoodle offers a variety of ad formats to choose from and also
offers PayPal as an option for your monthly commission checks.
To join go to
http://www.Kanoodle.com/about/brightads.cool
Their program for advertisers is called "ContextTarget." Your ads are
placed adjacent to editorial content of sites such as MSNBC, CBS, Market
Watch, USA Today, and
AutoBytel.com. You select the topics that best describe the products
and services you sell, set up your ads, and set bid amounts. The minimum
bid price is $.20 but runs up to $2.10, depending on market demand for
the types of pages you wish to be displayed on.
For more, see:
http://tinyurl.com/4c8ff
2) Overture: Their advertiser program is called "Content Match." Your
ads will appear on pages of their partner sites, such as Yahoo,
MSN.com,
CNN.com and
ESPN.com. Overture makes it
easy to keep your context bids separated from your PPC Search Engine
ads. This makes it easy to track your return on investment from both
types.
$20.00 minimum monthly spend and $.10 per click is the minimum bid.
Find out more at:
http://www.overture.com/d/USm/ays/cm.jhtml
3) Google: The program for advertisers is called AdWords, while the
one for publishers is called AdSense.
Publishers must first get accepted and approved into the program and
are paid when they reach $100.00 in click thrus. You may choose to
display only text ads or image ads as well. For more, see
http://tinyurl.com/6e3uh
With Adwords, your ads will appear on their network of high quality
partner sites which are all Adsense users, including N.Y Times Digital,
Village, Weather.com,
Primedia,, CNET and others. Text ads are also shown inside emails of
Google's new Gmail account users. Google allows you to opt into
contextual ads and keep them separated from your search results so you
can view reports for each individually.
Context ads are displayed two to four on a page. You can set the
daily amount you want to spend and your credit card will be charged
monthly according to your wishes. If you're using Adwords now but don't
know if you're being displayed in the "context ads," you'll need to log
into your control panel to see if you have that option selected. See
https://www.adwords.google.com/select/
4) BannerBoxes: Sign up as an advertiser or a publisher. Publishers
must be accepted into the program to display ads and are paid 75% of the
click thru price from the ads. Choose keywords that match your website's
content, then copy and paste some JavaScript code onto your page.
Several ad formats are available, such as 468x60, 728x90 and others.
Very similar to Adsense in formats that are available. Advertisers pay
$25.00 to open an account and pay a flat cost per click, which means no
bullying for position, as with some of the other Pay Per Clicks out
there. You select the sites you want your ads to be displayed upon.
For Publisher info, see:
http://www.bannerboxes.com/common/partners.cfm
For Advertisers info, see:
http://www.bannerboxes.com/common/advertisers.cfm
5) Clicksor: Serving over 200 million impressions every month and
partnering with over 10,000 specialized websites. As an advertiser you
can run text or graphic ads that only appear on sites that best match
your keyphrases. The higher you bid, the the higher placement your ad
receives. For more, see:
http://tinyurl.com/4yflt
For publishers, Clicksor pays you 60% of the advertisers' clicks that
your site generates. You must earn over $50.00 to be paid for the month
or your earnings will rollover to the next. Free to join:
Adland Digest Sponsor Message |
|
Be a sponsor. Place your ad
here. (Spot III) |
http://www.clicksor.com/PPC_affiliate_program.php
6) Bidvertiser: Publishers can join free to display text ads on their
websites. You can customize the look of all ads you display and block
any unwanted ones. You must earn a minimum of $10.00 in a month to be
paid by PayPal or $25.00 minimum to be cut a check. For more
information, see:
http://tinyurl.com/4g23d
Advertisers can choose the sites to run their ads on and only pay for
click thrus. You set a cap on how much you'd like to spend daily,
weekly, or monthly. Your bids are automatically adjusted so you only pay
1 cent more than your competition. No minimum monthly spend at this
time. Advertisers find out more by visiting:
http://tinyurl.com/6w46m
7) RevenuePilot: Publishers can fill out an online application to be
approved to display RevenuePilot's ads. They do favor original content
type of sites. Advertisers are paid 60% of each search terms bidded
value. To be paid for the month, you'll have to have earned a minimum of
$25.00. You can sign up here:
https://secure.revenuepilot.com/signup.jsp
Advertisers must apply to have their ads displayed across the
network. Go to:
http://www.revenuepilot.com/advertising.html
8) BidClix: If you're a publisher, you'll find BidClix has strict
guidelines for joining their network. Your website needs to be approved
first, then you'll be sent some HTML code to add to your pages. The
types of ads served are skyscrapers, banners or pop unders. For more,
see:
http://www.bidclix.com/PubTop.html
With over 30 million ads served per day, advertisers are sure to find
targeted websites to run their ads. Advertisers can open an account for
only $25.00 You select the "channels," such as entertainment, news,
health, etc., that you want to bid on and pay as little as five cents
per click. For more, see:
http://www.bidclix.com/AdvTop.html
9) FindWhat: Targeting small to mid-sized businesses, Findwhat calls
their program "AdRevenue Xpress," and uses category or keyword targeting
for distributing their ads. At this time, this program is only available
to existing FindWhat advertisers. Go to:
http://www.findwhat.com/content/advertiser/index.asp
Publishers who want to display ads on their pages can choose between
a search box that returns ads from Findwhat, or display text ads
directly on their sites. You earn a portion of all click thrus and
Findwhat offers a 10% reward bonus to publishers who also reinvest their
share of what they earn back into their own Findwhat Advertising
Account. For more, see their site:
http://FindWhat.com
10) SearchFeed: This is a private label feed program. Webmasters can
display relevant information and earn extra cash at the same time. Real
time reports, publishers earn from 35 to 50% of all click revenue. For
more, see
http://tinyurl.com/62g95
Advertisers can open an account for only $25.00. Find out more at:
http://tinyurl.com/664ly
11) ContextAd: Serving up contextual ads with high precision.
Publishers can choose from a variety of ad units and also have access to
their very own dedicated account manager.
Publishers need to be approved before they can display their ads on
their sites. Then it's a simple matter of adding some cut and paste code
onto your website pages. You can also review and ban ads that you don't
want shown on your pages. Advertisers and publishers can find out more
at
http://www.contextad.com/
12) Quigo: Calling their program "The AdSonar Exchange," at this time
they only accept publishers and advertisers that cater to the Health,
Beauty & Fitness, Travel and Educational Fields. This ad network
includes over 200 sites, including USAToday and
NYPost.com
For advertisers, Adsonar reads your ad's landing page and offers
choices for placement. You bid on topics, and keyword discovery is
handled by Quigo.com. Then
you set the price you want to pay per click. Advertisers and Publishers
can find out more or apply at:
http://www.quigo.com/adsonarexchange.htm
Whether you're a publisher who wants to add content to your pages and
earn some extra income at the same time, or an advertiser looking to get
more exposure for your website, you're sure to find it here. So take
some time and select one or even two programs that will work best for
your site and increase your bottom line as well.
About The Author
Merle of
WebSiteTrafficPlan.com offering a F-R-E-E ebook and an e-course that
will teach you how to promote and market your website. Grab your copy
now by going to
http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com.
|