Regarding Ads
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:04 am
I'm not sure who is specifically in charge of putting ads and stuff on the site, but I recently came across this blog article about ads and I'd like to direct whoever is in charge to it. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000893.html
Here's the good stuff from it:
Advertising has won so completely and decisively that it's hard to imagine any other revenue model working online.
Advertising sucks. But you know what else sucks? When people point out how stupid you are to throw away five figures worth of potential income. Repeatedly. At length. So the question becomes this: Is it possible to advertise responsibly, with respect for your audience-- and yourself?
Stuart Brown's piece on balancing AdSense with user experience offers the best advice I've seen so far:
1. Use the AdSense heat map to judiciously select one or two places for ads, rather than blasting them across your page.
2. As a courtesy, turn off ads for Digg, Reddit, and other popular referring URLs. This audience doesn't appreciate ads, and they're the least likely to click them anyway.
3. Reward frequent readers by keeping your new content free of ads. Use time-delayed ads that only display on articles after they've aged for a week.
4. Always offer full content in your RSS feed. Don't force people to click through to your site and see your advertisements.
Google AdSense is the absolute bottom of the barrel, a choice of last resort. There are other options:
---------------------------------------------------Sold Through---------------------------------Revenue
Level 1-------AdSense------------------------ Google--------------------------------------- $1 CPM
Level 2-------Affiliate Programs------------- Amazon, Buy.com, etc-------------------- 1-2% sales
Level 3-------Traditional Ad Networks----- ContextWeb, ValueClick, AdOn, etc---- $1-$2 CPM
Level 4-------Automated Text Link Ads---- TextLinkAds--------------------------------- $25/link
Level 5-------Fixed Text Link Ads----------- (direct)--------------------------------------- $50/link
Level 6-------Graphical Banner Ads-------- (direct)--------------------------------------- $5-$20 CPM
Level 7-------Fixed Monthly Sponsors----- (direct)--------------------------------------- (negotiated)
Notice that the top 3 tiers of the advertising pyramid are all sold directly. I prefer this approach. You retain maximum control over exactly what is advertised on your website. Instead of an ad network deciding what gets displayed, you decide. It's a relationship you control.
It's a better experience for you, and your readers, to be much more selective. I'll never understand bloggers who place their own personal desire for an additional few grand of income over basic respect for their readers.
Here's the good stuff from it:
Advertising has won so completely and decisively that it's hard to imagine any other revenue model working online.
Advertising sucks. But you know what else sucks? When people point out how stupid you are to throw away five figures worth of potential income. Repeatedly. At length. So the question becomes this: Is it possible to advertise responsibly, with respect for your audience-- and yourself?
Stuart Brown's piece on balancing AdSense with user experience offers the best advice I've seen so far:
1. Use the AdSense heat map to judiciously select one or two places for ads, rather than blasting them across your page.
2. As a courtesy, turn off ads for Digg, Reddit, and other popular referring URLs. This audience doesn't appreciate ads, and they're the least likely to click them anyway.
3. Reward frequent readers by keeping your new content free of ads. Use time-delayed ads that only display on articles after they've aged for a week.
4. Always offer full content in your RSS feed. Don't force people to click through to your site and see your advertisements.
Google AdSense is the absolute bottom of the barrel, a choice of last resort. There are other options:
---------------------------------------------------Sold Through---------------------------------Revenue
Level 1-------AdSense------------------------ Google--------------------------------------- $1 CPM
Level 2-------Affiliate Programs------------- Amazon, Buy.com, etc-------------------- 1-2% sales
Level 3-------Traditional Ad Networks----- ContextWeb, ValueClick, AdOn, etc---- $1-$2 CPM
Level 4-------Automated Text Link Ads---- TextLinkAds--------------------------------- $25/link
Level 5-------Fixed Text Link Ads----------- (direct)--------------------------------------- $50/link
Level 6-------Graphical Banner Ads-------- (direct)--------------------------------------- $5-$20 CPM
Level 7-------Fixed Monthly Sponsors----- (direct)--------------------------------------- (negotiated)
Notice that the top 3 tiers of the advertising pyramid are all sold directly. I prefer this approach. You retain maximum control over exactly what is advertised on your website. Instead of an ad network deciding what gets displayed, you decide. It's a relationship you control.
It's a better experience for you, and your readers, to be much more selective. I'll never understand bloggers who place their own personal desire for an additional few grand of income over basic respect for their readers.