Which ad formats would you use and with what network?

Looking for high inventory and high CPM networks

[CLKeenan]

I have access to tribalfusion, fastclick, adsense and if there is another network that you would suggest, I have very little doubts that I can get in it.

Basically Im looking for the highest paying CPM campaigns for banners, skyscrapers, half page ads, and cubes/rectangles. I also need a network that can support a high amount of paying impressions (to date I have ~200,000 on the pages I would be adding the ads to) and very little defaults.

My initial idea was a banner at the very top, a cube/rectangle at the very bottom, and the possibility of a halfpage/skyscraper ad on the right side from the highest paying network for each of those ad formats.

However, I feel that this might be a bit too much. What would you suggest?

A.) Just Banner at top
B.) Just Rectangle/Cube at bottom
C.) Banner at top and Rectangle/Cube at bottom
D.) Banner at top,Rectangle/Cube at bottom, and Skyscraper/Half Page on side.

Another idea I had that I was wondering would work is if I put the ads in invisible frames surrounding the page so that when the person goes to print the page, they do not see any of the advertisements.

Thanks for any advice,
-Chris

[edited by: jcoronella at 6:07 am (utc) on Oct. 17, 2004]
[edit reason] No specific sites please. [/edit]

[rogerd]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, CLKeenan. It seems that the majority of sites do best with Adsense, but if you have an attractive niche you might get a higher CPM from targeted tribalfusion (if they have appropriate ads) or direct ad sales to advertisers. If your site has varied topics, the advantage that Adsense offers is automated targeting by page. Hence, if your site is about accounting, but you have a section about conferences and travel arrangments, you'll likely get travel-related ads on those pages without manual intervention. (Of course, targeting your content a bit will help even more.) This targeting can increase CTR by improving ad relevance as well as the revenue per click if the page topic is a more lucrative one than the site as a whole.

As far as ad formats, you have a few considerations. If you don't want your site to look overly commercial, then you'll want to make the ads more subtle. If you are interested in maximizing your CTR, then more obtrusive large rectangles inserted in the content will probably work. Unfortunately, research seems to show that ad visibility and consumer negative opinion go hand in hand. Banners are the most acceptable, but that's probably because many people barely notice them.

But don't rely on third party advice to design your ad strategy - that's OK for a starting point, but what works on one site may not work as well on another. Use your tracking tools to test different ad sizes in different positions and determine which perform best. Good luck!