Specialty/vertical search engine Monetization

[know_base]

Dear Experts,

I hope I am at the right category.

We have a specialty/vertical search engine. I am wondering how we can make money showing PPC ads. I found out the following options, can you please comment or enhance them?

1. Show Google adsence ad [will they take us? Even though we have absolutely no dream of going near their space, we may be perceived as a competition to them because we are in search]

2. Show YSM ad [same problem as above, and they are still in beta?]

3. Show ads from other PPC platforms [can you suggest a good one, where we may qualify?]

4. Is there any open source or commercial PPC platform available that we can implement? [Well, getting advertisers will be a challenge even if there is such a platform]

Thank you for your help,

KB

[Compworld]

Google and Yahoo! would not consider you a threat. However, if you use a program such as Adsense or Yahoo! Publisher for advertising, it does not look good on your part either. You can try adding XML feeds from different providers. Then, at least you would not have the ads by so and so. Also, you can try different ad networks which pay on a CPM or CPC basis. A mix is always a good option.

[eljefe3]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld know_base.

I would highly recommend testing out a few different methods and see which one works best for you.

[markwelch]

I've operated several successful specialty/niche directory sites, and I generally find that the best money-making opportunities come from carefully integrating affiliate links. General "ad networks," including Google AdSense, often cannot properly determine which ads will work best on your site, especially if you have a large number of low-traffic pages, or if your pages are dynamically generated.

My most recent niche site is a directory of lesson plan resources for English teachers. After more than 3 years, more than 90% of the site's revenue comes from affiliate links, and less than 10% from Google AdSense ads. (I know these numbers because I just listed the site for sale on eBay yesterday, after receiving two offers to buy the site.)

Google, Yahoo, and MSN all have "content/publisher" networks that are essentially open to anyone, and they also have search partnerships for "legitimate" search sites. They don't care if you're competing with them, they just want to share in your revenue.