Forum Moderators: skibum
I don't know what the ad networks prefer and what types of spots pay the most. We're trying to prioritize just setting aside enough room for the best ad sizes so our visitors won't be annoyed with the advertising.
(Intersitals are a form of advertisement that make your visitor view a full page ad for x seconds before being forwarded onto the link they clicked.)
Personally I think intersital's are not that good if you want to retain your user base because they are just too "full on". In addition, the only companies i've ever seen advertising on them are are those "get 10,000 free smilies" adverts. If you target audience is young male AIM users, then great, if not, stay away from them.
In regards to on-page banner advertising each network's payout will vary on this, generally 468x60 pays the least, while square blocks (250x250, or a larger variant), "leaderboard", and "skyscraper" (vertical leaderboard), will pay well.
While you may not want your visitors to see advertising because your worried of scaring them away, you also have to balance the needs of your advertisers.
Also keep in mind when doing your design that a lot of ad networks say that you must place their ad code "above the fold", (ie, the advert can be seen without the visitor needing to scroll down the page). In my opinion this requirement is more about the "ego" of the adnetwork, rather than business sense. On all of my websites, advertising intergrated with the page content (and yes, often below the fold) will deliver the best performance because it is placed in such a way that a large majority of visitors are sure to see it.
I have also experimented in my time with leaderboard banners right at the top of pages, even above my site logo. I have also tried 468x60 banners in the top right of pages to the right of my site logo to please the egotistical nature of the ad networks. I have also tried leaderboard adverts below the site header, but above the content. After all that expirementation I can say without a doubt that ad's placed in the page content, sometimes below the fold ALWAYS out perform ad's placed in typical "above the fold" locations.
Finally, consider this - why do viewers dislike popups? Answer: Because they've clicked on a link to be taken to a page of content or some information they want, but the popup has interupted them, forcing them to take action. Generally they have no desire to look at adverts at this point, because they want to look at the information on the page.
Now consider, what are they going to want to do when the've finished reading the page content? Possibily click the back button, but often they will get to the end of the page content and pause for a few moments, while deciding what to do next. (ie, look for something to click on). This is where advert's also can perform well. Right at the end of the page content. If placing your ad's in such a manner, ensure you dont include any seperators or large white space gaps, or the ad's wont be seen. Ie, there should be only 1 or 2 pixel's between the end line, and the banner, this will ensure maximum viewing, thus rasing CTR. Of course, if doing this you should use affiliate links or sell your own banner impressions directly to advertisers, because ad agencies dont like ad's below the fold despite the execellent performance of such positioning, for reasons I stated above.
Slightly off topic, but something I want to raise because it is so often overlooked when selling advertising directly to advertisers, is the advertiser's experience with making banners that actually perform well.
You should ensure any banner you run on your site follows basic marketing principle for maximum CTR. Remember the AIDA principle, Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. Make sure any banner you run follows this. Most importantly to maximise CTR, always include a call to action, eg, "click here for free xyz".
Back on topic, if you havent worked out what im saying by now, i will repeat something I said the other day: "Placement is profit". A larger CTR means you can demand a better payout from the adnetworks, and direct advertisers, simply because your site will outperform the market averages.
Basically because it saves me enormous amounts of time in testing and experimentation.
There's just one thing I'm totally confused about:
The meaning of CPM. I know it means "Cost per 1,000 impressions."
However, what is CPM? I.e.,
* If 10 unique visitors visit 10 pages on the site, is that 100 impressions?
* If 1 unique visitor visits 1,000 different pages on the site, is that 1,000 impressions?
* If 1 unique visitor refreshes the same page 1,000 times, is that 1,000 impressions.
* Or is 1,000 unique visitors period, and it doesn't matter how many pages they visit or how many refreshes they make. And if that's the case, how long do the cookies last? If it's all year, do I not get credit for those same visitors the other 364 days of the year.
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Also, someone on the board said that the crappy rate of $5 CPM for ad networks payed out to publishers is much worse than Adsense. I think $5 CPM is great! (although I don't clearly know what CPM means at this point). Plus, the most I've seen is $.70 CPM paid out by DoubleClick. Where is he getting that figure?
"* If 1 unique visitor refreshes the same page 1,000 times, is that 1,000 impressions. "
So what you're saying, Webmastertexas, is that this would count:"* If 1 unique visitor refreshes the same page 1,000 times, is that 1,000 impressions. "
Yes. CPM is simply impressions.
CPM, as stated is a measurement of 1,000 delivered ad impressions, regardless of how, or who they are delivered(shown) to.
someone on the board said that the crappy rate of $5 CPM for ad networks payed out to publishers is much worse than Adsense. I think $5 CPM is great!
When evaluating what a "good" CPM rate is, there are a number of factors you need to consider:
1) What is the value of the product being advertised? (ie, how much money will the advertiser make per sale).
2) How much competition is there?
3) How "rich" are the target audience?
4) The number of pageviews per visitor?
5) How established is your site, does it have a good reputation? Is your site an "industry leader" in its field?
Generally, the more the advertiser will make from each sale, the more money they have to spend on advertising in aquiring that sale, thus higher CPM. Increased competition will usually result in higher CPM rates because companies "fight" it out with each other to advertise to their audience, usually the companies with the biggest budget win. An affluent target audience naturally increases the likelyhood of a sale because they will generally have the money available to make a purchase in the first place. Factor 4, the number of page views per visitor is important when selling for direct conversion. More page views per visitor (above 8-12) will decrease your CPM rate, because what is really important is the number of unique visitors that see the advertisement. More uniques will have a higher conversion ratio (assuming the same visitor wont purchase twice). Factor 4 deserves much more than a few sentances than i've given it, but its a complex topic.
Factor 5 is very important. Advertisers want to be associated with good brand websites because (IMO here) there is a psycological perception that if a user has a "warm fuzzy feeling" (an extreme, but even if the user likes) about website AAA, then by associating your brand with that website, the positive perception will "rub-off" on the advertiser. Consumers want to be confident in their purchase decisions, and would much prefer to by from a company they trust and see in a good light, as opposed to making a purchase from a company they distrust/dislike.
Then, there are things that are a little more out of your control:
1) Increased competition, ie, lots of other sites doing the same thing as you. Because advertisers have greater choice in deciding which websites to advertise on, they can demand a lower CPM rate.
2) State of the economy. High unemployment, or financial uncertainty can result in some cases, advertisers less willing to spend on advertising because people are not confident to spend money, thus you have to lower your CPM rates to keep the ad dollars coming in. Of course, you can raise CPM rates when people are spending money, have confidence in the economy, job security etc.
The most I've seen is $.70 CPM paid out by DoubleClick.
I know of sites that make over $250/CPM, so rates can vary enormously. Focus on the above factors, and pay little attention to what everyone else is earning.
Wow ... sites that make over $250/CPM
if you are at liberty to say ... what might they be
: )
a 10% CTR at 2.50$ a click is a 250$ cpm.
you don't need meso. there are tons and tons of things that can get 2.50$/click or more
I was thinking specifically of some sites selling ad's on a CPM basis only, and providing a total for all the ad's on the page. (eg, if you have 3 ad's running, one at the bottom of the page, one at the top, and one on the right, and sell them for $100, $100, and $50 CPM respectivly, then you have an overall page CPM of $250.
What disgust says is also right, 10% CTR @ $2.50/EPC (earnings per click) will give you $250/CPM from one CPC ad block such as adsense.
