How much would you ask for ads space

[Zygoot]

Can anybody help me?

What is a good price for one month of 468*60 or 120*600 banner advertising on a hardware & technology site which gets about 70,000 hits a month?

Thanks

[ccobb]

I have been doing some research for my company on banner pricing. We have seven websites with about 2.2 million hits monthly between the sites. Our internet sales are down and my contention is that our CPM is too high. We do not do CPC. So far, I am finding my initial assessment to be true but convincing the owner will be another story.
To answer your question...I think around $10 to $15 CPM would not be too far off. So far in my research, the average CPM is at $25 CPM. But, you know your website better than anyone and with 70,000 hits per month. $15 CPM would generate a max of $1050 in internet sales. Just some thoughts.

[Zygoot]

Well the 'problem' is that I have received an e-mail from an advertising firm today.

They have asked me to give them my prices, but I do not really know how much my ads space would be worth.

[ccobb]

My opinion...figure out your inventory...how many banners of the 70,000 hits would be 486 by 60...and how many for the other size. Then price it accordingly. An agency will be usally ask about an agency discount which usually is about 15% which means that if you charge 20 dollars for 1000 banners...they will keep 3 dollars of it. Some agencies might call it a camera-ready artwork discount because they will provide the banner...you do not have to make it. And you may even offer a prepay discount...where they pay before the banner starts on your website..usually the standard pre-pay discount is 5 percent. It is worth it if they pay upfront...saves you money in the long run...if they should ask for it. You will have to provide them with a detailed listings of each time the banner ran...on what day, what times the banner ran and such.
If you have any other questions...please ask.

[pardo]

ccobb, I'm also really curious about targetted traffic CPM-rates. Will the average $ 25,- CPM also go for niche directory sites with targetted traffic? I was offered [$0.10 CPM net to $0.60 CPM net] this week and that's quite another story. I answered them that 300.000 page views will drive only $ 30,- in the worst case and they operated on a 50/50 base. Madness, my first reaction was to make a proposal to the best brand in our market and offer them site exlusiveness sponsorship for $ 60,- / month.

That would increase my profit with 200% ;)

Are there any ad network agencies around looking for small but good targetted websites. it seems like the big ones don't care and only want to make big numbers and never care about the publishers (from whom they exist).

Maybe I start in this niche and start an online ad agency focussed on small sites with qualified traffic instead of big size with 'everybody on board'. What is a fair % of the money for an ad company to give away? I think a publisher/ad-network rate of 75/25 will be a good %...

[ccobb]

Pardo...some really good questions.
First, I have only dealt with one advertising agency that deals exclusively with banner advertising/internet advertising. It was an outfit from New York. They were interested in using us as a part of a big campaign for one of their clients. They wanted our rate card and other information. They tried to get a cheaper rate. We did not drop our CPM so we were not part of the buy. Our biggest success has been dealing directly with the client and not an agency.
Now, regarding targeted CPM. I think it is a joke and an insult for an agency to offer such a cheap CPM to you. But, having said that, if you do not have any business... and I am not saying you do or not, as you did not mention it in your post...then some business is better than no business at all. I certainly would fight for the .60 CPM and not the lower rate.
A couple of questions...do you have an established rate card? Does the rate card include items such as sponsorship, or exclusivity? You can print up a simple rate card just to have something established so an agency or anyone else cannot jack you around by going to a rock bottom rate request.
As far as I know..there is no agencies willing to take on samll website in a group to sell their wares to a particular client. So, if you are interested...the field might be wide open. I think (just my opinion) what ruins the opportunites for an agency to deal with a group of small websites is how many affiliate programs are available by merchants..so those merchants would rather offer the affiliate program versus working through an agency.
Again, just my thoughts.