Re: Ouch! - From 60% to 40%

From: V. Campbell <v.campbell_at_websponsorzone.com>
Date: Wed 17 Jan 2001 21:42:32 -0500

BRANDI JASMINE <brandi_at_brandijasmine.com> WROTE:
> I've looked at quite a few "advertising
> aggregators" as I call them, and on top
> of the low pay rates they are offering
> there is a little clause that says if
> they don't sell the inventory, they can
> promote their service on my site with no
> compensation to me!

Those are also known as "defaults," and
they are a normal part of the deal for
small publishers running CPM banners.

> I'm sorry, but I'm not giving anyone my
> "measly" 150,000 page-views a month
> without some kind of compensation.

The networks do *not* intend to send
through 100% defaults. The actual
percentage will depend on things like
how many advertisers they have at the
moment, how many publishers they have
with how much inventory, frequency
capping (i.e. trying to avoid showing
the same banner too often to each unique
visitor), etc, etc. They may also
use an individual publisher's CTR to
reward better performing sites with more
paid ads and less defaults.

> There is no motivation for them to sell
> ads for me if they can stick their house
> banners there free of charge.

Of course they have motivation. If they
sent through 100% defaults to everyone
all the time, the publishers would simply
go elsewhere. And the networks' profits (or
at least earnings) come from taking a cut
of what the advertisers pay. Fewer actual
paying advertisers means less money for
the network. And the whole point of
sending through house ads for the network,
is to try to get more paying advertisers.

> I am still looking for a good advertising
> partner - any recommendations?

Forget about finding a CPM banner network
that will send a paying ad through for
each and every page view. However, some
networks allow publishers to redirect the
unpaid defaults to another destination,
like another network. So if the first
network doesn't have a paying ad to show
at that moment, then instead of an unpaid
house ad, the other network will be called
up, giving another chance to have a paid
ad come through for that particular
impression. Some publishers have three
networks chained like this. On one of my
sites, I use two networks, and when they
both have defaults, the second one is
redirected to a banner rotation script
running on my server space, with various
pay-per-sale affiliate program banners.

Burst Media and FastClick both allow
redirection of defaults. You can find
a list of ad networks on the site in my
.sig.

> Also I am sure this falls under "FAQ" -
> but does anyone know what the going rates
> for banner ads are at present? I have been
> quoted everywhere from $5 to $20 CPM, but
> was looking for a more definitive source.

The "average" CPM across all sites running
advertising doesn't necessarily mean much
for a small publisher. There are the usual
business factors of seller desperation (i.e.
publisher willingness to accept low rates
that may be a fraction of their officially
stated rate card) what the buyers think/hope
they can get away with (i.e. how little can
an advertiser pay), the specific advertisers
and sites involved, CPM vs CPC campaigns,
networks/third-party-servers taking their cut,
economies of scale, etc, etc. There is also
the issue of targeted vs run-of-network
campaigns, and negotiations for each campaign.

Don't be surprised to see a campaign with
a decent rate only sending maybe ten
impressions per day.

Don't be suprised if you end up showing
a *lot* of banners netting you fifty cents
CPM.

Don't be surprised if it gets worse than
that.

-V. Campbell

Web Sponsor Zone
http://www.websponsorzone.com/
Internet Advertising Directory





Received on Wed Jan 17 2001 - 20:42:32 CST