Ad Networks, Vertical Ad Networks, and Affiliate Networks by Peter Figueredo

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The basics that every advertiser and publisher should know

I recently attended ad:tech San Francisco, which boasted nearly 15k attendees. I enjoyed catching up with old friends, having brainstorming sessions over drinks, and even accepting an ad:tech finalist award for “Best Affiliate Marketing Campaign” (congrats to Schaaf Consulting who was the category winner).

However, my major take away from the conference was that our industry is flooded with affiliate networks, ad networks, and vertical ad networks, as evidenced by the volume of booths in the exhibit hall claiming to be the leading network. While the growth in the ad network space is certainly not new, it has exploded over the past 12-18 months.

The growth of vertical ad networks makes lots of sense, since many advertisers are frequently looking to tap into relevant niche websites. Where ad networks include a broad mix of many websites (for example, advertising.com), vertical ad networks are much smaller, but highly targeted to particular content areas (for example, traveladnetwork.com).

Why Should You Care?

Publishers need to cut through the noise and decide which type of network (or combination thereof) to associate themselves with. Advertisers need to build strategies to effectively utilize an optimal mix of these marketing channels.

Value to Publishers

All three of these marketing channels offer publishers access to many leading advertisers through a system that streamlines the process of:

• finding advertisers
• launching campaigns
• tracking performance
• receiving payments

Where they are different requires a closer look:

Value to Advertisers

The ability to easily run ad campaigns across a multitude of websites speaks to the scale offered by these channels and highlights one key advertiser benefit offered by these marketing channels.

Many sites that appear in these marketing channels would never make it to a media plan on their own, because of their limited audience and reach. However, they can work with leading advertisers through these channels and reap the rewards of those relationships.

Here are some differences:

Summing Up

If you decide to explore any of these channels, do your homework first. While there are a number of benefits in doing so, there are also pitfalls, such as how to ensure your ad network buys do not poach your affiliates etc., but I will save those for future articles.

Peter Figueredo is the CEO and Co-Founder of NETexponent, a performance marketing agency that is efficient, evolving, and ethical. Their suite of services includes Affiliate Marketing Management, Media Partnerships, and PPC Search Marketing.

Download issue 1 of FeedFront at http://feedfront.com/feedfront-issue1.pdf.