Ads? huh?

October 31, 2007 11:57 AM

How do I handle advertising requests? They scare me.

I have a blog that has been around for a few years and has reasonable traffic, especially in its niche. Up until now I have only monetized it via Google Adsense and Text Link Ads. If someone asked directly if they could advertise on the site directly, I've always referred them to Text Link Ads.

But now it seems that TLA may not be a viable options (for details search for 'Google and 'text link ads') and I'm at a loss as to what to do with those requests, which come maybe once a month or so. I haven't a clue about selling ads. I have the technical knowledge to set up some kind of ad serving system but it's the sales part that has me stumped. I also don't really want to spend that much time with the ads - I'm a writer, not a marketroid.

What should I do? Should I bite the bullet and set up my own ad server? Is there anything I can read to learn how to set rates and things? Should I find another ad selling service (if so, which one?) I've already ignored a couple of recent requests because I don't know what to say back to them.

posted by derMax to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Why not just use adbrite or, umm... oh God, the other one I cannot remember because my brain is officially falling out my ear. (It will come to me eventually.)

I've used them both on various sites and they're great - best of all (for you) you set them up once and then they are self-service for anyone who wants to advertise on your site.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:05 PM on October 31, 2007

Oh, right, BlogAds was the other one.

They'll both put a link on your site that allows your potential advertiser to click through, see the rates, book an ad run, pay for it, and upload their ad. They will also handle the payment processing and cut you monthly checks.

These systems work very well for people like you who have occasional waiting advertisers specifically looking to get on your site. The fact they are a bit shite for advertisers trolling through listings looking for ad venues is not relevant to you, because your sales flow is working the other direction.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:16 PM on October 31, 2007

If you're already running AdSense then you could consider asking them to use Google AdWords site targeting.

'Marketroid' is a needlessly offensive term, btw.
posted by StephenF at 5:11 PM on October 31, 2007

Sorry, I didn't realize marketroid was offensive. (My native language is not English and we use it around here all the time with no offense ment.)

I guess I was wondering if there is any benefit al all to going it alone at all, as opposed to going with the ad selling services.
posted by derMax at 3:59 AM on November 1, 2007

If I may derail my own question a little, I'm quite upset about the whole TLA mess. When I went with that instead of other options, the word was positive about text ads instead of big fugly banner ads. Now we may or may not be penalized for going with the small unobstrusive ad option. (I'm also upset that there seems to be no definite answer from any official source as to whether TLA are really bad.)

So, I am really trying to looking for an option were I won't get burned this time I suppose.

(Yes I know no ads is an option, but it doesn't hurt to get a little compensation for the hundreds of hours of work I put into a site that seems to be useful to a lot of people.)
posted by derMax at 4:10 AM on November 1, 2007

This may sound ridiculous, and it may even be ridiculous, but you could do it in a real home-grown way like I used to do it back in the days before google.

I had a semi popular site (which now earns $100-$200/month now using Google Ads, so it's not huge but it does pay for its own hosting and a little bit of my time) and advertisers simply sent me a check for $30/month to have a spot in a random banner ad (468x60-ish) placement. These days I know that method sounds sooo passé. :) But I mean, you *could* say something like, look, this block of space earns me $X per month using the Google ads, so if you want a space of that size, you can have it all to yourself for that amount. Let's set up a PayPal payment schedule.

Whether this comes across as credible depends on your site, your readership, and you, but anyway, I just thought I'd throw it out there. All the businesses I used to host ads for were small businesses and they understood that I was just one girl running a web site, and it was totally fine. (Well, that was pretty much the only way to do it anyway. At least now they can pay you via PayPal, etc.)

Eventually I learned how to keep track of how many click-thrus the ads were getting, but nobody ever demanded to know such info. Those who wanted to know knew how to check their referral logs.
posted by iguanapolitico at 6:38 AM on November 1, 2007

iguanapolitico, I'm inclined to go in that direction. I do know how to set up an ad rotation thing, but your method sounds the most straightforward so perhaps I'll just do that. Thanks.

(who knew that we might go back to the good old graphical banner ad?)
posted by derMax at 9:14 AM on November 1, 2007