Publishing companies constantly look for ways to monetize their website traffic. Selling ad space on the website is one way to get a fixed income for many publishers.
You can choose an ad network to simplify your advertisement methods and create brand awareness. With top-websites facing cut-throat competition to generate revenue via web pages, these networks come as a blessing in disguise.
Choosing the right ad networks plays a vital role in publishing an effective advertisement.
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What does an Ad Network do?
An online advertising company centrally acts as an arbitrator between publishers and advertising agencies. They help advertisers to publish their ads on a rented space provided by publishing companies. The space is called an ad inventory.
Digital ad networks use a central server to display online commercials to end-users. They use intelligent tools for targeting, tracking, and recording user behavior and likes. It is one of the essential means of digital media marketing used by multiple organizations.
According to reports, Google and Facebook hold the largest share of total money spent in the US for digital ads, with 37.2 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively.
Types of Advertising Networks
As an ad publisher, it is essential to understand the different types of digital advertising networks and their uses. It will help to place your commercial at the right place where you can target your desired audience.
Blind Networks
It is a traditional form of advertising where the ad agencies cannot choose their ad space from the inventory. The only function here is to get maximum clicks from online users without proper targeting.
Horizontal Networks
These ad networks are similar to blind networks, except for these standard features:
- They offer a great variety of publishers to choose from.
- They are easy to enter, although with weak targeting tools.
Horizontal networks work only as a CPC (Cost Per Click) model. Publishers get money only when an ad is clicked to view.
Vertical Networks
This next generation of advertising networks offers great targeting opportunities for advertisers. You can choose your publishers from a narrowed choice in a specific genre, for example, traveling, sports, lifestyle, automobiles, and others.
These networks are the best choice for advertisers as they can reach a more broad audience who can turn into potential customers.
Premium Ad Networks
These advertising networks work with top-class organizations and some of the best publishing websites on the internet. They offer paid space for multinational agencies like Forbes, Investopedia, MSN news, and others.
Premium networks are expensive but can generate a lot of organic traffic to the website. It is equally beneficial for both the publisher and advertising company with a higher return on investment.
According to the traffic generated to a web page, ad networks can also be classified into first and second tiers.
The first-tier networks include search engines like Bing and Google AdSense. They are experienced players in the advertising field. They are associated with the maximum number of publishers and ad agencies in the world.
Second-tier networks are smaller in size. They supply ad space to startups and small-scale organizations.
Another common type of advertising network is mobile networks. They use video ads that are suitable for mobile devices.
How Do Advertising Networks Work?
Now that you know what an ad network firm does read on how these companies work in the digital marketing world.
Gathering Publishers
The first step for an ad network to start working is accumulating publishers interested in renting or selling ad space. Most networks use data analytical tools to find the best performing online websites and publishing companies and list them in a directory.
Each publisher can access a personalized dashboard where they can see their ad performance and revenue generation.
Advertisers Select Ad Space
In the second step, advertisers select ad space in relevant publisher web pages. Advertising networks offer them software to set up campaigns and select ad inventories. Advertisers are provided with a wide range of options based on their search criteria, including a budget, target audience, and ad frequency.
Matchmaking
Automated matching happens in an auction system. Advertising agencies bid for the best ad space from premium web pages and publishers.
Once a match is made, the publisher can generate revenue based on CPC, Cost Per Mile (CPM), or Cost Per View (CPV) according to the tracking mechanism.
Campaign Management
Most networks offer a campaign management panel where advertisers create or modify their advertising campaigns.
It provides details like inventory management according to ad space requirements and budget pricing models.
Advertising companies can also track their ad performance with real-time tools. Publishers can also benefit from tracking their ad revenue from specific commercials that run on their webpage.
Conclusion
Advertising networks have become an indispensable part of digital marketing strategies for many companies. It helps them to market their products and services via top-rated publishers and reputed websites.
