The Age of the Ad Networks
By David Fishman

Recently I have been involved in researching available ad networks. It appears the resurgence of Internet marketing is leading to the renaissance of an unlikely model -- the humble online ad network. This time around, though, networks go beyond the banner-based, content-targeted model familiar to digital marketers.

Some major shifts are occurring dependant upon the type of media an advertiser is looking to purchase. Looking back to just a few years ago, one can see that companies like Undertone Networks had a captive market on pop advertising. However, with the proliferation of pop blockers the client side application model has taken over the pop market. Another major shift is towards contextual based or behavioral based ads. Even Googles AdSense is offering contextual ad’s. The search giant added as early as 2004 .GIF and .JPG banner capabilities, a move that makes its network of small to mid-sized sites look a lot like yesteryear's traditional banner networks.

Meanwhile, behavioral marketing players are building a formidable ad network to compete for search dollars. All of the behavioral marketers and products mimic, in some form, the model popularized by Google's AdSense and Overture's ContentMatch, but this time it is targeting by behavior rather than by context.

Recognizing the competitive threat from behavioral targeting and performance-based players, several veteran ad networks have also begun to expand the range of targeting options available to customers. For example 24/7 Real Media, one of the survivors of the network business, has strong behavioral targeting capabilities. BlueLithium, which launched in January of 2004, and recently announced a major influx of funding has a client side application along with all the bells and whistles offered by older ad networks.

With all the news in the network business, The Confidential decided the time was right for an overview. We contacted a number of major ad networks to obtain their pricing models, targeting methods, network profiles and other details. Of course, our overview undoubtedly misses some players.

The result below:

Network	Pricing	Targeting	Network Profile	Creative Type	Self Service?
24/7 Real Media	Mostly CPM	Contextual, and behavioral	950 sites, approximately 50 of which are large sites	IAB standard units, including rich media	No
Advertising.com	CPA	*	Network includes Associated Press, Billboard.com, eUniverse and KnightRidder	IAB standard units, including rich media	No
180 Solutions	CPV auction	Behavioral, contextual and demographic	Client side application based on Web bar actiuvity	General landing page	Yes
BlueLithium	Mostly PPC; some CPM	Contextual of BlueTheory targeting	Around 1000 sites	IAB standard units, including rich media	Yes
Burst!	Mostly CPM; PPC available for some campaigns.	Contextual, with some demographic targeting	Approximately 2,000 sites across 477 channels; mid-sized publishers represent the core of the network	IAB standard units and text ads	No
Claria	CPM, CPC	Behavioral	Approximately 50,000,000 client side applications	IAB standard units, including rich media	No
Fastclick	CPM, PPC and CPA	Contextual, by 18 content categories, as well as by geography, bandwidth, daypart and other factors	6,500 active sites, mostly small publishers but large ones as well	IAB standard units, including rich media	yes, with limitations
Google AdSense	PPC auction	Contextual	Thousands of small- to mid-sized publishers and a few large ones	Text and banner ads	Yes
Kanoodle.com ContextTarget	PPC auction	Contextual, using topic matches	Sites include MSNBC.com, CBSMarketWatch.com and TheMotleyFool.com	Text ads, with the option of including a logo	Yes
Max Online	CPM	Contextual	Approximately 1,000 sites	IAB standard units, including rich media	No
Overture Content Match	PPC auction	Contextual	Several large publishers (most notably MSN) and numerous verticals	Text ads	Choose from self or managed service
Tacoda AudienceMatch	PPC auction	Behavioral, demographic	Predominantly large sites; full profile not yet released	Text ads	Yes
Tribal Fusion	CPM, sponsorships	Contextual, plus geotargeting and dayparting	700 publishers, with a wide reach	IAB standard units, including rich media	No
ValueClick Media	CPM and PPC	Contextual, by 17 channels; behavioral, geographic, demographic,day-part and other targeting options also available	Portals, vertical sites and niche publishers; 120 million unique users per month worldwide	IAB standard units, including rich media	No

 

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David Fishman
dfishman@wrpmedia.com