he Online Advertisin

LUE BOO
The Authoritative Guide to
Ad Networks and Exchanges

From the
Publisher of
Revenue
Performance
 THE ONLINE ADVERTISING
BLUE BOOK Contents
THE AUTHORITATIVE GUIDE TO
AD NETWORKS AND EXCHANGES Sponsored Section:
Top 20 Performance
Marketing Networks 4 Online Advertising Blue Book
EDITOR
Q&As
Chris Trayhorn

ART DIRECTOR The Ad Network Jason Oates

David Witcomb
Shuffle 6 NETMARGIN
ASSISTANT EDITOR
As ad networks keep proliferating,
Casting a Light on
Sofia D. Marin
some industry watchers are Network Transparency 11
asking whether there is an ad
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS network bubble and whether
Zephrin Lasker, Waikit Lau consolidation will keep it from George Hansen
popping. Digital River
PROOFREADER World-Class
Marianne Rogoff
Ecommerce Platforms 12
To advertise, subscribe or obtain reprints, call
415-371-8800, or visit: revenue.mThink.com

Ari Bluman
The Online Advertising Blue Book
is published by mThink
It’s About Forging
55 New Montgomery, Suite 216
San Francisco, CA 94105
Relationships 14
White Paper:
Knowledge With Passion: mThink
publishes thought leadership focused
Video Networks Try Jennifer Morgan
on the convergence of technology to Change Minds 22 Collective
and business. Quality and efficiency
Waikit Lau
CHAIRMAN AND CEO
are the keys 15
Online video ad networks must
Chris Trayhorn
move beyond the click to pry open
advertisers’ purses for online
ADVERTISING/SALES DIRECTOR
video advertising.
Galip Talegon
Tobias Siegel Hyperbidder
SALES MANAGER Casting a Light on
Kelly Lemos Network Transparency 16
MARKETING DIRECTOR
Yvonne Schellerup
Rob Rasko
IT MANAGER
Sterling Phillips Widening the Base
COMPTROLLER
Through Verticals 18
White Paper:
Julienne Riveong
Trailblazing in the Jim Waltz
Cost-per-Lead
Big Network Notices
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the
Universe 24
the Small Things 19
content of this publication, the publisher will accept no respon-
sibility for any errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage, Zephrin Lasker
consequential or otherwise, suffered as a result of any mate-
rial published here. The information published in The Online Wikia’s CEO tells what’s wrong
Advertising Blue Book is not intended as a substitute for legal,
accounting, tax or other professional advice. The publisher as- with our notion of performance- Jonathan Epstein
sumes no responsibility for statements made by advertisers in based advertising and user-
business competition. All editorial submissions, whether solicited
or unsolicited, become the property of mThink. Statements and generated content.
The Game Is the Thing 20
opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of The On-
line Advertising Blue Book, mThink, its affiliates, advertisers or
any other agent. The names “Revenue Performance” “The Online
Advertising Blue Book” and the phrase “Super-Affiliate Insights”
are the intellectual property of mThink. The entire content of this Joelle Kaufman
publication is protected by copyright; full details are available
through the publisher. All rights reserved. These trademarks or
copyright materials may not be used in any media for any purpose
Protecting the Brand 21
without the express written consent of mThink.
© 2009 mThink

ISSN 1549-7615

Cover Image: © Zabiamdeve | Dreamstime.com

The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com 1

 The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK

Seven of the Leading Mobile Ad Networks

What Does It All Mean? Network Name URL Representative Brands
The recession has led many advertis- Advertising.com www.advertising.com Sony, Ford, Exxon
ers to focus more of their spend on per- InMobi inmobi.com Nokia, Samsung, Honda
formance marketing due of the relative AdMob www.admob.com Toyota, Disney, AmEx
ease of calculating and achieving a de- Madhouse www.madhouse.cn McDonald’s, Visa, Volvo
sired level of ROI. Here we outline just
Pudding Media www.puddingmedia.com Nestle, Coca-Cola, BMW
a few of the key terms that fly around
this space. JumpTap www.jumptap.com Pepsi, Intel, VW
Quattro Wireless www.quattrowireless.com AT&T, CBS, Ford
CPA – Cost Per Action
The advertiser pays every time a partic-
ular action is completed. Perfect for sales- Five of the Leading Video Ad Networks
oriented offers and has hit the headlines Network Name URL Claim to Fame
over the last few months as a result of the Tremor Media www.tremormedia.com Claims 156 million unique
controversial Acai berry and tooth- whit- visitors per month
ening continuity offers that flooded the ScanScout www.scanscout.com Premium in-stream video
Internet. network
SpotXchange www.spotxchange.com Recently cracked top 20 in
CPL – Cost per lead comScore’s Video Metrix
A subset of CPA, CPL pays just for lead- YuMe www.yume.com Claims to be the largest
generation via form submission with dedicated video ad
no actual sale taking place. This allows network
much higher volumes of completed ac- BrightRoll www.brightroll.com Clients include Walmart,
Visa, HP and Sony
tions to be achieved, but also facilitates
fraud because it’s difficult to be certain
what the publisher is actually displaying Six of the Leading Contextual Ad Networks
on the web site from which the lead is
generated. CPL is hugely popular with Network Name URL Claim to Fame
financial services companies. Google AdSense www.google.com/adsense The dominant force in
contextual advertising
CPS - Cost Per Sale Microsoft adcenter.microsoft.com Microsoft+Bing+Yahoo =
AdCenter interesting times ahead
The publisher or affiliate is paid on the
basis of the number of sales that are Kontera www.kontera.com In-text advertising
generated by a particular offer. Track- Chitika chitika.com Claims 4th largest search
ing sales can be difficult and tracking traffic inventory
cookies, pixels and codes are all subject AOL Advertising advertising.aol.com Formerly Quigo’s AdSonar
to problems associated with toolbars, Vibrant Media www.vibrantmedia.com In-text advertising
cookie stuffing and ad-ware.

Two-Tier Programs Six Interesting Ad Exchanges

Some merchants and networks offer a Network Name URL Claim to Fame
two-tier commission structure designed
Right Media www.rightmedia.com Yahoo’s play in the ad
to incentivize super-affiliates to recruit exchange business
others affiliates into the program. This OpenX Market www.openx.org Links to publishers using
leverages the higher commission that OpenX open-source ad
the super- affiliate would earn and allows server
him/her to be rewarded for the sales and Hyperbidder www.hyperbidder.com Proprietary auction
leads generated by the sub-affiliate. Two- platform with a twist
tier programs have been partly respon- LeadPile www.leadpile.com Focuses solely on real-time,
sible for the creation of many new CPA exclusive leads
networks as super- affiliates have built DoubleClick www.doubleclick.com Owned by Google and
up a group of sub-affiliates and then Ad Exchange making big inroads
launched a new network around them. AdBrite www.adbrite.com Serves 295 million
impresions a day

2 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges

 For a comprehensive list of advertising
Editor’s Letter networks of every type and for analysis,
news and white papers go to
bluebook.mthink.com
True Blue NOW!
In digital marketing, the sky’s the limit and the sky Technology will be-
is blue. That’s what the numbers seem to say, with come ever more important,
400-plus ad networks plugging along and digital both as advertisers and agencies
agencies and display ad companies catching clients demand more control and greater
like they were dew off the heather. The online ad- transparency, and as advances are
vertising network is the engine that could – and will made with interoperability and exchange
continue to chug along. In this recovering economy, of data between the various parties. Prices
the online advertising universe has taken only the are going to be set in real-time, invento-
smallest of hits. You can all rest easy now, right? No ries are going to be sliced and diced a
way. The tough climb is yet to come. As agencies get million ways, and campaign analytics
their own in-house networks up, the real competi- and management tools are
tion begins. As smaller, yet successful, networks get going to become increas-
bought by larger networks, the race for business ingly sophisticated.
begins. As oversight creeps into the daily lives of We have tried in
networks, so goes the wild-west attitude. this launch edition
What all this means to ad networks, large and to introduce ideas
small, depends on who you talk to. In this first issue and concepts; to
of the Online Advertising Blue Book, we introduce you begin a conversa-
to some of the inspirational players and the trends tion. The conversa-
to look out for. Video ad networks, for example, are tion continues at
up and coming, yet flying under the radar – until bluebook.mthink.
now. Networks that deal in managing your network com, where
relationships are beginning to form. And while there if you run
is talk of an ad network bubble, some predict there your own
is enough market for thousands of ad networks and network
not just hundreds. you can
We also talked candidly to some of the leaders at claim
networks – those who manage ads in video games, it and
those who deal only in vertical Web properties, and fill out
those who have seen it all and are expecting an a complete
industry shakeout. Some industry watchers are pos- network profile to
ing the question, are ad networks dying? Yes, they promote your orga-
say, some ad networks are dying, but the industry is nization’s capabili-
hardly facing extinction. Some say that the need for ties to our readers.
acquisition is obvious, and that the power to make For agencies and
advertisers and publishers more successful lies in advertisers the web site
the control of ad servers and ad networks. is an invaluable resource for
Whoever holds all the marbles is not necessarily finding new solutions partners
the winner. Witness the emergence of ad exchanges and tracking changes in the industry. And for
that provide direct access to buyers, making some publishers seeking to optimize their advertising
sales forces redundant. Ad exchanges, some say, will and maximize revenues, bluebook.mthink.com is
make it easy for firms to create an ad network and the place to learn more.
then quickly and inexpensively aggregate unsold For advertiser and agency, for publisher and affili-
inventory. Exchanges can find cheap inventory very ate, for network and exchange, the future is here.
quickly and are efficient at doing it. It is uncertain The future is exciting. The future is blue.
whether exchanges will threaten or enhance the life
of ad networks.
Most ad networks know they have challenges
ahead. As the economy grows more robust, the
Welcome to the future. Welcome to
networks that don’t innovate, acquire or mature will
the Online Advertising BLUE BOOK.
© Bobb | Dreamstime.com

see clouds on the horizon.

The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com 3

 The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK

The Top 20 Performance Marketing Networks & Exchanges

Network URL Why we like them

1 MediaTrust www.mediatrust.com Recently named the 9th fastest growing private company in the USA by Inc.
magazine - several other networks here appear on the Inc. 500 - Peter Bordes’
MediaTrust seems to be able to do no wrong. It has a great reputation, he
leads admirably and their advertisers and publishers stick around. What’s not
to like?
2 ShareASale www.shareasale.com Brian Littleton is a legend in the affiliate marketing community and his network
reflects his reputation with 2,500 merchants and multiple industry awards.
3 oneNetworkDirect www.onenetworkdirect.com Digital River’s oneNetworkDirect is the leader in software sales with the
industry’s best network technology and offices worldwide.
4 Hydra Network www.hydranetwork.com On the Inc. 500 list three years running, Hydra is one of the biggest CPA
networks and is well regarded by everybody we know. A top network.
5 Epic Advertising www.epicadvertising.com Epic has grown remarkably and now claims 45,000+ publishers, 1,400
advertisers with coming traffic from over 200 countries.
6 CPX Interactive www.cpxinteractive.com Recently ranked #154 on Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest growing companies
in the USA. Claims 30 billion impressions per month across 60+ countries.
7 IntegraClick/ clickbooth.com Ranked #5 on the Inc. 500 list. ClickBooth has proven itself to publishers and
ClickBooth advertisers over the last couple of years and is now regarded as one of the
industry leaders. Focuses on exclusive offers.
8 Commission www.cj.com The biggest affiliate network in the USA. Part of ValueClick. One of the Big
Junction Three. Presents the CJYou Awards every year.
9 NeverBlue www.neverblue.com A Canadian network that is strong in lead-gen worldwide. Popular with high-
performing affiliates.
10 LeadPile www.leadpile.com LeadPile is a lead exchange rather than a network. It finds its place in this list
because of its size, growth and the simplicity it offers both buyers and sellers
of leads.
11 buy.at www.buy.at The affiliate marketing arm of AOL’s Advertising.com unit. Global reach.
12 LinkShare www.linkshare.com LinkShare’s ownership by the Japanese company Rakuten shows itself in their
dedicated networks for the UK, Canda and Japan, and their strong foreign
language and currency capabilities.
13 Pepperjam www.pepperjamnetwork.com Kris Jones has built Pepperjam into an online marketing powerhouse offering a
wide range of interactive agency services.
14 zanox www.zanox.com Europe’s biggest affiliate network. Part of the Axel Springer news/magazine
media group in Germany.
15 COPEAC www.copeac.com Ranked #320 on the Inc. 500 list. Part of Intermark Media. Strong in lead-gen.
Fast growing with 30,000 affiliates claimed.
16 Google Affiliate www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork Known as Doubleclick Performics prior to Google’s acquisition in 2007, the
Network Google Affiliate Network is Google’s affiliate network. What else is there
to say?
17 MarketLeverage www.marketleverage.com A CPA network popular with affiliates, Market Leverage has built itself a good
reputation for result. Produces MLTV, a TV show for affiliate marketers.
18 ClickBank www.clickbank.com This venerable affiliate network that specializes in digital, downloadable
products is now 10 years old and still going strong.Every publisher should have
a ClickBank account.
19 Max Bounty www.maxbounty.com A smaller network that gets a lot of play with bigger affiliates and offers
advertisers a cost-effective CPA solution.
20 Media Whiz www.mediawhiz.com 30,000 publishers, 3,000 advertisers, and a claimed $100 million in publisher
payments in 2007. Media Whiz is strong in email and lead-gen.

4 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges

 The 2009 BLUE BOOK Top 20 Ranking:
Performance Marketing
Working With
Performance
Marketing Networks
The number of performance market-
ing networks has gone through the
roof in the last year as the technology
needed has become more accessible.
There’s no reason not to work with sev-
eral networks at once but you should
bear the following points in mind;
For publishers:
• Talk to one of the affiliate managers.
They’re the people who can really
make a difference to your earning
capacity.
• Examine their payment policies and
check out the forums to see if there
have been any payment problems.
• Compare their offers to others in
the industry. The highest paying
offer isn’t always the best. Conver-
sions are what counts.
• Do a reputation check by talking to
industry colleagues. There are lots
of ways networks can rip off their
affiliates, so be aware.
For advertisers:
• The rule of thumb is that CPS gives
you higher quality, CPA greater
quantity. All things being equal the
difference should simply depend on
your conversion rate.
• Check everything you can: appli-
cants, lead quality, sub-IDs, ROI by
publisher, etc. Don’t rely just on the
network to pick up problems.
• Look at the network’s fraud preven-
tion systems and at the staff running
them. Fraud is widely prevalent and
you need a network that is alert and
protecting your interests.
• Look at where the traffic is coming
from and what control you have
over it. Be careful of networks that
are simply acting as brokers or that
are buying cheap traffic from un-
known sources.
What Is The Blue Book 2009
Top 20 Ranking?
As we put this guide to ad networks and exchanges the single biggest
problem that advertisers and publishers expressed to us was the difficulty
of finding and selecting good partners.
There’s no shortage of ad networks and exchanges from which to choose.
At last count we personally knew of well over 400 and we are reliably in-
formed that there are a few hundred others in private beta, running as mer-
chant networks or that are simply below the radar. Given the plethora of
options, how to decide?
The Blue Book Top 20 is designed to provide some of the answers, by ag-
gregating expert views, traffic data, measures of industry influence and as
many other pieces of information as we could gather. The result has gener-
ated a lot of conversations and disagreements in our office but represents
our view of the best networks and exchanges around.
Why Performance Marketing?
Rather than try and include every type of network, we chose for our
launch edition to focus on performance marketing networks and exchanges.
Performance marketing has seen remarkable growth in the last couple of
years, driven by VC monies that have streamed into the online advertising
sector, cheaper platform software and a recession that has resulted in ad
budgets leaning heavily towards the assurance of ROI that performance
marketing provides.
The ease of setting up a new CPA network has led to dozens of new net-
works being set up, almost always by ex-employees from the big affiliate
networks or by super-affiliates seeking to leverage their reputation and in-
dustry contacts into a larger more profitable business with higher margins.
How we chose the 2009
BLUE BOOK Top 20
To develop the first ever Blue Book ranking of the Top 20 Performance
Marketing Networks we brought together both publicly and privately avail-
able data to arrive at an initial list. We then mixed in an evaluation of overall
industry influence and reputation as indicated by a broad sampling of online
news and social media together with opinions garnered from a variety of in-
dustry experts as well as the assessment of Blue Book staff and advisors.
This list will be adjusted over time. Please visit BlueBook.mThink.com to
give your opinion and cast your vote for your favorite network or exchange.
The Online Advertisers BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com 5
 The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK

The Ad Network Shuffle

As ad networks keep proliferating, some industry watchers
are asking whether there is an ad network bubble and whether
consolidation will keep it from popping.
Everyone has an opinion about ad
networks, especially those working
for one of the estimated 400-plus
large and small shops in the U.S.
And these networks do many dif-
ferent things. Vertical ad networks
are different from big, horizontal ad
networks. The behavioral targeting
networks are different from up-and-
coming semantic targeting networks.
If you travel the hushed halls of these
ad networks, the whispers seem to
seep through the walls: The crash is
coming! The crash is coming!
While 2008 and most of 2009 were
considered the worst of times for most
industries during the recent economic
crisis, for the ad world, specifically the
ad network universe, the hurt, experts
predict, will hit in 2010 or 2011. But
even so, there are just as many experts
who say the ad network marketplace is
robust and will continue to be so. Just
look at the sheer number of us, they
say. In fact, a recent survey by Collec-
tive Media found that advertisers and
interactive agencies continue to in-
vest in ad networks. Up to 90 percent
of those surveyed said they want to
work with ad networks this year. That
is about 5 percent more than the past
year. The survey also found that more
than half said they could spend up to
15 percent of their online budgets for
ad networks.
Some disagree that it is all sweet-
ness and light, going as far as to say
there is an ad network bubble – that
no market can sustain the number of
companies all doing essentially the
same thing. Even in the face of the
best earnings, the utter abundance
of ad networks will lead to mergers,
closings, bankruptcy. But that was a
year ago and the ad networks are still
here. In fact, niche ad networks have
raised $1.5 billion in the last five years
from venture capitalists, according to
VentureSource. It also states that the

© Lauratran | Dreamstime.com

6 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges

 Feature

top 25 companies have taken nearly some attention. Most notably, early the bean counters, but what seemed
$1.2 billion of that total. More than last year, ESPN let go of all its ad to irk them more was that the ad net-
three-quarters of that cash has been networks it was working with, saying, works dealt in “remnant” inventory
raised in the past three years. That’s essentially, that it didn’t like the lack and that the automated placement
just new companies and not the more of control it had over the kind of ads of the unsold inventory amounted to
than $250 million that went to Adify, being served. Around the same time, tarnishing the host site’s value. At the
Blue Lithium, Quigo, Tacoda, Third the Washington Post shuttered its time, Martha Stewart Living Omnime-
Screen Media and others. 16-month-old blog ad network, citing dia president Wenda Harris Millard
So, where’s the panic coming from? the “innovation” that was coming. infamously stated that selling Web
There were a few high-profile flame- In these two cases, the ad networks inventory like “pork bellies” would
outs in the last year or so that got may have been underperforming for cheapen brands.
That name-calling did not seem to
hurt the fortunes of ad networks, as
Ad Networks: Venture and Private Equity Investments they continued to see healthy ad
spend. “The market itself can bear
Company Total funding Date of Past 3 Years % Raised in
(in millions) first funding (in millions) past 3 years [hundreds of ad networks], since
there is clearly demand right now
1 Glam Media $124 July '04 $95 76%
which I don’t see diminishing,” said
2 Specific Media $110 June '06 $100 91%
Michael Sprouse, CMO at Epic Ad-
3 Adconion Media Group $86 Jan. '05 $85 99% vertising. “We have believed that the
4 AudienceScience $74 March '00 $0 0% number of ad networks will continue
(Revenue Science)
to grow into the many thousands,”
5 Federated Media $57 June '05 $55 95%
said Paul Edmondson, CEO of Yield-
6 ContextWeb $52 June '04 $40 77%
Build. “Super-large ad networks will
7 Gorilla Nation $50 May '07 $50 100%
prefer to have direct relationships
8 IGA Worldwide $48 Oct. '05 $30 62% with publishers, but will go to ex-
9 Adknowledge $48 March '06 $0 0% changes for some inventory.”
10 AdMob $47 Sept. '06 $43 92% In fact, firms such as eMarketer see
11 Tremor Media $40 Sept. '06 $40 100% no end in sight. It predicts U.S. online
12 Undertone Networks $40 March '08 $40 100% ad spend to exceed $50 billion in 2012.
13 Turn $38 Jan. '05 $23 61% It was $21.1 billion in 2007. That’s the
14 Double Fusion $37 Aug. '04 $26 71% spend on everything online-related,
15 AdBrite $35 Sept. '04 $23 66% including display ads, video, classi-
16 VideoEgg $34 April '05 $30 88% fied, search ads and lead generation,
17 Kontera $33 July '06 $33 100% but not mobile ad spend. Warren Lee,
18 Vibrant Media $32 July '00 $0 0% partner at Canaan Partners, noted
19 Heavy.com $30 Dec. '05 $20 67% two reasons ad networks continue
20 Quattro Wireless $28 May '07 $28 100% to thrive: The hours people spend on-
21 Grab Network $27 Feb. '05 $19 70% line just keep going up – 12 hours per
22 Ripple $26 Aug. '06 $26 100% week, according to a Forrester survey.
23 Collective Media $25 Oct. '07 $25 100% This, of course, encourages online ad
24 Adap.tv $24 Jan. '07 $24 100%
spend. The second reason is that the
number of websites keeps going up.
25 Lotame $23 Feb. '08 $23 100%
This makes it difficult for advertisers
Top 10 Total funding $697 $497
and agencies to know which sites to
Average funding $70 $50
work with. This is where ad networks
Top 25 Total funding $1,168 $878
help out.
Average funding $47 $35
Some believe that ad networks are
All
still riding high simply because agen-
companies Total funding $1,491 $1,139
cies have yet to launch in earnest their
Source: Dow Jones VentureSource own in-house networks. Predictions
state that 2010 and 2011 will be the

The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com 7

 The Ad Network Shuffle

© Lenor | Dreamstime.com

is easier for both advertisers and pub-

challenging years as agencies divert
their spend into their own systems. If
an agency does only in-house work
and sells one-quarter of the inventory
that an outside network did, but at a 10
times better CPM, it is a money-maker.
With online advertising expected to
lishers to fulfill all of their needs on
fewer platforms, while a consolidated
network yields greater leverage of
technology and advertiser/publisher
relationships.”
“So, are ad networks dying?” asked
Julia Casale-Amorim, CMO of Casale
Media. “Yes, some ad networks are
dying, but the species is hardly fac-
ing extinction.” While we haven’t
witnessed any high-profile extermi-
nations, some experts do hear the
sound of the largest ad networks
sharpening their carving knives. “The
impetus for acquisition is obvious,”
said Emily Riley, online advertising
analyst at Jupiter Research. “For the
conglomerates, the potential to im-
prove their portfolio of offerings to
both advertisers and publishers as
well as overpower their competition,
theoretically lies in the control of ad
servers and ad networks.”
In the opinion of Casale-Amorim, the
majority of “these infantile networks
And what comes with panic – con- use the same technology, the same
solidation. “There will no doubt be platforms, and the same approach –
consolidation in the ad network mar- each applying a different ‘sales spin’
ket,” said Dave Martin, vice president to what are essentially identical offer-
of interactive media at Ignite. “Only ings.” She added that many traffic in
the best will survive and they will “air.” And as prices for premium-placed
likely become part of larger media CPM have risen, the selling point of

“SOME BELIEVE THAT AD NETWORKS

ARE STILL RIDING HIGH SIMPLY BECAUSE
AGENCIES HAVE YET TO LAUNCH IN
EARNEST THEIR OWN IN-HOUSE NETWORKS.”
experience continued growth into the
next decade, ad networks doing some
simple math may prove or disprove
their viability. Layoffs, on the other
hand, will be inevitable as networks
that bring in between $20 million and
$40 million and have more than 100
employees find they simply can’t pay
that many people with what they bring
in. Panic will ensue.
companies who can compliment their
offerings with cost-effective reach.”
J. P. Morgan’s 2009 investment
guide also predicts the fickle finger
of the merger fates. The guide says,
“We saw large portals make signifi-
cant investments and acquisitions to
strengthen their foothold in the ad
network space. We believe large por-
tals are naturally well positioned, as it
cheap cost-per-thousand diminishes
to the smallest pinprick. If a big player
such as ValueClick wants 25-cent CPM,
why pay for a $10 CPM for premium
placement? “Anyone who’s trying to
tell you that reach is a key differentia-
tor, you need to ask them ‘what else?’
It’s much more complicated than that,”
said Jordan Rohan, managing partner
at Clearmeadow Partners.

8 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges

 NETWORK PROFILE

ClickBank

The J.P. Morgan report put it rather changes. “Going forward, I see two
bluntly: “We expect larger players to emerging trends driving change in
gain share, and we think there may be the near-term,” said John Nardone,
further consolidation among private CEO of [x+1]. “First, ad exchanges
companies. We also see some compa- will provide direct access to buyers,
nies likely closing their business.” reducing the need for a sales force.
The prognosis is not as grim as Second, major agency holding com- Website:
that, not if all the interested players panies like Omnicom and WPP will http://www.clickbank.com
can help keep ad networks plentiful launch private ad networks, as they
and pellucid. Publishers, for example, continue to acquire network infra-
Type:
CPS
don’t want to work with 15 or 20 dif- structure and targeting technology
ferent ad networks and spend the and platforms. They’ll bring a hard- Signup:
time it takes to manage the relation- to-beat combination of inventory ag- http://www.clickbank.com/
ships. In fact, ad network optimiza- gregation and ad targeting capabili- accountSignup.htm
tion is now a legitimate business ties.” # of offers:
venture thanks to the proliferation of Ad exchanges, some say, will make 35,000+
networks. For media buyers, they are it easy for people to create an ad net-
Commission rates:
looking more at results and hard data, work and then quickly and cheaply ag-
1-75%
since the song of the networks’ sales gregate unsold inventory. Exchanges
pitch sounds the same no matter who can find all that cheap inventory very Payment frequency:
they are talking to. Even the economy quickly and are quite efficient and do- Weekly
gets some of the blame, for keeping ing it as long as “quality” is not a con- Payment methods:
the venture capital money at bay, just cern. Since media buyers do not have Check & Direct Deposit
when ad networks need it to grow to time to sort through all the different
Cookie period:
the next level. content, the quality of the placement
60 days
The next phase in the life of ad may suffer. It is undetermined wheth-
networks is undetermined. Some er exchanges will shorten the life of
Description:
consensus involves agencies and ex- ad networks.
ClickBank, the Internet’s premier
retailer of digitally delivered products,
features generous payouts on every
U.S. Online Advertising Spending, 2006-2012 (Billions) sale, robust tools and tracking technol-
ogy, access to more than 35,000 high-
converting products in a broad variety
2006 $16.9 of niches, and a ten year track record
of paying commissions accurately and
2007 $21.1 on time. With more than 26,000 daily
transactions from customers around
2008 $25.9
the world, ClickBank can help you
2009 $30.0 achieve global reach. Sign up and start
earning today without the lengthy
2010 $35.0 contracts and approval processes you
2011 $41.0 dread. If you’re ready to grow your
affiliate marketing business, now is the
2012 $51.0 time to sign up with ClickBank!
Note: eMarketer benchmarks its U.S. online advertising spending projections against
the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB/PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) data, for
which the last full year measured was 2007; online ad data includes categories as Website Home Page Screenshot
defined by IAB/PwC benchmarks – display ads (such as banners), search ads (including
paid listings, contextual text links and paid inclusion), rich media (including video),
classified ads, sponsorships, lead generation (referrals) and e-mail (embedded ads
only); excludes mobile as spending.
Source: eMarketer, March 2008
093013 www.eMarketer.com

The online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com

The Ad Network Shuffle

If consolidation accelerates, some
suggest looking into ad network
profit margins. Rohan noted that
“Burst.com has 47 percent margins
on 116 million uniques, ValueClick
has 45 percent margins. Interme-
context surrounding the online con-
versions. “Typically you don’t know
where all the conversions came from.
Which sites did they visit, how many
impressions before they converted,
these are the kinds of data you need.”
ent environments produce different
results.”
However the wind blows, ad net-
works seem to be here to stay. They
have some righteous defenders, and
growth or consolidation may depend

“AD NETWORKS HAVE SOME

RIGHTEOUS DEFENDERS AND GROWTH OR
CONSOLIDATION MAY DEPEND ON THE
RATE OF MEND TO THE U.S. ECONOMY.”
diaries receive about 45 cents for
every dollar – you’re paying them al-
most half of your spend.” He added
that many ad networks tout their
nonexistent transparency. “Total
transparency would mean that they
transfer terabytes of data to you that
you would have no idea what to do
with,” Rohan said. He said that use-
ful transparency for media buyers
would be data-filtered to tell you the
The Online Publishers Association
(OPA) threw a monkey wrench into
the party in August when it released
a study that basically said ad spend
through ad networks was useless.
The OPA study states that ads placed
through ad networks and portals
earned the smallest change for brand-
ing metrics, and in some cases made
no difference at all. Pam Horan, presi-
dent of OPA, said in the press, “Differ-
on the rate of mend to the U.S. econo-
my. “There are a host of networks that
focus on adding value beyond supply
aggregation in the equation that will
not only exist, but thrive and grow,”
said Michael Katz, president of In-
terClick. “It’s naive to underestimate
networks, which tend to be hotbeds
for innovation. And it’s instructive
that the largest agency-holding com-
panies are all building networks.”

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Q&A: Jason Oates
Casting a Light on
Network Transparency
N etMargin’s VP of Media Services,
Jason Oates, explains how inter-
nal and external transparency aligns
partners and drives performance.
How does transparency help adver-
tisers and affiliates?
When publishers and advertisers
share data with each other, they have
an opportunity to increase profitabil-
ity and improve lead quality, making
the entire system work better. Trans-
parency is vital to building trusted
and prosperous long-term relation-
ships for all stakeholders.
What types of data should be
shared between advertisers and
publishers?
I’ll focus on a few that have the big-
gest impact in the email channel.
Publishers: NetMargin expects
email publishers to provide detailed
stats (e.g., open and click rates) when
testing new creative against estab-
lished controls or top-performing cre-
ative. It’s also helpful if publishers can
provide context around how adver-
tisements are targeted (e.g. list type,
click behavior, demo, age, geo, etc.).
When advertisers share
reporting, it’s easier for
publishers to improve their
targeting and drive higher
eCPMs and payouts from
advertisers.
Advertisers: Advertisers should
provide back-end performance re-
porting by a) Media Channel (e.g.,
email, search and banners) and b)
Source (Publisher or List). Advertis-
ers should be able to share actual
numbers or performance indexes on
things like call center contact rates,
conversion rates, cost per sale, du-
Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
plication rate, charge-back rates, per-
cent U.S. IPs, and percent of leads
falling into primary and secondary
customer targets. Detailed feedback
is vital for publishers to make optimi-
zation decisions.
What are the benefits of sharing
this level of information?
It’s simple: advertisers get higher
quality leads, and publishers gener-
ate more revenue. By sharing creative
performance with design teams, we
can collaborate on developing better
creative, which will improve consumer
response and publisher’s eCPMs. Un-
derstanding targeting techniques also
impacts the creative and optimization
process. When advertisers share re-
porting, it’s easier for publishers to im-
prove their targeting and drive higher
eCPMs and payouts from advertisers.
For example, if we can inform a pub-
lisher that their leads are scored poor-
ly because 60 percent of those leads
are males 18-24 when the advertiser’s
target audience are females 35+, the
publisher will have the opportunity to
make the necessary changes to con-
tinue running the program.
What is the network’s role in ensur-
ing there is transparency?
We do our best to establish expec-
tations very early so that, by the time
we launch a campaign, our partners
understand what’s needed to suc-
ceed and achieve a competitive ad-
vantage. Most importantly, though,
is to leverage and share data to prove
that transparency drives perfor-
mance.
How has transparency created a
Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach
to pricing?
The Balanced Scorecard is a stra-
tegic performance management
tool for measuring whether the
smaller-scale operational activities
The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com
of a company are aligned with its
larger-scale objectives in terms of
vision and strategy. By establishing
performance metrics tied to financial,
operational, marketing and devel-
opmental goals and creating pricing
tiers against those metrics, we can
ensure strong and sustainable re-
turns for advertisers and reward the
highest-performing publishers.
Can you give an example of how
transparency has increased perfor-
mance for both the merchant and
the affiliates?
One of our advertisers is providing
age and gender information for ev-
ery lead generated by each publisher
so that they can see how their leads
align with the client’s targeting goals.
One of our publishers adjusted the
campaign’s target audience and their
effective CPC jumped from $1 to $1.35
within 24 hours.
Jason Oates
Vice President
of Media Services
NetMargin
A Datran Media Company
To start seeing your affiliate
relationship in a new light, contact:
Jason Oates at
212-706-4847 or at
JOates@datranmedia.com
11
 Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
Q&A: George Hansen
World-Class
E-Commerce Platforms
G eorge Hansen joined Digital
River in 2006 as a Business Man-
ager for oneNetworkDirect, where
he has currently excelled to the role
of Director of Sales and Business De-
velopment. His role has been to grow
oneNetworkDirect through product
innovation, affiliate recruitment,
and expanding merchant relation-
ships.
George is a seasoned technology
sales executive with over 15 years of
experience, selling across the some
of the most recognized brands in the
world, including Microsoft, IBM, In-
tel, AMD, and Seagate among others.
Mr. Hansen has successfully led sever-
al technology sales teams, and earned
such esteemed awards including Intel
marketing company of the year.
“I was drawn to Digital River’s
oneNetworkDirect because of the
tremendous opportunities I saw.
oneNetworkDirect is one of the
largest affiliate network focused
solely on digital goods - software,
consumer electronics, and games.
Digital River has been managing
e-commerce and online marketing
for some of the largest brands in
the technology industry for nearly
twelve years. All of these items,
along with Digital River’s world class
infrastructure, global team ap-
proach, and seasoned executive staff,
made joining the oneNetworkDirect
team an easy decision for me.”
When it comes to Internet compa-
nies, Digital River has a long his-
tory - dating back to 1994. Tell me
a little bit about the Digital River
story.
One of the best things about work-
ing at Digital River is our story. Our
founder and CEO, Joel Ronning, is a
true internet pioneer and has built
12 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges
Digital River into a global leader in
e-commerce.
Anticipating the power of the In-
ternet, Joel Ronning launched Digi-
tal River in 1994 with a vision to use
the Internet instead of direct mail to
deliver software. He knew Internet-
based software delivery would be
more efficient, more cost effective
and more environmentally friendly.
His intuition was right.
Today, Digital River processes over
175,000 transactions a day across
eight global data centers —with 30
languages, 39 currencies, and more
than 30 payment methods supported.
Digital River is the clear choice for
companies wanting to take their on-
line business global. The company’s
business has grown significantly –
successfully expanding into comple-
mentary markets, including high tech
manufacturing and consumer elec-
tronics- and it is great to work for a
company in our position.
Beyond that, Digital River has had
the vision to layer additional technol-
ogies and services on top of our world
class e-commerce platforms, creating
even more value for our clients and
“Today, Digital River processes over 175,000 transactions
a day across eight global data centers – with 30
languages, 39 currencies, and more than 30 payment
methods supported.”
affiliates. From directTrack, one of
the most powerful and feature-rich
web-based affiliate tracking solu-
tions- to oneNetworkDirect, Digital
River’s family of affiliate networks
- on through to Digital River’s market-
Force strategic marketing team, we
are able to manage our clients’ online
marketing and e-commerce activities
in an end-to-end solution that adds
tremendous value. And ultimately,
this layered vertical integration helps
us drive more revenue for our clients,
and in turn Digital River. It is a shared
success model that has proven to be
very powerful in creating long term
partnerships with our clients and af-
filiates.
Digital River has several affiliate
networks - how do they all fit to-
gether?
We refer to all of the Digital River
affiliate platforms as our ‘Family of
Networks’. Our Family consists of
regNow, element5, share*it!, eselle-
rate, directLeads and oneNetworkDi-
rect. Together we have over 130,000
products in our affiliate channel, in-
cluding a vast selection of the big-
gest technology brands in the world.
If you are an affiliate interested in
expanding your technology sales – it
is clear who to turn to- Digital River.
oneNetworkDirect has a unique
focus. Tell me about it.
oneNetworkDirect does have a
very unique focus - to be the world’s
largest digital marketplace. To that
end, we are focusing on Software,
Consumer Electronics, and Games
as the main industries to help us
achieve that goal. And we are well on
our way to having the largest catalog
of digital products available to affili-
ates anywhere in the world.
What is on the horizon for Digital
River and oneNetworkDirect?
2009 has been a very exciting year
because of all the advanced technol-
ogy products Digital River is working
on. Digital River currently has over

20+ new products in the pipeline,
many geared towards enhancing our
family of affiliate networks. We are
continuing to leverage the direct-
Track platform in our effort to en-
hance the client and affiliate experi-
ence, and to build out our world class
toolset. We are actively adding qual-
ity Tier 1 merchants and that trend
will continue for the foreseeable fu-
ture. Things are looking very good for
Digital River affiliates!
If there is one thing you would like
affiliates to take away regarding
oND - what is it?
It would have to be our commit-
ment to assisting affiliates in the suc-
cess of their business. The Digital Riv-
er story is so unique - and our focus
so specific- that affiliates will not find
a more dedicated network working
towards their success. If you haven’t
already - give us a try. We think you
will be glad you did.
George Hansen
Director of Sales &
Business Development
Digital River
oneNetworkDirect
Phone:
(952) 253-1234
E-mail:
ghansen@digitalriver.com
Website:
www.onenetworkdirect.com
Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
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The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com 13
 Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
Q&A: Ari Bluman
It’s About Forging Relationships
F ounded in 1995, digital market-
ing network 24/7 Real Media has
been around long enough to sprout
18 offices in 12 countries. It special-
izes in ad serving, targeting, track-
ing, analytics, search marketing and
specialized websites. The company
partnered this year with data servic-
es company Omniture to track visitor
website behavior and marry this data
to display ad serving.
You guys have been around for
awhile and seen the explosion of
ad networks. How do you stay rel-
evant as networks spring up?
24/7 Real Media has been a leader
in the digital marketing space for
more than 10 years and our network,
the Global Web Alliance, has flour-
ished even as the ad network space
became more crowded. We focus
on growing our Global Web Alliance
media network with quality inven-
tory, innovating our proprietary
Open AdStream technology platform
to provide advanced targeting and
power the network. In addition, we
have been partnering with key play-
ers such as BBN, the largest online
B-to-B network, and Mindset Media,
powering psychographic targeting,
in order to provide added value to
advertisers and agencies. Our skilled
and experienced personnel provide
strategic guidance, implement flaw-
lessly and deliver excellent customer
service and maintain the highest
standards in quality assurance and
reputation.
In the digital marketing industry
as a whole, it is important for key
players, including networks, to forge
partnerships in order to respond ho-
listically to clients’ business needs.
24/7 Real Media’s Global Web Alli-
ance and other major networks are
gaining prominence in the digital
marketing ecosystem, providing im-
portant opportunities for advertisers
14 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges
to reach their target customers and
helping publishers monetize their
site content.
If a network doesn’t have the size
and scale to service a large collection
of advertisers, it will be very difficult
to expand beyond a core niche and
make an impact on the industry. And
as with any business, networks that
lack transparency or cut corners will
be isolated before long.
How do you balance a need to in-
novate technologically with cus-
tomer acquisition? Some compa-
nies are more focused on coming
up with new technology than tak-
ing care of their own. Where do
you fall and why?
We are focused on providing para-
mount digital marketing products
and services to best serve our cus-
tomers, and our development of in-
novative technology enables us to
provide the best solutions. We listen
to our customers’ goals, needs, and
issues and look strategically towards
the future in order to develop and
leverage technology in the best ways
for our clients.
A primary approach to monitoring
our technological progress and quality
assurance is by living in the house that
we’ve built. Our proprietary ad man-
agement platform is used to power
our media network and also licensed
by publisher technology clients.
Do you think consolidation is com-
ing to ad networks?
There are networks that have
great technology, and networks
that can target certain demograph-
ics very well. But in the end, ad
networks need reach and scale to
truly succeed. Probably the easiest
way to achieve that is by selling to
bigger players looking to expand
their capabilities, so I would as-
sume we’ll see more consolidation
as time goes on.
How do you convince brands to in-
crease their online presence?
If brand advertisers want to reach
their customers, run an efficient busi-
ness and stay relevant, digital is the
answer. Consumers’ media consump-
tion is continuing to shift online,
whether for entertainment, research
or to engage in a conversation with
friends and now brands themselves.
Companies absolutely must make
themselves visible and available to
these consumers, and there’s no ques-
tion digital is the best way to hyper-tar-
get and reach the specific class of con-
sumers most important to their brand.
Online advertising fulfills transactional
as well as branded requirements, in ad-
dition to detailed accountability and
rapid campaign optimizations. For-
ward-thinking brand advertisers don’t
need much convincing.
What is the future of ad networks?
The digital marketing industry is
still growing, and remarkably dy-
namic with shifting players, chang-
ing partnerships and new business
opportunities. The future ad network
landscape in particular will feature a
smaller number of players. Those that
do survive will be further entrenched
in the value chain, and a key factor in
the success of advertisers, agencies
and publishers or all sizes, helping
support the online ecosystem.
Ari Bluman is president of North American
sales and operations at 24/7 Real Media.
Within the company, he also held the positions
senior vice president, North American sales
and operations; vice president, distribution and
operations; vice president, direct solutions; vice
president, direct marketing, inside sales and
email brokerage.
 Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As

Q&A: Jennifer Morgan

Quality and efficiency are the keys

C ollective is a leading media and

technology solutions provider
for display advertising. Collective de-
You mentioned “audience-based
targeting.” How would you de-
scribe that as a concept?
audiences to advertising agencies,
brand advertisers and publishers,
through a combination of premium
livers targeted audiences to advertis- Collective’s philosophy as always inventory, data and technology. Our
ing agencies, brand advertisers and been to target people, not pages. The years of experience and our proprie-
publishers, through a combination of old approach of targeting individual tary technology enable us to provide
premium inventory, data and tech- websites is not only dated, but it deep insights to our clients, which
nology. misses a large (sometimes, the ma- they can then leverage to reach any
jority) section of the audience client’s audience that they may be seeking.
desire. For example, if an advertiser Our flagship solutions are the Col-
What are the most important wanted to reach online moms, adver- lective Network®, the original trans-
trends you see happening in the tising in the top 25 websites contain- parent network for brands; Collective
online advertising space? ing the highest composition index Video®, the world’s first audience-
I think that the trend toward audi- of W25-54 with children, according driven video network; Collective Di-
ence-based targeting will continue. to comScore figures, would still only rect ™, the high quality network for
We’re at a point now where we can reach 37% of the total audience of direct marketers; and AMP®, the
deliver online audiences to advertis- moms. In today’s fragmented media leading ad network administration,
ers precisely and at scale. Individual environment, the audience is in more audience targeting and reach exten-
Web publishers will continue to be places than you realize and finding sion platform.
important, but the networks deliver the right intersection of the consum- We’re headquartered in New York
large amounts of cross-site data and er and context (the “who” and the with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chi-
the technology and insights neces- “where”) requires data, insights and cago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles,
sary for more effective advertising experience. And successful targeting and San Francisco.
online. can often be counter-intuitive.
You’ll remember in the 90s that
our industry promised to put the What kind of transparency and con-
right ad in front of the right person at trol should advertisers look for?
the right time. But the technologies, Brand advertisers should only work
analytics, strategies and experience with a 100% transparent network
weren’t there to deliver the insights that in turn works only with premium
that advertisers have always needed publishers. Collective was built on
to be successful. But now that’s all this principle, and we continue to be
changed, and online display adver- on the forefront of quality – both in
tising is poised to become the most terms of our publishers as well as our
important advertising medium in data partners. Data quality is key as it Jennifer Morgan
history. Collective can, for example, allows us to offer our clients the most Chief Marketing Officer
deliver a video advertisement, with sophisticated targeting available. We
all the sight, sound and motion of currently partner with more than 13 Collective
television, directly to a targeted au- best-in-breed data providers to give
Jennifer Morgan is the Chief Marketing
dience, and then deliver very granu- clients instant access to anonymous Officer of Collective and oversees the
lar analytics back to the client about targeting data on over 165 million development of Collective’s integrated
consumers’ interactions with the ad. Web users – 80 percent of the total marketing and communications efforts
No other media can combine this U.S. Internet population. to brand advertisers, premium online
kind of scale, targeting and measur- publishers, interactive advertising
and media agencies, and advertising
ability, along with very flexible cre- How would you describe Collective
and technology partners.
ative formats. to people who aren’t familiar with
This is why I believe the other big it? What makes it unique? Phone:
trend will be the continued move- Collective is a leading media and (646) 722-8550
ment of dollars from offline media to technology solutions provider for dis- Website:
online. play advertising. We deliver targeted www.collective.com

The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com 15


Q&A: Galip Talegon
Demand Creates the Marketplace
H yperbidder is a unique ad auc-
tion network. Its patent pending
technology allows the auction of any
ad space, campaign, or category and
rewards all that participate. It is the
first and only network able to claim
that all bidders win! Currently, Hy-
perbidder serves over 650 publishers
with more than 13 billion page views
per month.
What are the most important
trends you see happening in the
online display advertising space?
In display we see a lot of consoli-
dation taking place. Advertisers will
move to more transparent ad net-
works, and to ad auction networks in
particular. Ad auction networks that
can offer transparency, real-time re-
porting, optimization and differenti-
ated technology will win market share.
How should an advertiser or agen-
cy decide between buying from
a network or through an ad ex-
change or marketplace?
Most networks still serve ads blind,
meaning that they’re served to the en-
tire network rather than to a selected
audience segment. Ad exchange net-
works are typically able to provide
greater value by serving and auction-
ing by specific category, web property
or demographic. That’s where the real
value lies in ad exchange networks:
the better targeting they are able to
offer to advertisers.
What kinds of transparency and
control over where their ads are
shown do advertisers have when
buying through a marketplace?
Some of the newer ad exchange
networks are very transparent with
advertisers having full control over
where their ads are shown. On Hyper-
bidder, for example, advertisers are
able to buy ads a la carte or in a cat-
egory where they can see the actual
Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
web properties concerned. They’re
able to buy across the entire network
or by individual category. Transparen-
cy is a huge deal because advertisers
want to make sure that their ads do
not get distributed through the wrong
channels. Having a great ad is useless
if it is not served to the right audience.
Networks need to give advertisers the
power to control, modify and manage
both their advertising campaigns and
the distribution channels. At Hyper-
bidder we achieve this with a commit-
ment to providing the best quality and
fairest pricing to both advertisers and
publishers.
Through its all bidders win!
ad auction, Hyperbidder
allows everyone to buy ad
inventory while helping
determine the real ad
value of the ad space, ad
campaign, or category.
Media Buyers are inundated with
new networks, exchanges and op-
timization services. What factors
should influence their decision
when choosing, and why should
they choose Hyperbidder?
The most important thing is that
the network or exchange needs to
work in the interests of its users. Hy-
perbidder was created with fair play
as the focus. That means that pub-
lishers should be fair in their pricing
and all advertisers, regardless of their
budget or how much they can afford
to pay in CPM or CPC, should be able
to participate in the same way as big-
ger and higher paying advertisers.
Hyperbidder’s proprietary technol-
ogy is the fairest ad buying and sell-
ing technology out there. Through its
all bidders win! ad auction, it allows
everyone to buy ad inventory while
determining the real ad value of the
ad space, ad campaign, or category.
The Online Advertisers BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com
We’re very conscious of the fact that
media buyers are short of time and
need speed and efficiency in the buy-
ing process, especially when there’s a
huge campaign being run by one of
the big agencies. We save the media
buyers time, money and energy while
being fair to both sides.
Where do you think the industry
will be in three years time?
With so much new technology and
media buyers becoming more results
driven, there will be consolidation
with a few big networks or exchanges
emerging as leaders in online display.
Having said that, there will still be a
lot of room for others simply because
the industry is going to be growing
so fast. The switch to online adver-
tising is going to continue and over
time I think we’ll see offline ads being
bought and sold online too.
Galip Talegon
Founder and CEO
Hyperbidder, Inc.
Galip Talegon is the founder of
Hyperbidder, Inc. He has extensive
experience in the international IT
and online business industry in both
Europe and the USA. In addition to
founding Hyperbidder, Mr. Talegon
also founded Brentstar, an online
casting and resume site for actors.
Ph: (650) 250-4099
gtalegon@hyperbidder.com
17
 Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
Q&A: Rob Rasko
Widening the Base Through Verticals
C PX Interactive did very well last
year, named one of the fastest-
growing ad networks by being up
88 percent in reach year-over-year.
It calls itself a “progressive online ad
network” and has the global foot-
print to back it up. It has a presence
in more than 60 countries, serving
more than 30 billion impressions to
more than 200 million unique users
per month. The company touts mon-
etizing 100 percent of publishers’ in-
ventory, from premium to remnant.
COO Rob Rasko came on in 2006 to
lead the company into its next phases
of global development. We asked him
about his company’s place in the ad
network universe.
Is consolidation of ad networks a
natural evolution? Is this a good
thing?
Well, I certainly think it is a nec-
essary thing. I also think that it is a
natural evolution of the space. Earlier
this year it seemed very popular to
write articles citing the “more than
300 ad networks.” For that to be the
case, the definition of “ad network”
would have to be pretty broad. I sup-
pose if I have a relationship with a
handful of advertisers and a couple
of ad networks, then I can call myself
an ad network. But, the truth is that
there never were 300 companies of-
fering a valuable service to a broad
client base with the ability to fill
large amounts of inventory at a qual-
ity price. So, do I think that it makes
sense for the space to “shake out”
and for quality offerings to either
eclipse or swallow up the underper-
formers? I would say, yes.
Talk about donating impressions
for philanthropic causes. How does
that work?
The idea of “giving back” has always
been a focus of our founders and re-
18 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges
mains a part of our corporate DNA. In
line with that commitment, we have
developed a philanthropic division
gies) to what was already a strong
reach (or “distribution”) network.
known as CPXample. The original Media properties are starting their
model of CPXample was to identify own networks. Martha Stewart Liv-
worthy causes that were using the ing, to name just one, has one. Is this
Internet as an integral part of their competition for all ad networks?
process, and donate something like Again, I think that is a natural part
50 million impressions to them. This of the evolution of the industry. Some
is currently morphing into the devel- “premium” properties were not happy
opment of a www.cpxample.org web- with the networks’ offerings and felt
site where we will feature numerous they could better service themselves,
causes and tools at a time and drive so they have headed in that direction.
millions of eyeballs each month. Well-positioned and responsive net-
works will adapt and develop offer-
CPX Interactive has been cited by ings that meet a wider set of needs.
comScore as being one of the fast- Ultimately, though, I think it is more
est growing networks – up 88 per- efficient for quality distribution en-
cent in reach year over year. How gines to adapt to clients’ needs than
do your vertical networks and in- for clients to develop their own dis-
ternational expansion factor into tribution model, and eventually the
your growth? market will “realize” this.
Interestingly, the comScore-cited
growth you allude to only represents What can you predict is in store for
U.S. data. If our robust international ad networks in the near future?
footprint is also figured in, the truth If I take the long view, I think that
is that we have grown by even larger online networks will ultimately set-
margins. Our international offices in tle into a model similar to those on
Milan, Madrid and Istanbul stand as television and cable, with publish-
testaments to our continued global ers aligning themselves with one
success. or the other depending on their de-
mographic and strategic goals. With
time, advertisers will become more
“The truth is that there and more comfortable with online
never were 300 companies networks and view them as the “go
offering a valuable service to” play for comprehensive online
to a broad client base…” distribution.
As for our vertical offerings (we call
it our content network), I think that
our focus on offering advertisers and
publishers what they are looking for
has had a lot to do with our growing
acceptance by both sides. We spent a
good deal of 2008 listening to what
our advertisers and publishers were Rob Rasko is COO and president of CPX
Interactive. After being a principal at Endai
asking for, and the result was the ad- Worldwide, he joined CPX Interactive as CFO
dition of both the content network in 2006. In 2008, he was named president
and a premium network (dedicated and COO, running the company’s day-to-day
to advanced placements and strate- operations.

Q&A: Jim Waltz
Big Network Notices the Small Things
T raffic Marketplace doesn’t shy
from innovation. It reaches 142
million unique users per month with
its 30 billion ad impressions monthly.
That’s more than 20 million leads
and customers per year. It does this
through targeted display ads, email
and custom marketing. We asked
president Jim Waltz about why
people relationships are better than
technology and how sales forces will
change the face of ad networks.
Should ad networks innovate tech-
nologically? What are some things
you’ve done?
Absolutely! Some of the industry’s
more interesting innovations have
been born and bred by ad networks,
such as third-party ad serving, behav-
ioral targeting, ad exchanges, etc. At
Traffic Marketplace, we’ve focused re-
cently on advanced audience identifi-
cation, cross-channel ad delivery and
bundled engagement tools to make
ads in our network more compelling
to consumers and more effective for
our advertisers. Some of our unique
innovations include embedded Click-
to-Chat functionality, Flash-less rich
media and the production of original
content to build trust and credibility
for brands and their marketing mes-
sage.
As ad networks proliferate, where
is your place in the growing galaxy?
The proliferation of ad networks is
misunderstood and really depends
on your definition of “ad network.”
There are three main types of ad
networks: a few large, horizontal
audience-based networks like us,
many smaller vertical networks that
specialize in a particular category,
and a ton of small ad brokers. We’re
also seeing a lot of smart companies
act as exchange specialists, a sort
of agency’s agency, leveraging their
knowledge of exchanges and other
Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
large pools of liquidity to manage a
big chunk of display budgets.
Do you think the industry is prepar-
ing for consolidation? Would more
mergers be a good thing?
I don’t think it is, at least not in the
way the industry is predicting. In fact,
the number of ad networks is still
growing. Most ad networks are struc-
tured in a way that they can quickly
scale up or down based on demand.
In addition, there have been very few
compelling reasons for networks to
hitch together. A more interesting
trend is the growing consolidation of
sales forces in general.
What do you mean by that?
Well, the media buying process
is still very biological – in a recent
industry study, nearly half of all
buying decisions were greatly in-
fluenced by the quality of the rela-
tionship between the buyer and the
seller. This works well for offline me-
dia buying, where there are only a
few thousand magazines published,
for example, but not so much online
with millions of ad-supported web-
sites. As online budgets increase,
media buyers are forced to work
with larger relationships that have
enough scale and can afford to invest
in cutting through the clutter of 200
unanswered cold calls a day. A lot of
great Web publishers are often lost in
the noise and are beginning to part-
ner with networks that are already in
the door.
As networks diversify their offer-
ings (lead gen, email, display, etc.),
can they maintain quality of ser-
vice? How?
Service quality is a big problem
when dealing with cross-channel
campaigns if there is more than one
system delivering the ads. But we’ve
seen that if you can unify all chan-
nels under one ad delivery platform,
The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com
I think service can not only be main-
tained, but significantly improved.
The challenge then is really organi-
zational—you need a very educated
sales force with a lot of support from
channel product experts. You also
need great reporting and analytics.
“Some of the industry’s
more interesting innova-
tions have been born and
bred by ad networks…”
What can ad networks look forward
to in the future?
Ad networks won’t exist as we
know them today – they will look
completely different over time. As
the marketplace becomes more
transparent, sales forces consolidate,
and the buying and selling process
becomes more digital, there’s very
little left to differentiate one network
from another. At that point I think ad
networks will evolve in two direc-
tions: those aligned with buyers as
service providers with specific exper-
tise that taps into the marketplace
on behalf of advertisers, or those
aligned with sellers as extensions of
exclusive, proprietary content. But
these changes are predicated on a
massive transformation of the online
media buying and selling process.
Jim Waltz is president of Traffic Marketplace.
He was CEO of adModus and president and
CEO of Conducive. He also had positions at
DoubleClick, including vice president of strategic
sales. He co-founded Digital Music Network, a
Web design and ad network company.
19
11
 Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
Q&A: Jonathan Epstein
The Game Is the Thing
D ouble Fusion calls itself a game
advertising expert. The compa-
ny serves in-game ads to the broad-
est network of games across a variety
of genres. They create campaigns for
in-game, around-game and Web-
based environments. CEO Jonathan
Epstein sports more than 20 years of
high-tech and gaming experience. We
talked to him about why his network
is different than other run-of-the-
mill ad networks and how to keep a
good ad from getting in the way of
killing some aliens.
How are you different than any
other online ad-serving network?
Double Fusion is much more than
just an ad network; we’re a strategic
partner to brands and agencies that
want to reach an important audience
of consumers, inside of the most
immersive and engaging medium
there is – video games. Not only do
we deliver static and dynamic ads
into video games, we also integrate
brand messages around the game
complementing the brand’s overall
advertising strategy. We engage with
consumers who are playing top con-
sole and PC retail titles, massively
multiplayer games, PC and iPhone
branded games, ad-supported down-
loadable games, and casual online
games. Unlike other ad networks re-
liant on a computer with an Internet
connection, Double Fusion’s is able
to connect advertisers to audiences
both online and offline via the varied
gaming platforms and experiences.
Are gaming and advertising a good
fit? Are there challenges?
Gaming is an ideal vehicle for ad-
vertisers and brands. It commands
engagement, which is essential for
building brand awareness. It is an
emotive medium, like TV, but un-
like most of the Internet, a medium
which allows advertisers to tap
20 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges
into and harness the user’s excite-
ment, competitive spirit, and energy.
Gaming provides, also, the opportu-
nity to reach consumers across all
demographics at a time when they’re
completely engaged, something
which exists in very few other ad me-
diums.
Optimization and targeting
technologies have made
ad networks a valuable
partner as fragmentation
continues to rise.
The objective with in-game adver-
tising is to foster an environment that
is beneficial to gamers and advertis-
ers simultaneously. When executed
properly, it’s been shown that gamers
think that in-game ads heighten the
realism of a game and don’t affect
the experience. The problems arise
when the ads start to interfere with
game play or do not thematically
match the game. Double Fusion’s
top priorities are to maintain the in-
tegrity of the title and ensure that
our advertising options are relevant
to the game’s atmosphere and in no
way hinder game play. We think of it
as a responsibility rather than a chal-
lenge.
Are in-game ad networks on a path
to consolidation? Will this be good?
It would be easier for media buyers
if everything could be done in one
place but, as in any market, compe-
tition drives innovation and we feel
that Double Fusion is well positioned
to provide advertisers the best op-
tions.
Where is the ad network universe
headed? What is its future?
As more consumers go online,
so will the advertising dollars. Ad
networks are in a unique position
to help advertisers and agencies in-
crease reach and be more effective
with their ad spend. And, unlike with
the Internet, even the largest single
titles need to be part of a network
in order to be part of an offering
which has the reach needed to win
the larger advertisers. Optimization
and targeting technologies have
made ad networks a valuable part-
ner as fragmentation continues to
rise. For in-game ad networks spe-
cifically, the future is bright as we’re
no longer considered “experimental.”
In-game advertising has increasingly
become part of the media buy and
Double Fusion is well positioned to
take advantage of this opportunity.
Are there game titles (such as
alien-based ones) that make it hard
to integrate ads? What do you do in
that case?
Not all games are a fit for in-game
ads. If a game does not contextually
lend itself to ads, static, promotional
placements or dynamic, we don’t
place ads in the game. It’s important
that the ads enhance the gaming ex-
perience. That said, there are free-to-
play, advertising-sponsored games
that can be played on multiple plat-
forms. These games provide an op-
portunity for advertisers to increase
brand without compromising the
integrity of the gaming environment.
JONATHAN EPSTEIN is CEO of Double
Fusion and has more than 20 years of high-
technology media and marketing experience.
He was co-head of the digital media group of
United Talent Agency and was executive vice
president and general manager, media division,
for IGN Entertainment. He was the founding
president and CEO of GameSpot.com.

Q&A: Joelle Kaufman
Protecting the Brand
A dify’s more than 200 vertical
ad networks, with more than
12,000 independent publishers, use
the company to serve, track and re-
port on syndicated ads. Its vertical ad
network management solutions and
media services are used to reign in a
fragmented Web. As Adify continues
to expand, including its purchase by
Cox Enterprises in 2008, we asked
senior vice president of worldwide
marketing Joelle Kaufman about pro-
tecting brands and those verticals ex-
periencing rapid growth.
Why a vertical ad network? Advan-
tages? Disadvantages?
A vertical ad network delivers high-
ly targeted audiences in the context
where they are highly engaged with
relevant content. The advantages are
brand safety, audience engagement
and significant brand lifts. It would
be a disadvantage to use a vertical
ad network like a performance ad
network. This is because vertical ad
networks have deep content attrac-
tive to a specific audience, for which
they command premium prices, as
opposed to broad reach and arbi-
trage across general audiences using
technology to select the right target
individuals and find them at the low-
est price possible.
What are ad prices doing right now as
we begin to pull out of the economic
crisis? Are verticals performing?
The price of online advertising var-
ies very considerably by audience,
placement, transparency and quality
of publisher. There are direct adver-
tising opportunities that sell out for
$80 CPM and there are publishers in
exchanges accepting 5 cents CPM.
Adify published the first Adify Ver-
tical Gauge that measures ad pric-
ing in vertical ad networks only, and
showed prices between $3.15 and
Sponsored Section: Online Advertising Blue Book Q&As
$22, with most verticals experiencing
higher CPMs in the second quarter
of 2009 versus the fourth quarter
of 2008. The sites in vertical ad net-
works are often medium and small
sites focused on a particular passion
– cooking, cycling, travel destinations
– and a comScore study announced
in April 2009 showed engagement
on these sites is two to four times
longer than on comparable portal
categories. Finally, there are high re-
newal rates across the verticals.
As ad networks, and your own,
keep growing, is consolidation on
the horizon? Would this be a good
thing? Why?
The industry watchers have been
expecting consolidation for 18 months
and instead there’s been an increase
in investment in ad networks. The
fact is, more and more sites are grow-
ing and attracting audiences, and ad
networks are the most efficient way
to reach many sites. There may be
consolidation among technologies,
for example, Adify’s “network builder”
ad platform incorporates behavioral
targeting, content syndication and
video advertising as part of our infra-
structure because advertisers often
prefer a comprehensive solution. AOL
bought Tacoda and Yahoo bought
Blue Lithium for their behavioral tar-
geting technologies and networks.
Ad networks differentiate on their
inventory – vertical ad networks have
unique sites that are selected by pro-
fessional editors – and their technol-
ogy, such as targeting and algorithms.
While most consolidation is on the
technology vector, there have been
acquisitions of vertical ad networks
with privileged relationships to sites
such as JumpStart’s acquisition by Ha-
chette Media.
What are the best-performing ver-
ticals right now? Why are they do-
ing so well?
The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com
The best-performing verticals
across Adify’s “network builder” plat-
form are automotive, affluentials,
gay and lesbian, men and technol-
ogy. They are doing well because they
reach their audiences on the exact
sites that engage those audiences.
They reduce waste in the media buy
and they protect the reputation of
the brands that advertise with them.
Advertisers realize significant gains
in brand awareness, brand reputation
and purchase intent by placing their
advertising on sites where they stand
out and engage their target audiences.
Will exchanges cause trouble for ad
networks in the future?
That depends on the type of ad net-
work. Performance ad networks with-
out unique targeting technology that
rely on arbitrage between advertisers
and exchanges are at significant risk
from the efforts of agencies to buy di-
rectly on the exchanges. Performance
ad networks with targeting technol-
ogy need to be thinking about how to
fit in the ecosystem when agencies are
deploying their own exchange-buying
technology. Vertical ad networks have
more in common with premium des-
tination sites than exchanges and are
not at risk from exchanges as vertical
ad networks deliver on a brand-build-
ing value proposition.
Joelle Kaufman served as vice president
of marketing and sales development for
Reactivity, an XML networking solutions
company, bought by Cisco Systems in 2007.
Before that she led XML Web services
initiatives for RSA Security. Prior to landing as
SVP of worldwide marketing at Adify, she held
marketing positions at Lifespire, NetDynamics,
Firefly Networks and Deloitte Consulting.
21
 The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – White Paper

Video Networks Try to

Change Minds
Online video ad networks must move beyond the click to pry open
advertisers’ purses for online video advertising.
by Waikit Lau
The popularity of online video con-
tinues to achieve new heights in 2009.
One only needs to look at any recent
comScore or Nielsen data release to
see that the meteoric rise of online
video’s popularity shows no signs
of waning, despite audience satura-
tion staying somewhat level. What
conclusions can be drawn from this?
Logically, if video views are rapidly
increasing and the audience is stay-
ing roughly the same, it means that
consumers are individually watching
much more video online than they
were just 12 to 18 months ago. Brands
follow eyeballs and they’re increas-
ingly more cognizant of the impor-
tance of reaching this audience. But
blasting this audience with ads is not
the answer; it’s vital for the future
of the industry that the relationship
between advertiser and audience be-
come a reciprocal one.
A dissection of the current state
of online video advertising reveals a
number of interesting items. First and
foremost, this is still a nascent indus-
try. Year-on-year revenue growth has
been promising and there’s no doubt
that advertising dollars will continue
to follow the surge of eyeballs that are
now focused squarely online. As with
any developing advertising medium,
though, there are challenges to over-
come before widespread adoption
takes place. Even television advertis-
ing had to win over early naysayers.
Budgets are increasing – certainly
an encouraging sign – but are coming
mainly from digital spends. That’s a
great start, but the ultimate goal is
to shift television dollars online. To
accomplish that, expectations and ca-
pabilities need to be established for
the television media buyers. Today,
digital media planners have at least a
fundamental idea of online video ad-
vertising. The same can’t be said cur-
rently about TV buyers. Expect this
to be a major point of emphasis for
online video ad providers.

© Rolffimage... | Dreamstime.com

22 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges

 Fragmentation continues to be
a challenge, as well. As everyone
knows, this is a YouTube-dominated
market. While YouTube has made a
lot of progress in bringing more pro-
fessional content into its site, the
majority of its videos are still the
user-generated content that does not
appeal to brands. Even with Hulu’s
runaway success, its ad inventories,
while growing, are still relatively lim-
ited. The question is how can adver-
tisers reach the small, niche sites that
don’t have a sales force but do have
“TO REALLY START BRINGING IN
THE BIG AD DOLLARS, ONLINE VIDEO
MUST BREAK INTO TV BUDGETS.”
the exact audiences that they desire?
That’s the beauty of innovative video
ad networks. Through massive reach
and precision targeting, video ad
networks can aggregate a number of
niche sites across any vertical and de-
liver that audience to advertisers.
Beyond the Click
The online video advertising in-
dustry has become proficient at ac-
commodating both advertisers and
publishers and now it’s time to focus
on elevating the consumer experi-
ence. It’s a move that not only better
matches the lean-forward environ-
ment of the Web, but will truly dif-
ferentiate the consumer experience
of online video advertising from the
one-sided passivity of television ad-
vertising.
Let’s take pre-roll, for example, as
an online video ad format that is effec-
tive yet passive and mirrors television
commercials. The arrangement has
always been ads support free video
content. For the most part, all parties
seemed amenable to this; publishers
were committed to generating higher
traffic through the ad-supported mod-
el and consumers tolerated pre-roll be-
cause there wasn’t any alternative. As
online video advertising continues to
evolve, so must the consumer-adver-
tiser-publisher relationship.
Ultimately, a balance needs to be es-
tablished that creates a win-win-win
situation for the three components of
online video advertising. Since video
ad networks already accommodate
advertisers and publishers, it’s time
to give consumers something more.
This is accomplished by giving audi-
ences more control over how they
interact with the ads. Whether pre-
roll or overlay ads, the ability to add
interactivity and engagement options
within the ads is vital. When well
conceived and targeted to the right
audience, viewers engage with the
ads – and connect with the brand – at
a much higher level than the standard
overlay or pre-roll formats most used
today.
The key here is moving beyond the
click. The industry needs to bring the
ad experience into the users’ viewing
window. Adding interactive elements
to ad units in a way that still leverages
the existing core of the content will
encourage audience engagement. By
incorporating user-controlled options
and features into the pre-roll envi-
ronment, for example, the advertiser
could offer a more engaging brand
experience beyond a click to a land-
ing page.
Unlocking the Potential
The next evolutionary step of online
video advertising will be giving the
consumers more control. The build-
ing blocks are in place to truly utilize
the interactive capabilities of the In-
ternet for video advertising. It’s now
up to the advertisers and publishers
The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com
to start adopting this new mentality.
There’s a reason why an August
2009 eMarketer report projected
online video ad industry revenue to
eclipse $4 billion by 2013. As men-
tioned, the amount of video con-
sumed online is staggering. To really
start bringing in the big ad dollars,
online video must break into TV
budgets. The dollars will come once
television ad buyers realize that the
number of viewers online is impos-
sible to ignore. There’s no “gross
rating point” measurement in online
video right now and that makes TV
buyers uncomfortable. A common
language, bred from familiarity with
the medium, is the first step in shift-
ing ad dollars online.
As the medium grows, the quality
of the content improves dramatically.
Big names in Hollywood are attaching
themselves to online video and brands
are quick to follow. The streaming of
live events in high definition – the U.S.
Open and Olympics – are examples of
non-narrative content that looks just
as good online as it does on TV. On-
line video’s capabilities and flexibility
will only increase over time. The long-
ago promise of interactive TV is hap-
pening first in online video.
It’s an exciting time for online vid-
eo advertising. Despite a down ad
market, the medium has grown con-
siderably and has established itself as
a powerful branding tool. By creating
an interactive environment that ben-
efits advertisers, publishers and con-
sumers, the potential of online video
advertising will truly be unlocked.
Waikit Lau is co-founder and presi-
dent of video ad network, ScanScout.
23
 The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – White Paper

Trailblazing in the
Cost-Per-Lead Universe
More ad networks need to get into the cost-per-lead game, at least
that’s what cost-per-lead firms want you to believe.
by Zephrin Lasker
In recent years, the story of Inter-
net advertising can be summed up as
the growth of performance advertis-
ing at the expense of CPM advertising.
According to the IAB PWC Internet
spending report, from 2007 to 2008,
CPM advertising declined from 45
percent to 37 percent, while perfor-
mance advertising grew from 51 per-
cent to 57 percent.
To connect with the growing world
of performance advertisers, an in-
creasing number of online publishers
such as Monster.com, Boston.com and
Orbitz.com have incorporated perfor-
mance advertising into their overall
advertising mix, such as cost-per-lead
advertising. These publishers have by
no means done away with CPM pric-
released reports, advertisers are will-
ing to pay publishers as much as $2.27
a signup (also called a lead) in certain
industry categories. Examples of ad-
vertisers that have recently adopted
cost-per-lead advertising include
the 2008 Barack Obama Presiden-
tial Campaign, Kimberly-Clark, Dis-
ney, Blockbuster, Blackberry, UNICEF,
Travel Nevada, NewEgg and Graco.
Beyond CPM
Demand Media is another company
that utilizes performance advertising
to grow revenue. Demand Media is
the name behind some of the most
recognizable brands on the Internet
such as Trails.com, AllGetaways.com,
and GolfLink. Trails.com is among
Through their CPM advertising of-
ferings, Trails.com was doing well in
terms of generating online adver-
tising revenue. But their marketing
department was convinced that they
could be doing a lot better. They were
missing out on the large world of per-
formance advertisers – that was grow-
ing larger by the day.
To maximize online advertising reve-
nue, Hillclimb media realized that they
would have to diversify their advertis-
ing offerings. Doug Colbeck, General
Manager of Demand Media said, “In
today’s economic times, advertisers
want greater ROI from their online
advertising campaigns. Many of them
don’t want to pay for just impressions.
They also want to see returns on their
valuable marketing dollars. ”
Publishers can incorporate cost-
per-lead advertising into their overall
inventory mix in a number of ways.
They can include cost-per-lead ad-
vertisements on their website registra-

“AS OPPOSED TO CPM BANNERS

THAT DIRECT USERS TO A LANDING PAGE,
COST-PER-LEAD BANNERS CAPTURE USER
INFORMATION WITHIN THE ADVERTISEMENT.”
ing models on their websites. Instead,
they have incorporated performance
offerings into their overall advertising
mix to monetize untapped or under-
utilized revenue streams and connect
with new brands. Ad networks can
benefit from following their lead.
Cost-per-lead advertising is among
the fastest-growing segments in on-
line advertising. In a cost-per-lead
advertisement, publishers are com-
pensated for signups. According to
the leading sites on the Internet of-
fering valuable resources and guides
for bikers, campers, hikers and other
outdoor enthusiasts.
Trails.com has a highly desirable
audience. According to Quantcast, 59
percent of their audience has an in-
come in excess of $60,000. Currently,
44 percent of Trails.com visitors have
graduated from college, while an ad-
ditional 18 percent have completed
graduate school.
tion path. By including contextually rel-
evant advertisements from top brands,
Trails.com was able to monetize their
registration path effectively. They
served ads from multiple advertisers
on one page, and increased eCPMs ex-
ponentially. Examples of advertisers
on the Trails.com registration path in-
clude Sierra Trading Post, Nevada Tour-
ism, the 2008 Barack Obama Presiden-
tial Campaign, Tennessee Tourism and
other premium brands.

24 The Authoritative Guide to Ad Networks and Exchanges


Average Cost-Per-Lead in North America, by industry,
August 2008-July 2009
Technology
Health
Entertainment
Travel
Nonprofit
Consumer packaged goods (CPG)
Online retail and catalog
Average (overall)
Source: Pontiflex, “Cost-per-Lead Advertising Data Report,” provided to eMarketer, August 24, 2009
106386
What a Difference
In addition to running cost-per-
lead advertisements on the registra-
tion path, publishers can also rotate
in cost-per-lead display banners into
their inventory mix. As opposed to
CPM banners that direct users to a
landing page, cost-per-lead banners
capture user information within the
advertisement. The user continues
to stay on the publisher site, even
as her/his information is sent to the
advertiser on the backend. This en-
ables a relevant experience for the
user who continues to stay on the
publisher site. It also allows the pub-
lisher to serve another advertisement
to the user. CPL banners have been
deployed by publishers across mul-
tiple media. Over the last six months,
wireless ad networks such as Admob
have utilized cost-per-lead banners to
monetize mobile sites and apps.
And now for a caveat. Cost-per-lead
advertising is different from CPM
and CPC advertising in that the pub-
lisher has to send the user data to
the advertiser (rather than directing
the user to a landing page hosted by
the advertiser). Different advertisers
The Online Advertising BLUE BOOK – bluebook.mthink.com
Basic fields Premium fields
$0.43 $3.75
$0.60 $3.36
$0.80 $3.00
$1.40 $2.50
$1.33 $1.85
$0.87 $1.13
$0.59 - • We distribute affiliate commission
$0.60 $2.27
www.eMarketer.com
have different preferences for receiv-
ing lead data. Some prefer receiving
data by HTTP Post, others prefer FTP,
while still others ask that lead data be
sent to them via email. This can make
managing a number of cost-per-lead
campaigns difficult and cumbersome
for the publisher.
However, in recent years just as
Doubleclick did for CPM advertising
and Google did for CPC advertising,
publishers have access to a number
of technologies to incorporate cost-
per-lead advertising easily on their
website. Advertisers can use cost-per-
lead companies for cost-per-lead cam-
paign setup and management.
The rapidly growing demand for per-
formance advertising offers publishers
a golden opportunity to diversify their
advertising offerings and maximize
revenue. 2009 might just be the year
to shift a few eggs from the CPM bas-
ket and place them into other baskets
that are large and empty.
Zephrin Lasker is the co-founder
and CEO of Pontiflex, a cost-per-lead
lead generation company.
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