"Contextual Advertising: Is it Right for You?"

By Merle http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com

If online advertising had fads, contextual ads
would be the latest "in thing." Also known as
"content targeting," they seem to be "popping
up" (no pun intended) all over the Web. From
news sites to privately owned websites, everyone
and his brother seems to be dipping his "toe in
the water."

So what is contextual advertising and why should
you care? I thought you'd never ask. You know how
when you read a magazine, the pages are littered
with ads? Context ads do the same thing, but with
a twist. It's a way of distributing Pay Per Click
search results across the Net.

Here's how it works: the text of a web page is
scanned for "keywords" or a theme, then ads are
shown that are related to the page's content.
A website's content is matched up with the
advertisers' keywords. For example,if I were
reading a page about dogs. there would be pet
related ads, usually contained in the right
hand side or sometimes the top and bottom of
the pages.

Unlike ads that are shown on Search Engine
results pages, these ads are dynamic and allow
you to reach people in a different mode other
then search. Some call this more of a "shopping
mode." Whatever you want to call it, context
ads are distributed through millions of partner
sites across the Internet.

Some advertisers claim that click thru rates
are lower for this type of ad, compared to
standard PPC search results ads. You might
want to do your own testing to validate that
claim for yourself.

There are two ways to approach contextual
advertising: as a publisher, and as an
advertiser.

Website publishers can earn extra money by
displaying ads and enhancing their content.
This is not a bad way to earn extra income
that might just pay for your web hosting
bills, and then some.

Advertisers may find that context ads provide
yet another means of attracting targeted
traffic. You only pay for click thrus,
not exposure. Make sure your ads are narrowly
focused, i.e., they should only deal with one
topic. You can also "pre qualify" prospects
by using what's called "negative qualifiers"
in your ad's description. Some examples are
"For men over 35," or "For Career Women." This
helps to insure that only your target market
will click and not those for whom your product
or service may not be suitable.

If you've been doing Pay Per Click advertising
with Google and Overture, make sure you haven't
been participating already in context ads. Many
times your ads will be shown on their context
networks as the default when registering, and
it's up to you to opt out. You should always
manage your context ads separately from your
search to see which is working best.

Google and Overture are the "Kings of PPC" and
both offer contextual advertising, but there are
many other smaller companies to take a look at.
Whether you're a publisher with web pages to
fill or an advertiser looking for more exposure,
there's something for everyone here.

1) Kanoodle: Calling their contextual ad program
"BrightAds," small to medium sized publishers
may display Kanoodle ads on their sites.

BrightAds are more relevant to your site's content
due to the fact that they map ads by topics
instead of keywords. It's easy to sign up and
Kanoodle offers a variety of ad formats to
choose from and also offers PayPal as an option
for your monthly commission checks.

To join go to
http://www.Kanoodle.com/about/brightads.cool

Their program for advertisers is called "Context
Target." Your ads are placed adjacent to editorial
content of sites such as MSNBC, CBS, Market Watch,
USA Today, and AutoBytel.com. You select the topics
that best describe the products and services you
sell, set up your ads, and set bid amounts. The
minimum bid price is $.20 but runs up to $2.10,
depending on market demand for the types of pages
you wish to be displayed on.

For more, see:
http://tinyurl.com/4c8ff

2) Overture: Their advertiser program is called
"Content Match." Your ads will appear on pages
of their partner sites, such as Yahoo, MSN.com,
CNN.com and ESPN.com. Overture makes it easy
to keep your context bids separated from your
PPC Search Engine ads. This makes it easy to
track your return on investment from both types.

$20.00 minimum monthly spend and $.10 per click
is the minimum bid. Find out more at:
http://www.overture.com/d/USm/ays/cm.jhtml

3) Google: The program for advertisers is called
AdWords, while the one for publishers is called
AdSense.

Publishers must first get accepted and approved
into the program and are paid when they reach
$100.00 in click thrus. You may choose to display
only text ads or image ads as well. For more,
see http://tinyurl.com/6e3uh

With Adwords, your ads will appear on their network
of high quality partner sites which are all Adsense
users, including N.Y Times Digital, Village,
Weather.com, Primedia,, CNET and others. Text
ads are also shown inside emails of Google's new
Gmail account users. This allows you to opt into
contextual ads and keep them separated so you can
view your reports separately from search.

Context ads are displayed two to four on a page.
You can set the daily amount you want to spend
and your credit card will be charged monthly
according to your wishes. If you're using Adwords
now but don't know if you're being displayed in
the "context ads," you'll need to log into your
control panel to see if you have that option
selected. See
https://www.adwords.google.com/select/

4) BannerBoxes: Sign up as an advertiser or a
publisher. Publishers must be accepted into the
program to display ads and are paid 75% of the
click thru price from the ads. Choose keywords
that match your website's content, then copy
and paste some JavaScript code onto your page.

Several ad formats are available, such as 468x60,
728x90 and others. Very similar to Adsense in
formats that are available. Advertisers pay
$25.00 to open an account and pay a flat cost
per click, which means no bullying for position,
as with some of the other Pay Per Clicks out
there. You select the sites you want your ads
to be displayed upon.

For Publisher info, see:
http://www.bannerboxes.com/common/partners.cfm

For Advertisers info, see:
http://www.bannerboxes.com/common/advertisers.cfm

5) Clicksor: Serving over 200 million impressions
every month and partnering with over 10,000
specialized websites. As an advertiser you can
run text or graphic ads that only appear on
sites that best match your keyphrases. The
higher you bid, the the higher placement your
ad receives. For more, see:

http://tinyurl.com/4yflt

For publishers, Clicksor pays you 60% of the
advertisers' clicks that your site generates.
You must earn over $50.00 to be paid for the
month or your earnings will rollover to the
next. Free to join:

http://www.clicksor.com/PPC_affiliate_program.php

6) Bidvertiser: Publishers can join free to display
text ads on their websites. You can customize the
look of all ads you display and block any unwanted
ones. You must earn a minimum of $10.00 in a month
to be paid by PayPal or $25.00 minimum to be cut a
check. For more information, see:
http://tinyurl.com/4g23d

Advertisers can choose the sites to run their ads
on and only pay for click thrus. You set a cap
on how much you'd like to spend daily, weekly, or
monthly. Your bids are automatically adjusted so
you only pay 1 cent more than your competition.
No minimum monthly spend at this time. Advertisers
find out more by visiting:

http://tinyurl.com/6w46m

7) RevenuePilot: Publishers can fill out an online
application to be approved to display RevenuePilot's
ads. They do favor original content type of sites.
Advertisers are paid 60% of each search terms bidded
value. To be paid for the month, you'll have to have
earned a minimum of $25.00. You can sign up here:
https://secure.revenuepilot.com/signup.jsp

Advertisers must apply to have their ads displayed
across the network. Go to:
http://www.revenuepilot.com/advertising.html

8) BidClix: If you're a publisher, you'll find BidClix
has strict guidelines for joining their network.
Your website needs to be approved first, then you'll
be sent some HTML code to add to your pages. The
types of ads served are skyscrapers, banners or pop
unders. For more, see:

http://www.bidclix.com/PubTop.html

With over 30 million ads served per day, advertisers
are sure to find targeted websites to run their
ads. Advertisers can open an account for only $25.00
You select the "channels," such as entertainment,
news, health, etc., that you want to bid on and pay
as little as five cents per click. For more, see:
http://www.bidclix.com/AdvTop.html

9) FindWhat: Targeting small to mid-sized businesses,
Findwhat calls their program "AdRevenue Xpress," and
uses category or keyword targeting for distributing
their ads. At this time, this program is only available
to existing FindWhat advertisers. Go to:
http://www.findwhat.com/content/advertiser/index.asp

Publishers who want to display ads on their pages
can choose between a search box that returns ads
from Findwhat, or display text ads directly on their
sites. You earn a portion of all click thrus and
Findwhat offers a 10% reward bonus to publishers
who also reinvest their share of what they earn back
into their own Findwhat Advertising Account.
For more, see their site: http://FindWhat.com

10) SearchFeed: This is a private label feed program.
Webmasters can display relevant information and earn
extra cash at the same time. Real time reports,
publishers earn from 35 to 50% of all click revenue.
For more, see

http://tinyurl.com/62g95

Advertisers can open an account for only $25.00.
Find out more at:http://tinyurl.com/664ly

11) ContextAd: Serving up contextual ads with high
precision. Publishers can choose from a variety
of ad units and also have access to their very
own dedicated account manager.

Publishers need to be approved before they can
display their ads on their sites. Then it's a
simple matter of adding some cut and paste code
onto your website pages. You can also review and
ban ads that you don't want shown on your pages.
Advertisers and publishers can find out more at

http://www.contextad.com/

12) Quigo: Calling their program "The AdSonar
Exchange," at this time they only accept publishers
and advertisers that cater to the Health, Beauty &
Fitness, Travel and Educational Fields. This ad
network includes over 200 sites, including USAToday
and NYPost.com

For advertisers, Adsonar reads your ad's landing
page and offers choices for placement. You bid
on topics, and keyword discovery is handled by
Quigo.com. Then you set the price you want to
pay per click. Advertisers and Publishers can
find out more or apply at:

http://www.quigo.com/adsonarexchange.htm

Whether you're a publisher who wants to add
content to your pages and earn some extra
income at the same time, or an advertiser
looking to get more exposure for your website,
you're sure to find it here. So take some time
and select one or even two programs that will
work best for your site and increase your bottom
line as well.

==========================================
By Merle- WebSiteTrafficPlan.com offers a F-r-e-e
ebook and an e-course that will teach you how to
promote and market your website. Grab your copy
now by going to http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com

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