Advertising Network

With thousands of publishers and millions of potential consumers, it can feel overwhelming when trying to build an audience, sell a product or service, and scale your business. An advertising network enables you to make connections from a single centralized platform, like a bridge connecting advertisers and publishers. The right advertising network can help you save time and money, whether you’re on the supply or demand side.

What Is an Advertising Network?

Advertising networks connect advertisers with publishers whose websites or mobile apps have available ad space, drawing from a wide range of publishers’ websites, and aggregates all the available ad space inventory. These platforms can also provide tools to gather consumer data, enabling advertisers to target new audiences, create and edit campaigns, and offer a wealth of metrics and data beneficial to advertisers looking to expand their reach.

Why Are Ad Networks Important?

Ad networks can help determine the best websites and apps for a particular product or service, thereby increasing a brand’s reach through exposure, impressions, and sales. “As an advertiser, you do not need to contact each site yourself: You set your budget, choose who you want to reach and what kind of ad you want to run,” says Alex Smith, manager and co-owner of Render3DQuick in Toronto. “The network places your ads where they fit best. It saves time, cuts down on manual work, and gives your ads wider exposure. Think of it like this: You are a small furniture company launching a new line of office chairs. You want to reach interior designers, architects, and small business owners. You sign up with an ad network, set a daily budget of $50, and pick your audience. The network automatically shows your ad on architecture blogs, home design sites, and business tools apps where your audience already spends time.”

Pros and Cons For Advertisers

Pros and Cons For Publishers

Benefits of Ad Networks

Provides Cost-Effective Access

“For small companies, ad networks are essential because they level the playing field,” says Smith. “Without deep pockets for massive ad campaigns, small businesses need cost-effective ways to reach the right people. Because ad networks provide access to a wide pool of publishers, you can skip direct negotiations, saving you time and resources. On top of that, they offer precise targeting options, so you’re not wasting money on irrelevant audiences.”

Allows You to Scale Your Campaigns

You can scale your campaigns up or down according to your budget, marketing goals, and other targets on an ad network, and most advertising networks offer you access to editing tools to help you manage all your campaigns in one place.

Easy Setup for Publishers

An ad network makes it easy for publishers to set up codes, banners, and other ads without sacrificing real estate in the app or site. By partnering with an advertising network, publishers can benefit from CPV (clicks per view) on their site and generate revenue from the sales and potentially increased traffic.

Considerations When Advertising on Ad Networks

Cost

Some advertising networks may be too expensive or offer more tools than a small business needs. It can pay off to look for competitive pricing and transparency in billing and fees.

Lack of Control

Using an advertising network, you risk losing control over placements, which means your ads may appear next to non-relevant content and could be subject to false metrics if bots or spam interact with the app or web page.

Takes Time to Fine-Tune

You may need to continuously fine-tune campaigns to get the full return on investment. If your network’s platform doesn’t have robust editing capabilities, it may take longer to implement changes during a campaign.

What Are the Different Types of Ad Networks?

Blind Ad Network

These have wide exposure, but you can’t pick where your ads appear. While compatibility with sites and brands is offered, you have no control over the placement. This is beneficial for businesses that prioritize page views over placement.

Vertical Ad Networks

These networks allow you to advertise your products on apps and websites with a compatible audience. “For example, if you sell software for architects, a vertical network that includes design or construction sites would be a smart fit,” says Smith.

Premium Ad Networks

These give you access to reputable websites, like high-quality news media, lifestyle publications, high-traffic blogs, and other respected publications. They typically cost more, but in return, you get to advertise on a trusted site.

Programmatic Ad Networks

These networks utilize software and data to create ad placements in real-time, using a set budget and targeting a specific audience. They offer less control than other networks, but you may have a larger reach using this type.

Ad Targeting Capabilities

A network’s ad targeting capabilities allow advertisers to reach a specific target audience. They include, but are not limited to:

• Demographics.
• Age.
• Income.
• Online shopping behaviors.
• Browsing habits.

How to Monetize Your Website With an Ad Network

There are many ways to monetize your website with an ad network. First, make sure your website is user-friendly, provide consistently updated content, and make sure it can support a volume of high traffic.

An ad network can provide you with the right type of advertising content, from affiliate marketing articles, headers, banner ads, and other eye-catching advertisements from brands that align with the content or overall brand of your website or app.

How to Measure Ad Network Performance

The key metrics to measure ad network performance are: Click-Through-Rate (CTR), Cost Per Click (CPC), Cost Per Mille (CPM), and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Many ad network platforms provide this data to their advertisers to help them measure cost, effectiveness at driving traffic, purchases, and clicks (page views).

How to Optimize Ad Network Performance

“Monetizing and optimizing an ad network comes down to two things: knowing what kind of inventory you’re offering, and understanding how to match it with the right demand,” says Smith. Here are some ways to optimize ad network performance:

• Understand your campaign visibility goals and bidding strategy: Do you want clicks, leads, or conversions?
• Provide the data and metrics for each campaign that the ad network needs to perform at its best.
• Make a scaling-up plan.

How to Choose the Right Ad Network

Budget

Paying for an ad network can run from a few dollars a click to upwards of thousands of dollars a month, depending on your target audience, the type of ads you’re running, and the ad network platform’s capabilities and deliverables, like metric reports and other data. Research and compare the best ad networks for your business before committing to a single platform. Consider both monthly costs and any anticipated revenue share (typically on the publishing side).

Goals

Ad networks should align with your goals, depending on what you want from them, including monetizing your ads, generating leads and sales, or offering partnerships with high-quality sites to connect with a specific audience.

Audience

Some ad networks offer access to a specific target audience, while others are more general, providing limited control over ad placements and who sees them.

Requirements

Some ad networks have specific requirements that must be met, including minimum traffic and visibility standards, content guidelines that must be adhered to, and even geographical restrictions.

Tracking Tools

“If you’re thinking about using an ad network, I would recommend looking into one that allows you to track your campaign metrics,” advises Breanna Hendry, social media marketing director at Minky Couture. “This includes things like CTR, conversions, and CPA. Then, you should use this data to optimize and figure out what is and isn’t working. They also make it easier to test different creatives, formats, and placements to see what resonates most.”

Editing Tools

Many ad network platforms allow you to manage, edit, and even pause ad campaigns based on their performance and audience share. Being able to adjust your weekly or monthly campaign budgets, remove ads with low visibility or traffic, or increase ad content on sites with higher traffic may be possible, but these offerings tend to come at a higher cost.

Ad Network vs. Ad Exchange

An ad network compiles and captures a wide range of ad space inventory to sell to advertisers. Ad exchanges are open marketplaces where advertisers and publishers bid on rates in real-time directly from one another.

DSP vs. Ad Network

A Demand Side Platform (DSP) is a platform used by advertisers to bid in real-time auctions for ad space. An ad network gathers up all the available ad space for sale and matches. Ad networks are intermediaries between advertisers and online publishers who want to buy and sell ad space.

Key Takeaways

An advertising network is an intermediary entity that connects advertisers and publishers to facilitate the sale and purchase of ad space. These platforms can also provide advertisers with data and metrics to help them improve their reach and generate revenue. If you are a small business, using an advertising network can improve your visibility and save you time and effort in finding available ad space. There are different ad networks (with varying tools and price points) to choose from — some focus on specific audiences, others specialize in a particular kind of inventory, such as mobile apps, and others partner with high-profile publishing sites.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Google Display Network (GDN)?

The Google Display Network (GDN) is a group made up of more than 2 million apps, websites, and videos where Google Ads are posted.

What are the Big 4 advertising networks?

The four largest global advertising holding companies are collectively referred to as the “Big 4,” and own numerous major marketing firms and advertising agencies worldwide. The “Big 4” are WPP (UK), the Omnicom Group (USA), the Publicis Groupe (France), and the Interpublic Group, often referred to as IPG (USA).

What is the biggest ad network?

Currently, the largest ad network is Google Ads — often referred to as the Google Display Network (GDN).

Do ad networks support programmatic advertising?

Yes, ad networks support programmatic advertising in many ways, and, in fact, it is a part of an ad network’s system. Programmatic advertising allows advertisers with an ad network to place ads and brand-related content in real-time, among other abilities.

How do I block low-quality ads in my ad network?

You can install ad-blocking software, block specific advertisers via your ad network platform, and make adjustments in your browser extensions and settings to keep low-quality ads from popping up.

How do I integrate an ad network into my website?

You can integrate an ad network into your website by signing up for one. It will connect with your website or app and begin the process of integrating ads onto your spaces.

Why are my ad network earnings low?

There are several reasons for low ad network earnings, including improper ad placement or low visibility on a site or app. Issues with technology on the site, low visibility for ad clickability, and ill-defined ad metrics can all contribute.

Which ad network pays the highest CPM?

There are a lot of variables in play here, making it hard to give a definitive answer, but there are a few contenders, including Google AdSense, Adsterra, and RevContent.

Which ad network is best for small businesses?

Several factors influence the decision to choose an ad network, including budget and target audience. Google Ads is a popular choice for small businesses, as well as AdPushup, Realize, and Facebook Audience Network.