ShowYourAdHere.com - Fantastic Ad Network
Mark from 45n5.com is up to no good!
He started a new concept which seems to be taking off… A very simple advertising network where you can purchase affordable ads for your business, blog, or really anything you would like to advertise. You can also make money by displaying a little widget he has designed to show ads on any site you wish.
ShowYourAdHere.com is just starting out, and I am both a Publisher & Advertiser on this service. After having used it for a day or so, there are some things which I have noticed that I would like to see rolled out sooner than later:
Publisher List
- Better Control of Layout - A way to prevent the wrong size ad from displaying and breaking my layout - I believe this could be solved by some simple style tags included in the code snippet
- Advertisement Preapproval Feature - A way to approve or decline advertising before it is displayed - To be fair, Mark is working on figuring this out, but also to be fair, this would probably not cost a lot of money to implement if he hired a php developer to get it done
- Site Screenshot Upload - Right now, we have to wait for Alexa to update the thumbnail. The solution to this is also very easily accomplished via php - You can check against MIME type and then use a quick thumbnail application to reduce and scale any type / size of image to less than 5k. Mark, if you read this and are interested, I can put you in touch with somebody who can make this happen for you very quickly.
- Affiliate Program - It would be nice maybe something similar to BlogRush - If somebody clicks on my ShowYourAdHere.com widget and becomes an advertiser/publisher, I would like to get a piece of the action too - This would be a win win win - Mark’s network would grow more quickly; As the network grows, more and higher quality sites to advertise on would become available; and we could all *share the wealth*
Advertiser List
- Search Features - We need to have a way to search for the size and type of ads which are still available on the network. It would be great to see a drop down box to select the category of site we are interested in advertising on and then to search for the ad type and sizes which are available in that category.
- Ad Editing Capability - Right now, it looks to me like you only have one shot to upload the ad during your advertising period. If you want to make changes to the code or link (to insert an analytic or better looking affiliate forwarded link) you have to cancel the ad and buy a new one… we should be able to edit the ad any time during the campaign.
- Future Scheduling of Ads on a particular Publisher - I think this feature would benefit both the Publisher and the Advertiser. Right now, if somebody purchases all of the ad space available for a given time period if you look at the site in the Marketplace, all you get is a “sold out” message. It would be great to have the opportunity to “schedule” future ad periods out past the current advertiser’s window. This would allow both the Publisher the ability to see future revenue and plan around it and would allow Advertisers the ability to get onto sites without having to “luck out” and be there on the day the ad space becomes available. This is a complicated feature, as there would have to be a limit on the amount of future ads which were allowed to be scheduled to give the Publisher the opportunity to adjust rates, but that could be something which is set in the Publisher Control Panel.
I’m looking forward to the new features and functionality Mark will create on ShowYourAdHere.com!
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February 15th, 2008 10:45
thanks for the feedback on showyouradhere.com all feedback is great
To discuss your points
1. Better Control of Layout
advertisers are restricted so they won’t break your layout. However a publisher has the freedom to put any size they want in an adzone. This was done intentionally to give publishers the most control possible over their adzones.
2. Preapproval - I can program the system, however coming up with the system that makes sense is the confusing part.
If you want to approve an ad, that means I might place an ad while your sleeping. Obviously we need to take that adzone off the marketplace at that time, so the ad space is sitting in limbo until you decide to approve the ad.
Not good.
You can also set your advertiser expectations as clear as day in your site and adzone descrptions so you shouln’t be getting ads you won’t approve of in the first place.
Open to suggestions on a preapproval process that makes sense.
3. Site screenshot - yeah, this is on the list to revisit, alexa is fine for everyone but new sites, but looking into it.
4. affiliate program - should be here in the next few days , and it’s a good one
http://www.45n5.com/permalink/showyouradhere-monday-the-more-you-give-the-more-y.html
Advertisers
1. search - hear you loud and clear. i even want to implement a system where advertisers can say what they want and have the publishers pitch to them
2. Ad editing - you get 1 shot, however there is a feedback system to request changes. Giving advertisers control of the adzone could lead to all kinds of crazy shennanigans that could get the publisher in trouble. (like switching the ad every night to pron or something)
plus the system won’t allow an advertiser to upload any sized ad that isn’t what they purchased so mistakes should be slim to none, in which case use the feedback system
3. Future scheduling - Even better I think, I plan to create an “email list” feature where advertisers can opt in to get updates on when your ad spots open up or when you change prices.
If there is a high demand for ad space that is sold out the publisher should be raising prices.
Just some thinking. Really the site is an “evolution” and nothing is set in stone. The more feedback we take for something the more likely it will be to get implemented so all feedback is awesome
showyouradhere.net is where your readers can add their thoughts or questions also.
thanks again for the review
February 15th, 2008 16:28
@Mark -
Publishers List:
1 - Actually I was able to put an ad of a larger size in a space that I had designated for a smaller ad as the publisher on QuoteMyAuto.com - so, this may be something which needs a little more testing.
2 - Ad Approval - Since the approval would be on the publisher side, just implement something where the clock does not start until the publisher approves - I actually think that is pretty straight forward - ultimately if somebody posts an ad which is inappropriate I suppose we can just remove the code - but that is not a very elegant solution.
Advertisers List:
2 - I just really think this is not acceptable. Again, ads evolve, if I put up an ad which is not converting, as an advertiser I would like the opportunity to make minor modifications, especially if I sign up for a longer term ad, say 4 weeks. Also, I don’t really see a problem with promoting different offers in the same ad space - we are purchasing the ad space for a period of time, and as long as the ad does not violate the description of acceptable ads for the site, I would be fine with somebody changing their ad on my site every night… I do not like having to use a public forum like the feedback system to ask to change the ad - even if we do use the feedback system I do not see anywhere as the publisher that I would be able to make a change for an advertiser (plus - I wouldn’t want to have to deal with making any changes for them… if they want a change, then they can make it). Also, you are mistaken about uploading an incorrect image size, I did it the other night (see #1 above).
3 - email is great, but I would rather be able to get my ad in there without having to time it just right to luck out and get the ad space…
February 15th, 2008 17:18
“I was able to put an ad of a larger size in a space that I had designated for a smaller ad as the publisher”
Advertisers are restricted, however the publisher can do what they want with their zone. If you have had a different experience please give me more details and I”ll look into it.
“Since the approval would be on the publisher side, just implement something where the clock does not start until the publisher approves -”
that’s not a problem, it’s when i submit an ad it’s not approved. The adzone needs to be removed from the system at that point. So basically the azone is dead until approval. 1. it’s not making you money cause the ‘clock’ hasn’t started yet and 2. nobody else can by it cause it’s in limbo waiting on an approval or rejection.
Advertisers List - you can switch ads 12 times a day if you want if the publisher allows it and does it for you. You just need to go through the publisher.
“I do not like having to use a public forum like the feedback system to ask to change the ad”
Only the ratings are public, all other types of communication between buyer and seller are private.
“I do not see anywhere as the publisher that I would be able to make a change for an advertiser”
Goto Adzones-Ads. After a purchase is made the ad will show up under the “ads”. you can edit or delete it there.
“3 - email is great, but I would rather be able to get my ad in there without having to time it just right to luck out and get the ad space…”
I understand, noted. Especially if you only buy the spot for 1 week to test things out and like it. Even a “renew” would be better than nothing.