The New Ad Network

Posted on 19. Aug, 2009 by in Hyperlocal, News Ecosystem, Revenue

Ad networks have come a long way from those annoying punch-the-monkey banners used to fill remnant ad space.

But while innovative networks like Glam Media are continually building new tools and services to connect online publishers with highly targeted ads for their audiences, the majority of them still focus on national advertising paired with the content rather than the reader.

Within the new ecosystem and framework we’ve been outlining, the role of ad networks would expand to connect publishers with new advertisers, audiences, and other publishers on a local and metro-wide level.

The best way to do that is “to work with the content providers who know their local barber and their local pizza place and help them sell their ads in a larger network,” says Mark Potts, who recently launched GrowthSpur (disclosure: Potts’ played an important role in brainstorming the framework concept for this project.) Not only does his team provide a range of tools for content providers like invoicing, analytics and search engine optimization, they also provide professional training in how to sell advertising.

In line with Potts’ aim to rethink advertising, we also see several untapped opportunities for ad networks to bring in new revenue through increased interconnectivity. One way to do that would be for independent publishers to help larger media brands and news organizations reach audiences normally overlooked.

Imagine for example if a local sports blogger covering the Illinois State Redbirds was to run targeted ads from ESPN Chicago and maximize the dollars gained from those ads. Potentially, both content providers would benefit, as well as the advertisers. And that would also allow the content providers to focus on what they do best: providing content.

“It’s often harder for larger media sites to reach local advertisers,” says Potts. “But if someone is already out in a community selling those advertisers on their site, they can also sell ads for the larger sites as well.”

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One Response to “The New Ad Network”

  1. Alex Botkin

    19. Oct, 2009

    I publish three business events calendars:Pittsburgh, Columbus, Washington DC. While each is relatively small, they focus on a fairly narrow and I believe valuable audience: business folks.

    Advertising networks really are not interested in focused audiences, although they will proclaim statistics of how many of my target group go to a general interest site. I had one reject me because I had less than 15 pages.