What Bloggers Want from a New Ad Network

I thought I'd jot down some ideas about what I'd like in a blog advertising program as a publisher. New ad networks could take this as my "wish list" of features and services.

I'm writing this from a publisher/blogger's perspective out of my experience with the following income stream systems:

• Google Adsense
• BlogAds
• Chitika eMiniMalls
• Amazon affiliate program
• Clickbank
• Adbrite
• All Posters
• Fastclick
• Commission Junction
• Linkshare
• TradeDoubler
• Private Advertising (negotiated directly with Ad Agencies and Advertisers themselves)

Essentials

Ease of Use - the systems that I invest most time into making work are the ones that are easy to implement. This needs to be the case from the moment I come into contact with them - from their publicity, Terms of Service, Sign Up process through to (and especially) implementing them onto my blog (it needs to be as simple as posting something into a template) through to the statistics/report package which needs to be easy to understand and useful.

Flexible - each blog is different and will require different ad design, positioning and features. Provide this and I'll always be interested in checking it out further.

Lucrative - when it comes down to it it needs to pay well. The main reason Chitika's eMiniMalls is getting attention is because their click values are up to 5 or 6 times higher than many clicks in Adsense. I know this peaked my interest and got me onto them very quickly. Money isn't everything - but at the higher Pro blogger end it is a lot!

Payment Options - tied to the money thing is the method of payment. One of the common complaints of Adsense users is the lack of direct deposit or automated payment. They've recently changed this for US (and some other) users but not all. Paypal, direct deposit options seem to be appreciated by many.

Passive - Most bloggers don't have time to blog let alone be continually tweaking ads. Of course some will get into the optimisation thing in a big way so you need to cater for this - however it also needs to have an element of 'set and leave' it so that publishers can let the long tail nature of blogging have its impact and earn them a decent income over time. As much as people will want features and the ability to tweak things - some other bloggers will want to be able to put things completely on Automatic Pilot.

Compatible - the ad system has to get along with others as much as possible. From browsers, to blog platforms to other Ad systems. A real coup would be if it is allowable to use it on the same page as Adsense/YPN and MSN's ads (when they come out). This means they can't be contextual or look too similar to the traditional text ad. Most bloggers will be unwilling to try any new program if it's not able to be used with Adsense on the same page. This is the first question most people ask me when I talk about any new product.

Adaptable - This connects with numerous other points above - but it needs to be a system that can be targeted to specific pages/blogs etc but also one which can be adapted very quickly across multiple pages if needed. ie I don't have time as a blogger to be manually making changes on individual posts - I'd rather make the changes at one central point like a template or a control panel. This is the downfall of AdGenta.

Blended - text based ads that blend into content work best at this point. This might change in the future as people become more and more blind to them - however at present they should blend.

Control - publishers like to know they can control the ads that do or don't appear on their pages. Many Adsense users complain about their lack of ability to target categories of ads or keywords. I've heard this will be a change Adsense make to their system and are testing with some publishers now. Whether bloggers use the ability to approve ads or not is a different manner - but the knowledge that they can and the ability to do so is important.

Design - I'm amazed at how many people are using services and features on their blogs just because they 'look cool' or because they are aesthetically beautiful. Help a blogger improve the look of their blog and you'll win a friend.

Transparency - This is obviously a personal preference but I like to declare my interests to my readers. So some ability to do so in an unobtrusive way is important to me. Having said this - there is a fine line for me - the disclaimer shouldn't interfere with the ad itself or take away from the design of the site. Again - disclaimers and transparency are important but many will like the ability not to use them. This will be a key question to answer especially if the ads are 'in text'. Finding the balance between transparency and design (as well as the fall out in the wider blogging community) is a potential minefield.

Mystery - Have you read "Love Marks" - they talk about 'Mystery' as being something that people respond very well to.

As I think about Google Adsense I think they do 'mystery' quite well. While it frustrates many users that they don't know the % split of earnings with google, that they don't know all the details of how ads are targeted etc - there is something about 'not knowing' that has caused the community around Adsense to spring up. Publishers (and advertisers) have started their own forums (which Google participate in) rather than Google having their own. The 'UPS club' (for those getting big earnings who get couriered cheques) is something that people talk about with admiration, inspiration and sometimes even awe. The magical 'premium publishers' category of publishers is a sought after thing. All of this has the potential to make Google seem very un-transparent and frustrating - yet I have a suspicion that it also contributes to their success.

Community - people like places to learn from one another, to brag a little, to moan about what's not working and to just belong to a group of others who are doing something similar to them. The idea of spaces where this can happen is key to many ad programs. Having said this - it doesn't necessarily have to be organised by the ad program itself as has been seen by Google with the active forums at Webmasterworld and Digitalpoint to name just two.

Relevant Ads - Goes without saying really but without a large supply of ads any system won't provide relevant ads which will mean no clicks and no cash in publishers hands. Ads should also be of a high quality. Many publishers reject advertisers that they don't feel fit with heir blogs.

Incentive to Refer and coach others - I'm seeing the power of this with Chitika. Since they allowed me to earn a % of the earnings of anyone I refer I've been quite active in promoting them. The ability to know who signs up as an affiliate from my links would be a great thing. It gives ongoing incentive to coach, promote, help in any way possible the publisher you refer. In this way the peer learning happens very naturally because they know if they others improve so do they.

Tracking - the more information you give publishers the better they can do at tweaking their ads to optimise their and your performance. Give them info on which pages, positions, design, keywords work best and they will adapt their blogs to suit. This information needs to be given in a variety of forms including at a big picture/overview level but also on a micro level. Some bloggers don't want to know the details and will be totally be overwhelmed by how to use them - but others have a deep thirst for them and will use them in incredibly innovative ways. Channels are vital. Chitika is coming under some attack/pressure from some publishers for not having them yet at present. I predict that when they release them that they'll notice significant increases in earnings as a result of publishers having good information on how to tweak their sites to make the most of the ads.

One stat Adsense doesn't give is 'click value'. It can easily be worked out by publishers - but it's annoying that they don't include it.

Strategies for overcoming Ad Blindness - the ability to rotate ads so that the same ones don't always come up on the same keywords in the same sorts of positioning in the same design might be handy for some sites - especially those with high loyal readers who become blind to the ads.

Dreaming - Ideas - Brainstorming

Here's some ideas that came to mind. They are all totally brainstorming without any of them being thought through properly.

Consulting - people like personal attention. I've had a consultant over at Adsense for the past few months who checks in with me and is available to me when I need her. Just knowing I have this line into Adsense is a good feeling but it's also quite useful. This type of learning can happen on a one on one basis but also in small groups and with the whole network of publishers - but personal contact is valued by many. People also like to know they are getting some special treatment (ie that they are testing a new feature that no one else is). This taps into the mystery thing mentioned above.

Communication between Advertisers and Publishers - I was looking at the ads being served via Adsense on a couple of my blogs the other day and started wondering who the advertisers were and what would happen if I had the ability to send them messages and hear their thoughts on my blog. I know what people are coming to my blog looking for - what would happen if I could tell them that and make suggestions about what keywods work on my blog? What if they could tell me what they were looking for or how I could improve my site to help them further? What if we had the ability to negotiate other types of ad campaigns (banner ads etc)? I know there are dangers in this (you don't want to be taken out of the equation as the middle man) but the possibilities of relationships between advertisers and publishers could be interesting to explore.

Ad spend - A recurring suggestion in Adsense forums is that some would love to be able to spend some of their earnings on advertising. I've heard YPN are exploring this.

Reader interaction with Ads - the system that Weblogs Inc had to leave a comment/review on an ad intrigues me. Particularly on ads that are product related I think this could give some real possibilities. It reminds me of what Amazon does by allowing users to review products which appear on the product page. This is a little risky to advertisers with bad products - but could be an interesting experiment.

Many ad systems allow advertisers to target publishers - but what would happen if publishers could target advertisers?

Change Log - One of the frustrating parts of being an Adsense publisher is that you can make a simple change that has a profound impact upon your earnings (either up or down) but unless you remember what you did it's very difficult to replicate the changes. I suggested a while back to Adsense that they give publishers a change log function where they can record the changes they make. This could happen manually pretty easily (it'd just be a notepad type thing) or perhaps even automatically (I'm not a techy so I don't know how it could be done). Imagine being able to analyse your stats for the past year and to put your finger on why there was an increase in CTR on July 17. The more help publishers can get in analysing stats the better.

Publishers within a niche working together - I like the idea of BlogAds creating little sub-networks that share advertisers. Could this be extended to have them working together and chatting about how they can build each other's sites up?

Plug Ins - One of the most popular tools of Adsense that I've seen is the firefox plug in that allows publishers to check their earnings without opening Adsense. Something like this might be useful.