An ad network is characterized as a middleman between publishers and advertisers who collects a sizable pool of publisher-supplied ad inventory and markets it to advertisers

Defining Ad Network

A technological platform known as an ad network facilitates the selling of ad inventory between publishers and advertisers. It is a phrase only applied to internet advertisements and digital media. An ad network might be thought of as a kind of broker, gathering a sizable number of impressions from publishers and then offering them for sale to advertisers.

An ad network is part of advertising technology or ad tech that’s widely used in today’s digital media trading market. The majority of publishers who list their ad space for sale look to ad networks to attract customers. In a similar vein, advertisers search ad networks for the most appropriate inventory for their requirements.

The majority of ad networks are currently attempting to provide premium inventory to advertisers at rates above the publisher's first estimate. These networks carefully choose top-tier publications' premium content, which is then marked up and sold for advertising. Payment-accepting advertisers get the best engagement spots for their advertising.

How Are Ad Networks Operated?

Ad networks make it incredibly simple for publishers and advertisers to communicate with one another and complete a valuable transaction. But how precisely do they operate?

  1. To start, the network compiles a growing list of publishers who are eager to sell unsold inventory to buyers based on which buyer is willing to pay more.
  2. Buyers of inventors who are interested in creating campaigns with their specifications. Using the campaign-management interface of an ad network, they may set up the campaigns directly.
  3. The publisher installs ad-network ad tags on their website, while the advertiser's campaign comprises information about the target demographic, budget, frequency limitations, and much more.

This illustrates the conventional model of an ad network, albeit it has significantly changed in light of technological advancement. The main facilitators in the digital advertising arena today are dynamic markets like Supply Side Platforms (SSP) and Demand Side Platforms (DSP). Multiple ad networks are increasingly being used by more publications to sell inventory.

Ad Units

Display Ads and Native Ads are the two main types of ads available.

Display Ads The ads that are most obvious to see on a page as a hard sell are called display ads. They are typically displayed as banner ads at the top of the page, so they must naturally resemble a banner with a hyperlinked, image-based ad that is shaped like a rectangular strip.

Native Ads Native advertisements are those that blend in with the style and layout of the website they are placed on. They employ a more subdued and natural selling strategy.

These native and display advertising each have their advantages and disadvantages when compared. Although display advertisements often have poor click-through rates (approximately 0.05% across all formats and platforms), they are effective in raising brand awareness and purchase intent. While native advertisements do get attention from viewers due to their editorial appearance and feel, a display ad may occasionally be more successful since it sticks out.

Benefits of an Ad Network

  • The number of alternatives available to publishers and advertisers increases when they decide to purchase or sell through an ad network. The established auction system guarantees that sellers receive the greatest possible price for their material and that advertisers are matched with quality inventory that is compatible with their budgets.
  • It may be time-consuming and difficult to find inventory that matches your needs as a marketer. An ad network assumes the duty of taking care of things for you; it verifies that you have access to premium inventory by reviewing the impressions and packages it has collected from top-tier publishers.
  • On an ad network, there is something for everyone. Given that the network matches advertisers with premium products, substantial ROI is offered to them. For On the other side, publishers may make rapid value through ad networks by putting up their inventory on sale, as soon as they have built up a webpage.

Options for Pricing and Formats

All forms of digital inventory, including mobile and video, use ad networks nowadays, although the price choices for various formats often vary. Some packages are priced at a set charge while others are available through an auction. The latter matches impressions with the highest bidder using Real-Time Bidding (RTB) technology. You may want to think about any of the following:

  • Cost Per Thousand Impression
  • Viewable CPM (vCPM)
  • Cost Per Click(CPC)
  • Cost-per-view for video (CPV)

Features of an Ad Network

It might be quite difficult to choose an advertising network. There are so many alternatives available that it may occasionally be daunting. Here is a simple checklist to assist you in choosing the advertising network that is most appropriate for your requirements:

  1. Different types of inventory operate with various ad networks. Some just sell an unsold product, while others provide quality inventory sourced from top-tier publishers. Make careful to assess the caliber of the available inventory before selecting an ad network.
  2. As an advertiser, you must be aware of your target market while establishing your campaign. Before choosing an ad network, you should be aware of the needs of each platform as different ad networks allow various targeting possibilities.
  3. This is one of the most important qualities to consider when selecting an ad network. Others are completely plug-and-play, while some may need laborious, coding-based interfaces. Additionally, modern ad networks might be hosted on the cloud, raising concerns about service accessibility. If your ad network goes down, it could cause serious business interruptions, so be sure to include your service availability requirements in the SLAs.
  4. You must take into account the size of the ad network you choose because it will be in charge of a consistent stream of clients from inorganic (paid) sources. Greater will be yours if it can produce more traffic. In affiliate marketing, ROI is essential. Your traffic has converted once it reaches 15% or so.

Finally, the interface should be clean, easy to use, and data-rich, to equip your marketing team with all the critical performance data, without tedious customizations.

Top 3 Ad Networks You should try

  1. AdSense

Publishers that are a part of the Google Network of content websites can advertise through this network thanks to Google AdSense. The ads include a variety of targeting possibilities and may be published in several forms. There is no stopping this ad network's ascent due to Google's stellar reputation and cutting-edge technology.

AdSense is the oldest ad network still in operation in many aspects. DoubleClick promoted the idea of an ad network in 1996, and after Google acquired DoubleClick in 2007 for $3.1 billion, it became DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), a high-end publisher network for the tech behemoth. Slowly but surely, Google AdSense, which had only been around for four years in 2007, surpassed all other ad networks in size.

  1. 7Search PPC

Media buyers, ad networks, and publishers can use 7Search PPC as a  worldwide self-service online advertising AdSense Alternative network platform. 7Search PPC is a team of professionals with more than 8 years' worth of expertise in the internet advertising industry.

Advertisers can bid on online advertising in Selected Locations, auction-based marketplace, and optimize their campaigns easily via multiple targeting features.

Image, banner, and native advertisements from 7Search PPC are excellent for the media and entertainment sector. With our online advertising advertisements network, you may bid on the most pertinent terms to bring excellent visitors to your website. You can quickly check the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns with our tracking tools.

  1. Propeller Ads

Most people have given Propeller Ads fantastic reviews. It only works with pop traffic. Pop traffic is a display advertising technique that drives visitors to websites with content that is not category-specific (such as Buzz feed). Brands that target large audiences and span all demographic boundaries, like Netflix, have leveraged pop traffic to great effect.

On Volume, Propeller Ads has long been recognized as a "trusted traffic source." CPM and SmartCPA-based pricing models are used, and there are many different options available.

Final Remarks

Marketers must have a clear grasp of what an ad network is and how it may benefit your display, native, and banner advertising campaigns. You may select from a variety of ad types, which makes managing and monitoring them much simpler. Without a strong ad network, it may be very difficult to track your spending on display advertisements, native ads, and other forms of advertising.

Do you decide which ad network is ideal for you?

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