Advertising Resources for Local Sites: Ad Avengers
Posted on 12. Jan, 2011 by Peter Hauck in Revenue
Interviewed by Jennifer McFadden
Describe your product/service.
Ad Avengers helps advertisers and publishers connect directly. We also provide a listing and briefing process for the creative element of display advertising. Our experience has been that ad networks and ad exchanges overlook smaller publishers who have vibrant communities, so we help publishers monetize these communities and advertisers connect with these communities.
How can Ad Avengers help local publishers?
Local publishers have a problem because their audience numbers aren’t necessarily the right size for traditional ad networks and ad exchanges. On the opposite side of the equation, local advertisers have a problem finding publishers through large ad networks. We’re a marketplace that can connect advertisers and publishers on a local level.
How do you simplify the process of advertising online for local businesses?
We stay away from promising super-targeting and we don’t use traditional digital pricing (CPMs and CPCs). We focus instead on finding sponsorship opportunities for publishers and then provide retrospective CPCs to advertisers, but the real value is building a brand and supporting the (relatively) little guy.
Who is currently using your product?
We’re launching a trial with a couple of smaller publishers using the Moonfruit platform and other blogging/publishing tools. We’re UK-based but are also looking for US publishers and advertisers who would like to be part of our trial.
How can local publishers increase revenue on their sites?
Focus on your content and community and let a product like Ad Avengers help you monetize. The more content you build, the more interest you’ll get from users and from advertisers.
Who are your primary competitors? What value do you provide that makes Ad Avengers a better solution?
Our primary competitors are ad networks and ad exchanges. Google AdWords and other products can be a big beast to compete with. Our advantage is that we provide a service that helps the smaller publisher, which is a segment that often gets overlooked by the big players. We’re better because we’re leaner and are offering a service that will fit different publishers of different sizes rather than needing publishers to fit us.
What is your revenue model?
We take a commission on a successful sponsorship placement. The rate depends on how big and how valuable is the audience we’re supporting. With some publishers the revenue split is 80% to the publishers, 20% to us. In other cases, we’re taking a 5% commission.
How does a local site implement your products?
There’s two parts to implementation: helping us develop a publisher profile and inserting the ad code into your site to display the ads. We’re trying to make it as simple as possible and no more difficult then implementing a Google AdWords campaign.
What is your outlook for the local advertising marketplace over the next 2-5 years?
Local advertisers are moving more of their budgets away from traditional media and into online. Ad Avengers is hoping to help make this easier and more efficient for local advertisers.
What do you see as the biggest hurdle for local advertisers? How does Ad Avengers address this issue?
Finding the right publisher is definitely the biggest hurdle. Even if you are an expert at search and can find the right publisher, it’s difficult to contact the right person, discuss rates and content terms, and manage the process. Ad Avengers addresses this by making it transparent, showing an advertiser the rate, the audience, and excerpts of content to help answer the difficult questions right off the bat.
Contact:
Ad Avengers
Farhan Lalji — [email protected]
+44 7960 437 383
Twitter — @adavengers | @farhanlalji
Watch the Ad Avengers video.
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See more advertising resources for local sites.
