Evaluation Criteria for Advertising Networks
The independent authority on search vendors, topseos.com, evaluates and ranks the best in the internet marketing industry. Through in-depth vendor analysis, review of work completed, and client evaluation, we put together a list of the top advertising networks in the industry. Our in-depth analysis delves into a vendor’s business practices and compares them against industry standards to ensure that the work is quality. Often times we connect directly to the clients of a vendor and ask about their overall experience as well as details about the processes, reporting, and success of the campaign.
There are five key areas identified by topseos as significant for a successful advertising network:
The size of the network is based on the total number of advertisers and publishers advertising and found inside of the network. A large number means a greater opportunity of matching advertisers to publishers for equal benefit.
The variety of both advertisers and publishers in the advertising network is also evaluated. Does the network maintain a large variety of industries represented in the network or is there a lack of certain identified industries?
Are the advertising requirements strong enough to prevent abuse but lenient enough to allow advertisers to get involves? Requirements are compared from network to network and to industry standards. The same standards are also applied to the requirements set on publishers in the same network.
Finally, we evaluate the reporting methods used to update publishers and advertisers on the status of their campaigns. We compare reports generated based on how information is generated and displayed to clients and given explanations of information and how to use it.
A few questions that we may ask clients of an advertising network to gauge their level of expertise are:
General Queries:
• What type of needs analysis was conducted before work initiated?
• What type of ROI were you anticipating, what was achieved and in what time frame?
• What would be three things you would change about your experience?
• What was your total investment?
• Rate your overall experience (1-10; 10 being the highest).
Project Specific Queries:
• How many advertisers or publishers were you able to connect with?
• How quick were you able to make a connection with your chosen advertisers or publishers?
• Was the process automated to find advertisers/publishers in your industry?
• How simple was integration of tracking codes or tracking methods?
• Have loading times been affected by the inclusion of tracking codes on your website?
