Tom, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to conduct this interview with The Webmaster’s Edge. I would like to start off by saying that I was a bit taken aback by your payment model. You pay the Publisher FIRST and THEN display the ads. You sometimes pay the Publisher more than once a day and this is all performed instantly over Paypal. While this is not the only payment option, it is your most prominent and preferred. I must admit that when Julie e-mailed me about your Network it made me a bit leery at first, but I had to think to myself “What do I have to lose by giving them a trial run?”. My answer was little to nothing, I have little or nothing to lose because your payments are all up front, so there is very little fear about it being some sort of scam. Is this what you were going for by utilizing this Payment model? How well has it worked?

There are so many concerns facing every publisher, especially when it comes to selecting a new ad network. We wanted to remove the biggest fear “will I get my money??” once and for all by paying cash in advance.

How long has The Robert Sherman Company been serving Advertisers and Publishers?

We began our first website, Quizland.com in April, 1995. We’ve been serving ads to other webistes since July 1999.

Are there any specific categories that The Robert Sherman Company focuses on? Are there any specific categories that you steer clear from?

Most sites of interest to large groups of folks are welcome. Sites targeting working women, sites about sports, technology sites, and entertainment pages are in particularly high demand right now. The sites we don’t work with are “adult content” and pages that are designed merely to generate clicks.

What payment model(s) (CPM, CPC, CPA) does The Robert Sherman Company utilize?

We pay 100% CPM to our publishers. They have enough grief in their lives without having to hope for CPA’s and CPC’s to pay off.

What are the primary ad sizes served by The Robert Sherman Company?

728×90 Leaderboards, 468×60 banners, 120×600 and 160×600 towers, 300×250 rectangles, and popunders which still pay the best by far.

What are your feelings on the current state of the Internet Advertising Industry? Do you have any thoughts on any specific industries such as SEM, PPC, CPM, or CPA?

As we eventually exit this recession (someday), I think the pundits will be surprised: The internet will have proved more resilient than traditional media, with a higher share of the world’s ad revenue than ever. That means that the largest advertisers will be buying more of the available inventory on a CPM basis, leaving less space for alternative revenue models such as CPA and CPC.

Until the recession eases, of course, CPA will be prominent, as it is in other media during tough times.

What are your thoughts on the future of The Robert Sherman Company? Do you have any specific projects you are working on that aren’t “top secret”?

We hope to add more types of ads to the mix, to give our publishers more choices. Full motion video and other long form ads of various types are being tested right now.

What does The Robert Sherman Company offer that other Ad Networks might not?

We pay 100% cash in advance.
Our ads are 100% CPM based, with no Cost Per Click or Cost Per Action.
We don’t force publishers to run our cheapest ads. Instead, if they wish, we’ll throw them a redirect code to bring up an ad from their other ad suppliers. We’re not shy about offering redirects if it means more revenue for the publisher in the long run.

Interested Publsihers can apply for this Ad Network at:
http://www.robertsherman.com/agreement.htm

HTML

I have started to go over HTML code elements and as I do so I will be adding them to the Wiki. I hope to have this fleshed out nicely within a few months and then begin adding tutorials and examples in order to compliment the element guide.

Community Forums

I probably shouldn’t have started the site with Community Forums. It was sort of “shooting for the moon” in a way, and the lack of posts makes the site look “dead”, when it is far from it. Comments on Blog posts have been gaining activity, but the Forums are being left out. Due to this, I will likely be closing the forums for now, probably de-integrating them with the Wiki.

Guides

Expect more server administration guides! I have gotten some good traffic from some of these guides, and there have been quite a few people who have found them helpful. As these guides have been answering questions for people in search of answers, I will most certainly be writing more. I’m very pleased to be able to give a helping hand to others who administer their own servers. While I will be making guides for various server configurations, my main focus will be on CPanel.

Ad Network Interviews

The coding and deisgn aspect of the site is an important one, and the server administration aspect is equally important. However, another important facet I plan to soon focus on is knowing which Ad Networks to go with and how the industry is doing. One way to do this is to interview representatives of different Ad Networks. The first of many will be coming soon so make certain to keep an eye out for it!

2007

• Jaiku: Micro-blogging site similar to Twitter.
  Related Service – Google Mobile
• Zingku: Social networking.
  Related Service – Google Mobile
• Postini: Communications/E-mail security.
  Related Service – Gmail
• Image America: Aerial photography.
  Related Service – Google Maps
• GrandCentral: VOIP.
  Related Service – Google Mobile
• Zenter: Presentation software.
  Related Service – Google Documents
• PeakStream: Parallel processing
  Related Service – Google Servers
• FeedBurner: RSS Feed Aggregator.
  Related Service – Google Reader
• Panoramio: Photo sharing.
  Related Service – Google Maps
• GreenBorder: Computer security.
  Related Service – Google
• DoubleClick: Online advertising.
  Related Service – Google AdSense
• Marratech: Videoconferencing.
  Related Service – Google Talk
• Tonic Systems: Presentation software.
  Related Service – Google Documents
• Trendalyzer: Statistical software.
  Related Service – Google Analytics
• Adscape: In-game advertising.
  Related Service – Google AdSense?
• Xunlei: Google purchased a stake in this company and not the company itself. It is a popular Chinese download manager / file sharing program.
  Related Service – ?

2006

• Endoxon: Mapping.
  Related Service – Google Maps
• JotSpot: Web design application.
  Related Service – Google Sites
• YouTube: Video sharing.
  Related Service – Google Video, YouTube
• Neven Vision: Computer imaging.
  Related Service – Google Maps, Picasa
• 2Web Technologies: Online spreadsheet software.
  Related Service – Google Spreadsheet
• Orion: Search Engine.
  Related Service – Google
• @Last Software: 3D modeling software.
  Related Service – Google Sketchup
• Upstartle: Word processing software.
  Related Service – Google Documents
• Measure Map: Analytics.
  Related Service – Google Analytics
• dMarc Broadcasting: Advertising.
  Related Service – Google AdSense

2005

• bruNET GmbH: Mobile software.
  Related Service – Google Mobile
• allPAY GmbH: Mobile software.
  Related Service – Google Mobile
• Phatbits: Widgets.
  Related Service – Google Desktop
• AOL: No, not the whole thing, just a large share.
  Related Service – ?
• Akwan Information Technologies: Search Engine.
  Related Service – Google
• Skia: Graphics software.
  Related Service – Android
• Android: Mobile software platform.
  Related Service – Android
• Current Communications Group: Broadband ISP.
  Related Service – ?
• Reqwireless: Mobile browser.
  Related Service – Google Mobile
• Dodgeball: Social networking.
  Related Service – Google Mobile, Google SMS
• Urchin Software Corporation: Statistical software.
  Related Service – Google Analytics

2004

• Keyhole: Map analysis.
  Related Service – Google Maps, Google Earth
• Where2: Map analysis.
  Related Service – Google Maps
• ZipDash: Road traffic analysis.
  Related Service – Google Ride Finder
• Picasa: Image/Photo organizer.
  Related Service – Picasa, Blogger
• Baidu: Google purchased a stake in this company and not the company itself. Baidu is a Chinese language search engine.
  Related Service – ?
• Ignite Logic: HTML editing software.
  Related Service – Google Page Creator

2003

• Genius Labs: Blogging software.
  Related Service – Blogger
• Sprinks: Online advertising.
  Related Service – Google AdSense, Google AdWords
• Kaltix: Search Engine.
  Related Service – iGoogle
• Applied Semantics: Online advertising.
  Related Service – Google AdSense, Google AdWords
• Neotonic Software: CRM.
  Related Service – Google Groups, Gmail
• Pyra Labs: Blogging software.
  Related Service – Blogger

2001

• Outride: Search Engine.
  Related Service – Google Personalized Search
• Deja: Usenet services.
  Related Service – Google Groups

Banner, CPA / Cost Per Action, CPC / Cost Per Click, CPL / Cost Per Lead, CPM / Cost Per Thousand, CPS / Cost Per Sale, Impression, IO / Insertion Order, Inventory, PPC / Pay Per Click, Rich Media, ROI / Return On Investment, RON / Run Of Network, The Fold

Today, I will go over another batch of important terms.

Ad rotation: Ads are typically rotated based on a given list and given conditions. This can be managed by an Ad Network, a simple rotation script, or more complex Ad Management software. There can be any number of ads in a given rotation and they are often based on demographics and a requirement for number of views each ad needs to achieve.

Affiliate: An affiliate is a webmaster who has a relationship with an advertiser for CPA advertising / Affiliate Marketing.

Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate Marketing is another term for CPA Advertising. This is a form of advertising where the advertiser pays based on specified actions taken by the end user. Some examples would be filling out a form after clicking on the ad or purchasing a product after clicking on the ad.

Clickthrough: A click in which the user was successfully directed to the Advertiser’s landing page.

Co-branding: A site which is branded with the logos and/or style of another site for use with the other site is called a co-brand.

Creative: The Creative is the advertisment itself, whether it be a banner, rich media, or text ad.

CTR / Clickthrough Rate: The Clickthrough Rate is the rate at which an ad is clicked on and the user is successfully directed to the Advertiser’s landing page. Clickthrough rates are often used to determine whether or not an ad is served and can sometimes have a Publisher’s account cancelled with an Ad Network due to low Clickthrough rates.

Demographics: The data that makes up a website’s audience such as age, gender, income, and location are the demographics for a given site.

PSA / Public Service Advertisement: A Public Service Advertisement or Public Service Announcement is an advertisement that is run on a website for no charge, usually when there are no other ads to display. These ads are usually displayed for charities or government agencies.

SEO / Search Engine Optimization: The process of optimizing one’s website to get better results in search engines.

SEM / Search Engine Marketing: Promoting one’s website through a search engine, either through paid listings, or getting one’s site higher Search engine rankings through other means.

ROS / Run Of Site: An ad shown anywhere on a website as opposed to specific pages or categories of the website.

Unique / Unique User / Unique Visitor: A visitor is counted as a Unique on their first pageview of the website for that day.

All of the terms from both posts can now be found in the Wiki filed under Advertising Terms.

What I find most interesting about this particular network though is their MLTV “Affiliate News” show. It can be found at http://www.marketleveragenews.com/ and I honestly don’t know of any other Ad Networks currently doing something like this. While many Ad Networks are now using Company Blogs and other methods of keeping in touch with their userbase, this is a very unique method and I have to applaud MarketLeverage for this idea.

Not only are they providing their Publishers with great information about their current promotions, but they are providing this information to Publishers who have not yet signed up with them! This is also quite unique as they are discussing price points which is almost completely unheard of in the Ad industry!

While I’ve only heard about them in the past few months, making it sound like they could be a “new kid on the block”, they are offer features which appear to be completely unique to their Network. I’m impressed with what I have seen from them thus far and definately will have to do a full review and interview with them sometime in the near future. For now, I think I am going to give them a whirl and see what they have to offer.

You can do so as well by signing up at:

• Click Here To Sign Up For MarketLeverage

Why not give it a go? You’ve got nothing to lose.

Of course, none of these forms are worth much of anythign if you don’t have good traffic and to get good traffic you need good content. Really, that is the key to any successful website. I am not saying it is the only way to make money on the Internet, but certainly the easiest and most reputable way.

Banner: An advertisement in a defined set of pixel space such as 468×60 or 160×600. These are usually image-based ads, but they can also contain text and/or rich media.

CPA / Cost Per Action: This is a form of advertising where the advertiser pays based on specified actions taken by the end user. Some examples would be filling out a form after clicking on the ad or purchasing a product after clicking on the ad.

CPC / Cost Per Click: This is a form of advertising where the advertiser pays a certain amount per advertisement click or pays a specified amount for a specified number of clicks.

CPL / Cost Per Lead: This is a form of CPA advertising where the advertiser pays based on specified actions taken by the end user. These actions are based around the advertiser gaining a “lead” usually through the user filling out a form.

CPM / Cost Per Thousand: This is a form of advertising where the advertiser pays based on the number of ad views. The payment is based off of a certain dollar cost per 1000 ads viewed. M is the roman numeral for 1000 and is the reason for the M in CPM.

CPS / Cost Per Sale: This is a form of CPA advertising where the advertiser pays out when a sale is completed.

Impression: The ad has been displayed on a user’s browser. Do not confuse this with a pageview. A pageview can have multiple impressions (due to multiple ads) or zero impressions (due to ad blocking software). Typically though one pageview will mean 1 impression per ad you have on that page.

IO / Insertion Order: An Insertion Order is a formal order for advertising specifying all of the details of the campaign (creatives, cost, impressions, etc).

Inventory: Inventory is the number of ad impressions you have available over a specified period of time.

PPC / Pay Per Click: This is a form of advertising where the advertiser pays a certain amount per advertisement click or pays a specified amount for a specified number of clicks.

Rich Media: Rich Media is an advertisement that contains technology more advanced than just a static image or standard GIF animation.

ROI / Return On Investment: An advertiser’s return on investment is how much was earned/gained from an ad campaign minus the ad campaign’s expenses, also known as “The Bottom Line”.

RON / Run Of Network: A run of network ad campaign is one that runs on all websites in a given network of sites.

The Fold: The Fold is the viewable area of a webpage without scrolling. The Fold is defined differently by different advertisers and ad networks. It is most commonly the first 400-600 pixels of a website.

7/14/08 UPDATE: These terms can now be found in the Wiki filed under Advertising Terms.

Note: Referrals is being retired during the last week of August 2008, so we recommend that you do not implement referral ad code on your site at this time.

This actually came as a major shock to me, their referral system is a great form of CPA advertising and it is unfortunate to lose it. However, I then checked my e-mail and found this in my Inbox:

Hello,

Thank you for participating in the AdSense Referrals program.
We’re writing to let you know that we will be retiring the AdSense
Referrals program during the last week of August. We appreciate
your patience during this transition and here are some alternative
options to consider:

* Google Affiliate Network: As part of the integration of
DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate Network will now
operate as the Google Affiliate Network for advertisers targeting
users located in the United States. Similar to the AdSense
Referrals program, the Google Affiliate Network enables publishers
to apply for advertiser programs and get paid based on
advertiser-defined actions instead of clicks or impressions. For
further details, please visit:
www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork.
* AdSense for content ads: If you have less than three AdSense
for content ad units on a page, you may wish to replace the
referral ad units with standard AFC ad units.

If you currently use referral ads, either to promote Google
products or offerings from AdWords advertisers, AdSense Referrals
code will no longer display ads beginning the last week of August.
We encourage you to take the following steps before the product is
retired:

* Remove the referral code from your site(s): Please take a
moment to remove all referral code from your sites before the last
week of August, so you can continue to effectively monetize your
ad space.
* Run and save all referrals reports on your desktop: Create
and save all reports related to the referrals program on your
desktop, so you continue to have access to your valuable campaign
information

Why is this happening?
We’re constantly looking for ways to improve AdSense by developing
and supporting features which drive the best monetization results
for our publishers. Sometimes, this requires retiring existing
features so we can focus our efforts on the ones that will be most
effective in the long term. For this reason, we will be retiring
the AdSense Referrals program. If you have any additional
questions, please visit our Help Center:

http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=14882

Sincerely.

The Google AdSense Team

Looks like they are moving everybody over to Doubleclick for CPA. No surprising really and in the end it is probably for the best.

• Arial
• Comic Sans MS
• Plain Serif
• Times New Roman

This should really come as no huge surprise as Google is constantly testing new ways to promote AdSense. The only change that I’ve personally seen and was very disappointed in was when they made only the link clickable. I do, however, see the wisdom in it. The clickable area change was probably good for AdWords users, not so good for AdSense users. Some musings across the net have reported an increase in clicks since they started playing with the font.

My only suggestion for the plugin is that they integrate it into the “Write Post” and “Write Page” pages so that you can choose to not run ContentLink™ on pages in an easier fashion than going to the plugin page every time your write something you do not wish to include ContentLink™ ads on.

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