PicText™ Version 2 has been RELEASED
June 29th, 2008 by Dan
The new version of our PicText™ Ads have been released throughout the network! The one week BETA release was very successful with a number of publishers giving it a go. Statistics we gathered proved the CTR of the new version of PicText™ was more than double and the fill rate was much higher with more relevant ads and more variety.
If you are using our PicText™ Ads you will now see they have been upgraded to the new version - spotted by the loading icon before the ads load.
There are a couple of technical considerations which you may require you to make some changes, these are below:
- The ad code must not be altered apart from changing styles or variables. DO NOT separate the styles from the javascript area, they need to be together.
- The ad code MUST be placed between the <BODY> tags on your page.
- You must have height and width properties set in your styles. The top style in the ad code has this, for example “.at_table_style_19875 { width:200px; height:50px; background-color: #0000CC; padding: 3px; }”.
Thanks to everyone that helped with the testing, it was much appreciated. If anyone does discover anything strange or has any questions please get in contact with us!
PicText™ Ads Version 2 BETA Released
June 23rd, 2008 by Dan
The new version of our PicText™ Ads are finally here! Initially we are releasing them as a BETA and are now calling on any Publishers interested in giving them a go.
To use the new version of our PicText™ Ads just create a new ad group for your site and select “PicText Ad Version 2 Beta” - then as normal follow the instructions!
What’s different about Pictext™ Version 2?
- The ads are automatically served in an IFRAME so our ads do not slow your web site loading time.
- You will be served far more relevant and a higher volume of ads then ever before.
- You will see a better payout rates and payout rates will vary with niche.
Technical things to consider
- There is no need to put the ad code into your own IFRAME as our new ads do this automatically for you.
- You can only alter the values in the ad code for the styles and other parameters. Do not alter the ad code in any other way - such as moving the styles to an external stylesheet.
- Testing has been conducted in a variety of browsers including IE6, IE7 and FireFox 2 and 3.
What should you do if you see a problem?
If you are using our new PicText™ Ads and you discover a problem or have some feedback please get in contact with us immediately. It’s through your help in this BETA stage that we will improve and iron out any issues.
We already have a number of Publishers who have been trialling the new version with some fantastic success! We look forward to working with all of our Publishers to help you monetize your web sites even better than before.
Keep in mind this is a BETA release and as such Sponsored Ad bookings will not be accepted, however you will be served a variety of relevant ads (based on your site restrictions, ad rating, vertical and user geo-target) .
Upcoming: CPM Run of Network Campaigns
May 26th, 2008 by Dan
We often get asked by Advertisers if we provide CPM based Run of Network campaigns. The good news for these Advertisers is that we are now working on introducing CPM based Run of Network campaigns to accompany our CPC based campaigns.
This is also great news for Publishers as they will now be able to earn on a CPM basis!
We expect CPM Run of Network campaigns to be released sometime in June and further release information will be available on this blog in the next month.
We are offering Advertisers a pre-release special whereby if you pre-book a CPM RON campaign before release you can take advantage of our wholesale price. If you are interested please get in contact with us.
Video Ads now available on all banner Ad Groups
May 21st, 2008 by Dan
We asked ourselves the question, “what is a video ad?”. A simple question but it made us think. We came to the conclusion that a video ad is simply a type of ad media. At that time we had a dedicated video ad format (300×250) and that really didn’t make much sense based on our discussion.
This discussion, as well as feedback from our customers has lead to this change. What we have done is changed the 300×250 video ad group into a normal banner ad (Medium Rectangle) and now video ads can be booked on any of the banner ad sizes. We figured that video is simply an ad media, just like a JPG, or even flash (SWF), so why shouldn’t you be able to book video as well!?
To accompany this change we have also provided more flexibility to Publishers when setting up their banner Ad Groups. Now they have the ability to select which types of ad media they will accept and display.
This in a sense killed two birds with one stone because one of the things Publishers were asking for was the ability to disallow GIF and SWF ads; now they have the ability to do that and more.
You will also see changes on the Rate Cards and booking screens. On the Rate Card, on each available Ad Group it will show the Advertiser what ad media is allowed, and this information is also shown at the top of the booking screen for Sponsored Ad Bookings.
Also on the booking screen, as part of the ad media section, the Advertiser is required to select the type of ad media they wish to use. This helps make it clear to the Advertiser what type of media they can book and provides them with the necessary information and fields required when they select their option.
This change is a step forward for AdToll and provides a lot more flexibility and options to Publishers. We look forward to hearing any feedback or ideas so please feel free to contact us if you do!
SSL protected ad serving now active on AdToll
April 19th, 2008 by Dan
We have had numerous requests to make our ad code (ad serving) SSL compatible. This is VERY important for publishers serving ads on pages within a secure area.
As part of our promise to deliver on your suggestions we have now made this available.
How do you use it?
Very simply actually… all you need to do is change the URL of the ad code from http://adserve.adtoll.com to https://adserve.adtoll.com
For example your current ad code may look something like this:
<!-- START ADTOLL.COM CODE V1.0 -->
<style type="text/css">
A.at_adv_here_15956, A.at_pow_by_15956 {font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; text-transform: none; color: #000099; text-decoration: none; }
A.at_adv_here_15956:hover, A.at_pow_by_15956:hover { color: #0000FF; text-decoration: underline; }
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
adtoll_see_your_ad_here = 1;
adtoll_your_text = "Advertise here";
adtoll_show_powered_by = 1;
</script>
<script src="http://adserve.adtoll.com/js/at_ag_15956.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<!-- END ADTOLL.COM CODE V1.0 -->
If serving pages in a secure area (SSL) then change the ad code to this:
<!-- START ADTOLL.COM CODE V1.0 -->
<style type="text/css">
A.at_adv_here_15956, A.at_pow_by_15956 {font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; text-transform: none; color: #000099; text-decoration: none; }
A.at_adv_here_15956:hover, A.at_pow_by_15956:hover { color: #0000FF; text-decoration: underline; }
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
adtoll_see_your_ad_here = 1;
adtoll_your_text = "Advertise here";
adtoll_show_powered_by = 1;
</script>
<script src="https://adserve.adtoll.com/js/at_ag_15956.js” type=”text/javascript”></script>
<!– END ADTOLL.COM CODE V1.0 –>
The only change required is to the second last line where you change the http to https. This tells the web browser that the requested page is coming from a secure area.
That’s all you need to do and you should now be successfully serving ads to your secure pages with no errors.
Using PicText™ Ads as your banner Default Ad setup!
March 21st, 2008 by Dan
Many of you know that we provide a Default Ad facility for AdToll banner ad groups. This allows you to display ads from another network (or your own personal ads) in replacement of the AdToll Run of Network ads - giving you complete control of your ad inventory! Read more about Default Ads at http://www.adtoll.com/publishers.php#da_1
As an example for Publishers I have taken this a step further hoping that it gives you the initiative to perhaps try it with your sites.
What I have done is used our own PicText™ Ads as the default ads on the 120×600 ad group on our blog (left hand side under the 125×125 ad group).
Why would I do this? Quite simply to ensure ads are being served on that 120×600 ad group and to provide variety to readers of the blog. This in turn attracts more clicks on that ad group and hence more revenue!
How did I do this? Well I am going to spell it out for you so that you can try this for yourself.
(more…)
Enhanced Geo-Targeting options on Run of Network campaigns
March 19th, 2008 by Dan
We have just released some enhancements to our Geo-Targeting options for our Run of Network campaigns.
Geo-Targeting is very important for advertisers as it allows them to target users located in specific countries and regions. We have always offered a range of options such as specific country targeting or group targeting such as English Speaking.
Due to feedback from customers we have now released some changes to our Geo-Targeting options which allows our advertisers to target specific countries based on a range of characteristics. For example we now have a “PayPal Accepted “option which allows the advertiser to target countries that have PayPal access.
We make it easy for the advertiser by grouping up all the Geo-Targeting options into “Unique”, “Grouped” and “Specialty”, as can be seen below.
Once an advertiser selects their choice of targeting they are then presented the available options, of which they select one.
Some of the new Geo-Targeting options include:
- PayPal Accepted
- Arabic Speaking
- High Income
- Premium Asian
Due to the sophistication of some of the new Geo-Targeting options we have also provided a matrix that allows you to see which options target which countries exactly - leaving nothing unclear.
Run of Network Geo-Targeting Matrix
The changes have actually been in place for about 24 hours and already we are receiving some great feedback and advertisers are using the new options on their bookings.
If you have any ideas for new Geo-Targeting options please let us know!
What’s happening with PicText™ Ads?
March 9th, 2008 by Dan
It has been just under a week since we released our new PicText™ Ads and they are gaining in popularity quickly with Publishers and Advertisers alike. What is it about PicText™ Ads that makes them more appealing?
For Advertisers it means they are given extra opportunity through an image to convey their message to the user.
Publishers love PicText™ Ads because they generate a higher CTR as the images attract users eyes and hence attention. The images as well as the enhanced customisation ability mean that ads can be blended into a web site not only easily but seamlessly.
Below are two examples of PicText™ Ads taken from Publisher sites.
Those are just two examples I quickly found from our directory of sites using PicText™ Ads, there’s many many more!
What I really wanted to talk about though was our Run of Network (RON) pricing on PicText™ Ads. This week we also went through a review of our RON pricing and looked at things like competitors, our current ad inventory and stock etc.. From those results we came up with a new pricing model that we believe is not only competitive in the market but very affordable and realistic.
Below is some pricing on PicText™ Ads with various targeting options (based on a $50 budget):
Tier 1 (standard) - 3.99c / click
United States - 6.49c / click
English Peaking Countries - 5.49c / click
India - 1c / click
United Kingdom - 5.49c / click
You will find our pricing has dropped across the board and is far more attractive as well. We do have a lot of targeting options available so please check out our complete offering at http://www.adtoll.com/book-ron-ad
Overall we are extremely happy with our new PicText™ Ads and with the great feedback we have received from customers it’s hard not to be!
AdToll release Spanish default ads
March 5th, 2008 by Dan
Earlier this week we released our new Chinese default ads. We received some really positive feedback from our Chinese customers which was great! It’s nice to know the enhancements we are making are actually keeping people happy.
To follow on from this we have just released our new Spanish default ads into the network! So if you have a Spanish site you will now be served these new Spanish ads instead of the English versions.
Again we have provided Spanish banners in the complete assortment of available ad sizes, some examples below:
AdToll enhance text ad offering -> PicText™ Ads
March 4th, 2008 by Dan
Enhancing our text ad offering has been on our enhancement priority list for some time and we are now happy to announce that our new PicText™ Ads are now available!
The PicText™ Ads replace our existing text ads completely but publishers need not worry as the current ad code will work. If however you want to harness the power of PicText™ Ads you will need to go to your ad group layout screens and grab the new ad code.
We have more information which is worth reading at http://www.adtoll.com/pictext_ads