After a few months with in text ads on your website, you will probably get used to the monthly payments and accumulated revenues. At this stage, many publishers tend to think of in text ads as a simple money machine. The integration was easy and after some optimization they require no maintenance. But then, sometimes the average earnings change – either up or down – and publishers hurry to ask: What happened? Before rushing into conclusions, it’s better to understand the industry in which in text ads networks operate. This can shed some light on revenue fluctuations. In text ads are not a merely money machine, they represent an entire online advertising market.

Three Market Factors

There are three main factors in the online advertising market that influence any website’s monetization. The first two stem from the human nature: both your visitors and the advertisers are after all real people with changing patterns of behavior that influence your earnings directly. The third factor has a more mechanical nature. As smart as they’ve become, the systems that manage in text ads have some limitations that also influence the levels of earnings. Let’s review these cycles one by one.

Online Advertising Cycles

The advertisers who buy online campaigns have cycles like any other advertiser. Most prominently, advertisers are subject to seasonal increases in advertising and of course to seasonal decreases. For example, in the US many advertisers spend much more around the shopping carnival that precedes the winter holidays around November and early December. Many website publishers experience a surge in earnings during these months. But then comes January and they see a decline in revenues. Before getting startled, simply remember that this is a living marketplace and when the shopping season is over, many advertisers also limit their campaigns. Some advertisers are linked to other types of seasons, like specific sports seasons. For example, if your website is suitable for ads related to a specific sport, you can expect lower revenues once the season is over.

Online Surfing Cycles

Just as advertisers have seasonal highs and lows, your website visitors also have repeated patterns of behavior year round. In addition to the shopping or sports seasons, you probably know that your website’s traffic changes with time. For example, during family oriented holidays, when people tend to spend more time with their families and less time in front of the computer, you may see lower volume of visitors and respectively, lower revenues.

But your visitors have additional behavioral patterns that are related to the method of website monetization. If you have a community of dedicated visitors who often return to your website, you might notice a slow decrease in click through rate (CTR) over time that would lead to lower earnings as well. The reason is obvious, once they get used to the double underline links, your visitors may tend to overlook them. When this happens, you should consider if this is perhaps good for the overall user experience, or alternatively, you may choose to change the links color or appearance, in order to attract new attention. The human eye is very sensitive to such changes.

Automated Campaigns Cycles

A third factor that influences your earnings is tightly related to the fact that the online advertising market is mostly governed by automated processes. While most systems try hard to spread budgets evenly over time, they can’t measure the spending every second. If a system is set to spread the budget evenly over a whole day, it would usually divide the budgets into hourly caps. But since there are no measurements every minute, within a single hour, there may be higher spending at the beginning of the hour, and once the hourly cap is reached, there may be a drop in spending until a new hour starts.

Similarly, many systems, including Google AdWords, offer advertisers as default to set a daily budget cap. For this reason, the beginning of the day may be more profitable for websites than the last few hours of the day. This phenomenon is most visible in the monthly cycle, where earnings in the last few days of a month could be lower than the monthly average, as many campaigns simply run out of money.

Why has my eCPM Decreased?

When you see a decrease in your daily eCPM, before getting startled, ask yourself whether this could easily be explained by one of these cycles. Has a shopping season just ended? Could it be the end of the month? In most cases, seasonal fluctuations are self explanatory when taking into account that in text ads are not merely a money machine, but are part of the online advertising market. Waiting a few days until the beginning of a new month or season would suffice in most cases and you will then see earnings going back up.

If you can’t identify a relevant cycle – from the advertisers, visitors or the automated systems – then it’s time to talk with your in text ads provider. Perhaps there’s something else. Sometimes an internal change or mistake requires taking care of. And in other times, it could be that some additional optimization is needed to get back on the natural waves of highs and lows. Understanding the seasonal peaks and valleys in your earnings graphs is a first step towards knowing when it’s time to act and when you simply need a little patience.

In order to better understand in text advertising, some technological background is required. I’m not going to dive into the code structure here; in fact, I’m not the right person to attempt that… but I do think that some basic clarification could help when considering this method. Also, the leading in text ads networks utilize different technology and the following analysis may be helpful in choosing the right partner for you.

The Magic a Little JavaScript Does

When you integrate in text ads on your website, all you’re required to do is insert a little piece of JavaScript code. This invisible code, when run by a browser, calls upon a bigger script to run on your website and identify your website to the in text ads provider.

The first job for this code is to analyze the content of the page and determine if it’s suitable for in text ads. Sometimes, if there’s not enough text or if the text is not suitable for advertising, the process will stop right there and no ads will be placed. If the page is suitable, the code will then analyze the page’s content and identify the terms which get the highest score balancing the contextual relevancy and the potential for advertising. The top terms will be highlighted as double underline links and will serve as hooks for advertisements.

As explained before, if a user is interested to learn more about a highlighted hook, he can hover over it with the mouse and a bubble would appear with a relevant ad inside. The code’s brain here is asked to match the ad to the reader and to the term in order to maximize the chances for a click. If a click was made, the code now needs to send the reader to the advertiser’s landing page and monitor behavior in order to charge the advertiser and credit the website publisher for the ad’s current price.

All this magic begins with that little piece of JavaScript code, but of course it requires a robust and smart system behind it. This system has several key differentiators among the leading in text ads providers.

Timing of the Load

When the JavaScript is loaded and the bigger code is called into action, the browser has some work to do. Therefore, the timing of the load is important. If this work is done in parallel with the loading of the page, it may slow down the loading of the actual content of the page. Such slowdown may result in visitors getting frustrated and leaving before the page completes its loading. The natural conclusion is that it’s important to make sure that the script that you’re using only runs after your page has completed to load the main content.

These days, with the numerous types of widgets and other scripts that run on a page, there’s another timing factor to consider – the timing of the in-text script among other scripts. The best example would be the common Google Analytics script, which runs in order to count the visitors and monitor their behavior on your website. Since the Google Analytics code may take some time as well, if you place the in-text script after it, the ads may appear a little later. The same goes for other widgets. It’s up to you as a publisher to determine which code should run first. My recommendation is to place the in-text JavaScript just after the actual page’s content, but before other scripts that are not money oriented.

Dynamic In Text Ad Placement

The most challenging aspect of in text advertising is matching the best ad to the visitor and the hook. This process of ad placement requires analyzing many factors, including the context of the page, the content category of the website, the known characteristics of the user, the highlighted term within the hook, and the available advertising campaigns at that specific moment. Since the Web is very dynamic, some of these factors may change every minute or even within a given minute. Most important, available ads and their prices are mostly handled through open markets and they change all the time.

Some in text ads providers do not use dynamic ad placement. I won’t point them out, but it’s quite easy to check if the selected hooks and the shown ads change when you hit refresh. Ad networks that have a relatively old technology may find it difficult to dynamically match the ads, and they actually place the ads beforehand, without maximizing the revenue potential. In fact, some of them even choose the hooks for highlighting manually, and therefore would not deal well with dynamic content found in blogs, forums and news websites.

Automation Level and Organizational Structure

From my own experience with Infolinks, we’ve put atomization as a top priority. The smarter the algorithm and the more automated the in text ads placing process is, the higher is the effective CPM for the website publisher. There are two reasons for that. First, automated processes are more sensitive to changes in the market and to dynamic content; they simply get better results. Second, automated processes allowed us to manage the system with minimal staff, focusing our human resources on customer service. When the highlighted hooks require manual content analysis, the organizational structure would have higher costs that will limit the organization’s ability to share most of the revenues with the publisher.

Again, this is from my own personal experience, and I’m sure other networks are striving to do the same. When we set up our system to require minimal manual intervention, we’ve actually saved costs and enabled our organization to offer higher revenue share to our publishers. This is a good example for technology differences that have an immediate influence on the publishers.

IT Infrastructure

Another example for technology differences is hidden within the IT infrastructure. Anyone who’s worked for a Web related company knows that sometimes the IT costs – that is, the prices of computers, servers, and network – climb so high, that they become a major factor in the company’s finances. Placing in text ads dynamically requires real-time analysis of content and real-time matching of ads in rapidly changing market conditions. If the system is not built taking IT infrastructure into consideration, then the IT costs can make it impossible for the company to share most of the revenues with its publishers.

In Text Ads may Look the Same

While in text ads may appear to work as magic with a little piece of code, it turns out that there’s a lot of work behind it. Also, while most in text ads may appear to work similarly, there are major differences among in text ads network and understanding them may help you choose the right partner for you. If you’re looking for deeper insights into the technological process, drop me a line and I will try to do get you an answer from someone from our own tech team; and if you need more help in understanding the business implications of these technological differences, well, I might even try answering you myself.

OK. I’m convinced. I understand the advantages and I want to tap into this hidden treasure. I want in text ads on my site. But… You know, there are so many hurdles to jump over, so many people objecting the idea – my visitors and community members, the authors and editors, the website’s designer and the IT team, even my boss… I need some answers. Well, here they come.

Visitors and Community Members Always have Something to Say

“Dear Webmaster, Why do I see double underline links? What’s with the new in text ads? I loved your website the way it was before!”

Dear Visitor, Thank you for the compliment and for reading my website. As you well know, creating all this content and keeping the website up for you and the other readers and community members take a lot of effort and money. To finance this operation, I had to put ads on my website. This way, you can enjoy it all for free. The new double underline links are in text ads. They bring you relevant content from advertisers and when you click on an ad, they pay me a few cents. As opposed to the banners we already have that might disturb you a little when you’re reading, these new links are only there if you’re truly interested. They will only open a bubble with a small advertisement once you hover with your mouse over them. If you’re not interested, you can simply continue reading without interference. I’m sure you can understand this and I look forward to receiving more feedback. Thanks!

By the way, you won’t necessarily get objections from readers and community members. Many of them already know what in text ads are and they got used to them in other websites. Even if you do get a complaint, don’t get alarmed. In most cases, you will get just a few complaints out of many visitors, which means that all the others approve the new method. And also, within just a few days, the complaints will fade away. It is also recommended to add a clause or an FAQ explaining what the in text ads are and why you need them. In rare cases when the community of regular visitors still objects, you can offer them the option to opt out of the in text ads and click on a button that switches them off.

Authors and Editors Never Like Ads

“Dear Editor in Chief, I don’t like the new double underline links because they ride on top of my prestigious original content that I write for you… this is humiliating!”

Dear Writer, I really liked your recent post, well done! As you know, in order for me to keep paying you and finance our wonderful online project, we need money. The revenues from the banners are not enough anymore and we had to insert new methods of website monetization. These double underline links supplement your content with relevant advertising, but they do not interfere with the continuous reading and neither do they alter your content in any way. In fact, while animated banners try to grab away the attention of your readers, these links are optional and the ads don’t open up unless the readers hover over them intentionally. As for the humiliation… come on! Some of the banners that Google AdSense places these days include much more disrespectful messages. The in text ads are subtle and relevant. Please let’s give them a try and I’m sure that with time, you will learn to love them too and prefer them over the other ads. You wouldn’t want me to insert full-page ads that cover your content entirely, right?!

Web Designers Want Control

“Dear Website Owner, I’m responsible for the design of this beautiful website and I don’t remember including double underline links on it!”

Dear Designer, I love the website’s design and so do all of our visitors. You’re brilliant. The new double underline links are in fact in text ads. They help me make additional money from the website and then pay for your beautiful work. Because the in text ads don’t take any space on the website, they actually leave you more freedom to design the website as you like. You can also determine the color of the links and easily control their general appearance to match your design. When these in text ads earn us enough money, we will be able to remove some of the display banners and then you will have the liberty to add more white spaces, which are the latest fashion in online design – what do you say, can you perhaps do this job for me? With the new revenues from in text ads, I can now even pay you on time…!

The IT Team Hates more Work

“Dear Publisher, We have enough work already maintaining your IT infrastructure and keeping your website up at all times even with the recent surge in traffic. We don’t have time to integrate in text ads as well. Sorry.”

Dear IT Team, Thank you for all the efforts. We broke a record in traffic yesterday and the website’s performed remarkably. We have to insert the new in text ads to help finance the operation. The good news for you guys is that it shouldn’t take more than a minute. All you have to do is take this one line of Java script and add it to the footer of the template page, just before the Google Analytics script. Everything else is automated, from the loading, through the text analysis and keyword highlighting, and on to the hovers, clicks and payments. The new script won’t affect the IT work on the website at all. Can you please devote one minute for this? It will pay off quickly.

Your Boss doesn’t Like Changes

“Dear Subordinate, Stop hassling me with all your ingenuity and changes. I’ve been in the publishing business for 68 years now and I like it as it is. We had enough changes already.”

Dear Boss, You look so nice today, is this a new suite that you’re wearing? You taught me that money talks, right? Well, here’s a new source for additional revenues that can add more on top of all our advertising earnings. In text ads can be a significant source of income. The Encyclopedia Britannica has been in the publishing business for 150 years and they’re using it. Even your marketing guru Seth Godin has added them on his brilliant website Squidoo. (If you need more examples from your specific filed, drop me a word and I will send them over). We don’t have to commit to anything. We can start with a trial for a couple of weeks, see how much it pays and then decide. I’ve already convinced the designer and the IT team. I think it’s really worth a try and I will handle it all by myself.

From Absence, through Protest, to Legitimacy – the Advertising Penetration Cycle

I wrote before about the cycle that every new advertising method goes through. It begins with early adopters, followed shortly after by the early objectors, and then settles right in the middle of the mainstream. In text ads are no different and they’re already passed the objections and are en route to become an industry standard. Once you’re personally convinced with the benefits of in text ads, all you have to do is climb over these obstacles from your community, editors, designers, IT team and your boss, and I hope this list of answers will come in handy.

1. In Text Ads are Quiet

When reading content online, we all got used to reading continuously even when there’s a hyperlink over a few words. That’s how the Internet is built. The double underline links are no different. They don’t stop or disturb our flow of reading. As opposed to banners that tend to be graphically noisy with many colors and animation, and sometimes even literally noisy with sound, in text ads are subtle additions to the original content. As website publishers we strive to keep a good balance between content and “noise” and in text ads are a good choice in this regard. When most websites have Google AdSense units with flash objects within them, claims that in text ads are intrusive are already part of the Web’s history.

2. A Good Source for Additional Revenue

In text ads generate extra revenues from a website without affecting other sources of income. When considering your website monetization plan, remember that in text ads represent an additional source of income that can be as high as Google AdSense in some cases. Before flooding the website with complex affiliate programs and jumpy full-page ads, publishers should give in text ads a try. For many thousands of publishers, the stable monthly payment from their in text ads provider has become a corner stone of their website revenues.

3. The 1-Minute Integration of In Text Ads

Integrating in text ads into a website is so easy, that even I managed it myself. It can take less than a minute to simply paste a line of code into the website and that’s it – the in text ads are there automatically. This is one of the only money making additions to a website that does not require changes to the website or any development or IT work. Giving it a try and seeing the revenues accumulate is actually easier than writing a new post or updating your Facebook.

4. In Text Ads are Pay Per Click

Most in text ads are on pay per click basis (PPC) and the website publisher gets paid for every click. We sometimes put so much effort into affiliate programs with pay per lead (CPL) or pay per acquisition (CPA) models, that we forget the joy of PPC. Every visitor that clicked on an ad earns you revenues. Even the Google AdSense Link Units require two clicks to earn something, and many websites still use them. This is a clear advantage that calls for in text ads to come early in the game.

5. Focus on Good Content

I had this conversation with a major newspaper publisher regarding his online edition and he said that the authors claim that in text ads disrespect their editorial professionalism. A quick look on the website revealed a Double Click ad unit with a flash banner of a completely naked woman inviting the reader to have sex with her right now (from AdultFriendFinder). How can this lady’s offer be less disrespectful, I asked, than a double underline link over an important keyword within the content? He had to agree. In text ads complete and supplement good content and keep it in the main focus of the reader.

6. In Text Ads don’t take Real Estate

All web designers now follow the Apple approach of empty spaces and white areas to draw the readers to the actual content. Since they attach themselves to the content, in text ads don’t take any real estate on a website. As such, they leave the designer the option to choose where to place banners and where to leave some blanks for virtual air to flow through. This design benefit of in text ads is a major factor when comparing them to many other monetization and advertising methods.

7. In Text Ads are Relevant

In text ads are hooked on actual terms within the content and they are mostly relevant and supplement the content. Complaints about non relevant ads should be considered within the context. First, they are mostly much more relevant than the supposedly contextual banners around the text. And second, relevancy is in the eye of the advertiser. The great feedback from advertisers prove that the matching algorithms work well. By the way, when a top Alexa 1,000 website editor told me that she got a complaint from a visitor about a non-relevant ad, I had to tell her that it was great news. Receiving a single complaint out of many thousands of community members speaks strongly about the relevancy that the vast majority of visitors did find.

8. In Text Ads are a form or Permission Marketing

The marketing guru Seth Godin has set the stage for modern marketing by focusing advertisers on permission marketing: when a potential customer permits the advertiser to bring front his message, the potential for conversion is high. While most online advertising techniques try to interrupt people from their online activities, like TV ads do in the middle of a show, in text ads do not open unless the visitor expressly requested more information. The mouse hover is an intended action that reveals a small ad within the bubble, and then the click on it, being a second active request, represents double permission. As publishers, integrating in text ads means that you respect your online visitors by not interrupting them without genuine interest.

9. Advertisers Like In Text Ads

In text ads get high quality scores from advertisers. From my experience, since the visitor actually gives permission to get exposed to the ad, chances are high that he will be genuinely interested in the advertiser’s content. This is the next best thing after search ads, and advertisers that analyze return on their advertising budgets find in text ads to be rewarding. When advertisers are happy with in text ads, budgets grow, the payment per click increases, and the overall eCPM gets better.

10. Optimizing In Text Ads gets Real Results

While it’s true that adding in text ads on your site takes only a minute, there’s much more that you can do to improve your earning results. Consider the color, the format of the underline, the number of hooks, the location in the page, blacklist keywords, whitelist keywords… such improvements do take some work, but they can add up on your bottom line. When you analyze your eCPM and CTR and act according to some optimization tips (that you can find here as well), you can even double your revenues. Without a third party to optimize your ads, you can get better and this is an important factor for professionals.

10 Advantages and Counting

The more I work with in text ads, the more I’m convinced that this method of website monetization is highly beneficial to the three points of the triangle – publishers, advertisers, and readers. I’ve listed here the top 10 advantages of in text ads, but I’m sure that with time more benefits will emerge. Perhaps some problems too. I’m inviting you to join the conversation and contribute from your experience, and if you still haven’t gained experience with in text, it’s not too late to try. All you need is an extra minute.

What do thousands of publishers who work with the same in text ads network have in common? Well, first, they all operate a website, but that’s a given that derives from the very definition of an online publisher. What else? Usually not much. But lately, several publishers from around the world came together to create a wacky video, as part of an initiative for the New Year from Infolinks.

Double With A Bubble

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I don’t often mention Infolinks here, as I’m trying to avoid conflict with my friends and co-workers there, but from time to time, I just can’t avoid it. If you still haven’t watched this funny video, I recommend spending one minute and watch it – you can click here and go directly to YouTube: Double with a Bubble.

One professional reason could be to get to know the faces behind all these websites… they simply come in all shapes and different degries of craziness… If you need another reason, for me it would be the funny guy who dances with his hands almost like Michael Jackson. LOL.

You can also watch it here embedded:

And the winner for Best In Text Ads Network is… well, did you really expect that it’s going to be that simple? While I can easily name the nominees for Best In Text Ads Network Award, and also detail the important aspects to compare before choosing your provider, there’s only one name I can put on the winners pedestal with sound mind, but I can’t just write it here.

As I stated before, I work at Infolinks and this is where I collected my experience about in text advertising. If I would have recommended a single company, it would have been Infolinks, especially if I wanted to keep my job… So, instead of doing that, I would keep my writing more professional and avoid a direct recommendation. I will, however, try to point out the important issues and help you in making your choice.

The Top 3 In Text Ads Networks

The top 3 in text ads networks are Kontera, Vibrant Media, and Infolinks. Each of these providers has proven stability over time and you can count on them all to deliver ads around the clock and pay you on time every month.

Kontera holds the title for being the first in text ads network. While there were other companies dealing with in text services before Konetra, this company was the first to offer a commercial service that was based purely on in text advertising. Being a direct competitor, I can’t really dive into details of how good they are and what problems their service has, but the objective facts are that they were the first out there, but their growth has slowed down when competition arrived.

Vibrant Media started offering their in text ads services after Kontera has already established a strong hold in the market. Nevertheless, they have managed to bypass Kontera as far as it goes to big publishers and this has become their focus. While Kontera paved the path for in text ads into the hearts of many publishers, it was mainly Vibrant Media’s contribution to turn this method into a legitimate advertising format by penetrating larger websites.

Infolinks was the third to join this triple headed race, but with the fastest growth rate, it has gained a very positive reputation among publishers who have compared earning results between the three providers. It seems that our team’s efforts in monetizing more pages than other providers, achieving top click through rates, and gaining higher bottom line revenues didn’t go unnoticed, and the faster growth rate and blog posts with comparisons attest to these advantages.

In light of the above, choosing either Kontera, Vibrant Media, or Infolinks would be a reasonable choice. As far as I know, both Kontera and Vibrant Media require an exclusive committing 12-months agreement at the point of entry and don’t accept smaller websites, while Infolinks offers a much more flexible contract to all websites with an option to try the service, modify it and even leave it at will. If not for me working at Infolinks, this would probably have been my base for recommending Infolinks if you’re new to in text ads. If you already work with an in text ads provider, then you can simply compare results and ask around the Google planet.

Non-Focused In Text Ads Providers

A few online advertising networks added in text lines of service to their existing display and textual offers. Networks like AdBrite, Affinity, and Chitika include in text ads as part of their offered services. However, as far as I can see in the market, these services didn’t pick up and many publishers who work with these networks for their banners or widgets still choose to work with one of the top in text ads providers. The reason for that seems to be focus. When a company’s focus is elsewhere, you can’t expect much of its other services. Therefore, unless a publisher finds an enormous advantage in getting several services from the same provider, most won’t choose a non-focused in text ads network.

Small and Niche In Text Ads Networks

Seeing the success of the top in text advertising networks, a few startup companies jumped into this market as well with in text offers. Writing a script that highlights terms within existing content is no longer a major hurdle to climb over. But in text advertising has a lot more to it and it’s not as easy as it may seem. Building an in text ads network requires much more. Analyzing content to find the most relevant terms, then matching ads that will gain a high click through rate and yield high eCPM and real revenues, all this while withstanding substantial traffic in real time, take a lot of knowledge, execution and resources.

Some of the smaller entrants have already closed shop, like MediaText, and this could unfortunately happen to others. I still haven’t seen a report about a small in text ads network that managed to provide a stable service that got close to any of the top in text ads networks. But, as my entrepreneur heart has a soft spot for new startups, I do hope that some of them would rise to the top. At this stage however, I can’t really recommend any small network and trying them is a risk that you should consider for what it is.

There are a few attempts to take over a specific content niche that other providers don’t specialize in, or won’t enter. The best example would be adult oriented websites, which neither of the top in text ads network would accept. The two networks that do allow adult oriented websites – and let’s be frank here, they even accept hard core porn websites – are Clicksor and AdBrite (under their Black Label that isn’t really separated from their core business). If you’re in that kind of business, one of these networks would probably be your choice for in text ads.

International and Foreign Languages In Text Providers

If you operate a website in Polish, your only choice to monetize your content with in text ads would be the Polish brand Smart Context. As far as I know, this is the only in text provider that works in the Polish language, and since my Polish is a little rusty, I can’t really examine their service and either recommend or criticize it. If your website is in Spanish, then Infolinks should be your choice for in text ads monetization, as it is the leader in this market. And if your website is in German or French, both Vibrant Media and Infolinks can help you with in text ads monetization. With time, I’m sure that additional languages will be covered by solutions from both the leading networks and new entrants.

The international market is not only foreign languages. Most English websites have many visitors that are not from the USA, and I don’t mean Canadians only. Whether visitors from English speaking countries like the UK or India, or from any other country in the world, all of them represent good potential for monetization. From my experience, out of the top three in text ads networks, Infolinks is the only provider to offer ads to all international traffic. While the expected CPC in these markets is lower, there’s still money to be earned there, and if you have substantial international traffic, this is a major factor to consider. My recommendation here, again, would be to simply ask the provider about international coverage or try and compare.

As much as I like in text advertising, I’m not sure that in the long term there will be justification to run networks solely for in text ads. As an immerging new advertising method, I find it very important, and in fact crucial, that in text services are provided by unique players. These focused efforts are the power behind the penetration and market trust. However, as this method matures, it will join other types of online advertising, and as such, consolidation is almost visible at the horizon. This happened before in other industries and with other types of online ads. It is not unlikely to assume that the giant players in the online industry would want a piece of this fast growing and proven market. When they do, the wisest step for them would be to use the experience the existing in text ads networks gained, and then other giants would follow. When would this happen? Who knows…

In the early days of in text advertising, the double underline links opened bubbles with textual ads, mostly alongside a thumbnail image of the ad’s landing page as a preview. With time, the text ads gave way to more and more graphic ads that looked more like the regular banners. This trend is still in progress and the balance between text ads and banner ads is not fixed yet. In fact, this balance is very different between markets and it seems that in markets where in text ads are still relatively new, text ads still hold the reigns, while in more mature markets, banners are taking the lead.

Placing display ads within the bubbles is not a technological challenge. The bubbles can come in different sizes matching the standard banner dimensions, and running an animated banner or playing video is simply importing a different object into that location. So, if it’s really that simple, why aren’t all in text ads graphic, and why do they mostly start with text ads?

Ad Relevance and Noise Balance

The first aspect that makes in text ads so attractive to publishers who respect their content is that they are subtle and don’t add as much jumble as the graphic banners. In an attempt to keep the noise balance in favor of the actual content, in text ads can be relatively quiet. When the bubbles themselves are filled with flashy banners, the in text ads lose this advantage.

The second benefit of in text ads is that they are attached to specific terms within the content offering potential for high levels of contextual matching. When the ads are relevant, the visitors value them and in return, the advertisers gain real attention. This of course leads to higher revenues to the publishers with less annoyance to their visitors. By definition, it’s easier to match text ads to specific terms than it is with banners, which tend to be less specific. While it’s true that banners can be made more specific, in reality, they are not as contextual as text ads.

Why do Display Ads Win?

In light of the ad relevance and noise balance advantages of text ads over banners, why is it so that display ads take more and more bubble-share from in text ads? The answer is in permission marketing and the business model. Clearly, upon an intended mouse hover, when the bubble is opened, graphic elements may attract more attention and deliver a deeper message than a few words. And it’s exactly attention that advertisers seek from potential customers, aiming to achieve the gold trophy of real permission marketing. Now, when advertisers buy regular display campaigns, they’re counting on the banners to be placed next to the content, interfering the visitors in their interest in the content. As such, the level of expected attention is relatively low and consequently, the price per view is also low, because most visitors would pay very little attention.

Banners within in text ads are different. They are not placed and exposed unless the visitor expresses active interest in learning more about a highlighted term, and therefore the attention level is very high, especially when compared to a banner that is simply there, surrounding the content. This permission from the visitor to get exposed to the advertisement is highly valuable to advertisers.

And then comes the business model. While text ads are mostly charged per click, when financing a display campaign, the advertiser usually pays for impressions only. Clicks are just a bonus. And the price is set by the thousands of page views. The price of each such view is low, again, because in most of these page views the banner will get very little attention, if any. Each view usually costs fractions of a cent. But then, if the same campaign is placed within in text ads, each delivery receives direct, permitted attention. It’s a whole different story. But while the increase in attention can be enormous, the added cost is usually not as high, and advertisers can get a very good deal.

Therefore, from the advertiser’s point of view, placing display ads within the in text bubbles can prove to be very rewarding. In cases where the publishers agree to the higher level of noise and lower levels of relevancy, they too get rewarded in higher effective revenues. They also benefit from the fact that they are being paid for hovers – each time a visitor hovers with the mouse over an ad, the banner is displayed and counted – and therefore publishers get paid for visitors who haven’t necessarily clicked and left their website.

The Metrics Challenge

Integrating display campaigns into in text advertising methods holds a challenge in the form of distorted metrics. Since the banners get much more attention than they would have received outside of the bubble, they also get a much higher click through rate. When such campaigns run through widely accepted ad serving services or marketplaces, the metrics seem to be off the standard and almost fraudulent. With time, ad servers and marketplaces learn the special characteristics of in text ads and handle them correctly. But until this process is finalized, in text placing is often flagged as problematic and the provider needs to sort this out with the intermediaries.

Video In Text Ads

All this is true for video in text ads as well. A video played within the bubble is noisy but it has a strong appeal and often wins over the visitor’s attention. Again, there is a challenge with the metrics and the business model may need adjustments, but the potential is high for both advertisers and publishers.

There’s a Big Market Out There

Last but not least, display ads simply have a larger available market. While the text ads market is mostly controlled by Google which is still out of the in text arena, the market for display ads is more evenly shared among other ad networks who do work with in text advertisers. This means that the big display ads market is open for in text players and holds a great potential. This big display and video market out there explains why we see – and will continue to see – more and more banners within in text bubbles.

Getting to know your audience is a major part of any plan to make money from a website. Now, it’s no secret that a visitor’s choice of a browser can tell something about the expected behavior. If you’re looking to increase your website earnings from in text ads, there are certain specific actions relating to your visitors’ browsers that you can take and that can make a difference. Analyzing general statistics from in text advertising results reveals a few interesting insights that I’m happy to share here.

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari

This website monetization tip is based on browsing statistics of thousands of websites with integrated in text ads, focusing on the four major internet browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Clearly, as with any statistical analysis, the lessons from this research are limited by being generalized and you might find that in your website visitors behave differently. And still, there is much to learn from information gathered over large volumes of traffic.

In the data used here, from a single day in December 2009, Explorer users counted for almost half of the page views, Firefox users represented 35% of the pages, Chrome browsers where used for 7% of the total traffic, Mac’s Safari users viewed 5% of the pages, and the remaining 3% of web pages where mostly viewed by Opera users. While web surfing behavior is different in India than it is in Canada, the data here was analyzed without referring to the location of the users. Also, while analyzing data from a longer period could tell us even more, in total, the data here included many millions of page views, which should be enough for reaching a few conclusions.

Targeting Safari Users can Earn you More

Mac users with the Safari browser seem to represent a unique group of users who’s often categorized as having a tendency towards graphic and design. In this analysis they represent a rather smaller group of users with two major differences from other users and with a promise for higher revenues.

The first finding is a little disappointing: the fill rate for Safari users reached only 75% of the general fill rate. The term fill rate here stands for the number of viewed pages where the in text ads script has managed to highlight double underline hooks, excluding business related decisions, so it only relates to the influence of technology. The explanation for the lower number of pages could be found in ad blockers or other scripts that interfere with the in text script, but other reasons could also be relevant. From the publisher’s point of view, this means that you should expect less page views with in text ads from these users, which could lead to lower earnings.

But there is a nice surprise from Safari visitors: they yield higher payment per click. In fact, the CPC paid by advertisers for clicks from Safari browsers was nearly 50% higher than the general cost per click. Why is that? It seems that Mac users are highly sought after by online advertisers and the competition drives prices up. These high prices compensate for the lower fill rate and the results from Safari users, measured by effective CPM, do get to the top levels of earnings. The conclusion is that targeting Safari users is a viable strategy for making money online, if you understand that they are limited in numbers from the overall online population and generate lower page volumes with in text ads. How to attract those pricy Safari users is a different story to be discussed elsewhere, but delivering content about Mac is a sure bet for doing so and getting high CPC clicks.

Internet Explorer is the King of In Text Ads Revenues

Visitors who use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer stand at the top of most categories relevant to earning more with the in text ads on your website. First, they represent the largest group of users, and while Explorer is losing market share to competing browsers, they are still leading. Second, they simply click more often. The click trough rate on in text ads measured for Explorer users is over 54% higher than for users of others browsers. Third, and most important, influenced by the high volume of clicks, the effective CPM from Explorer users is much higher than the expected website revenues from users of other browsers, and this is an understatement. In the data sampled here, the eCPM measured here was in fact 85% higher…!

Why does an Explorer user click more often on in text ads? The answer to this crucial question hides somewhere in understanding who these users are. Since most personal computers are still sold bundled with Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browsers, using a different browser requires an active choice. It makes sense to assume that users who are less web-savvy won’t make that choice and simply stick with the default. Apparently, there is a direct correlation between your level of web expertise and your willingness to click on online advertising, or at least on in text ads.

The conclusions from this advantage of Explorer users can be taken into consideration on both the targeting level and the technology level or the type of integration you use. On the targeting level, delivering content aimed at users who are less “webby” could prove to be worth it, and it’s up to you to analyze what content they are looking for. From the technology aspect, a website publisher can prioritize in text ads for Explorer users, by identifying these users and then running the in text script earlier in the website’s loading or adding more hooks for them. When optimizing your website for higher monetization results, you can ask your in text ads provider for ideas on how to do that.

There are additional interesting differences among the different versions of Internet Explorer. For example, the newer the version, the higher the CPC. However, these results can be explained by external factors which are not directly related to the browser. For example, it could be that Microsoft manages to generate upgrades to the newer versions of Explorer faster in markets with higher broadband penetration, and such markets probably have stronger online advertising markets.

Firefox Users Generate Less Website Revenues

Firefox users earn less in text revenues for website publishers. This fact is not surprising if you think about who these users are. Making the active decision to switch from the default Explorer to Firefox is probably more common for users who have likes and dislikes about the web. These users click less, only about two thirds of the clicks from Explorer users. Firefox users install add-ons to block ads, they surf more and generate more page views than their respective percentage of the unique users and by doing do so may get more annoyed by ads, and there could be other reasons, but they all lead to this fact – they click less. As a result, the eCPM measured from visitors who use Firefox browsers is just a little over half than the eCPM from Explorer users.

Before any actionable conclusions, it’s important to realize this fact and understand that if your website typically attracts “webby” visitors with a tendency towards Firefox, your monetization results from in text ads will be lower. As for things you can do about it, my best recommendation would be to explain to such users the nature of in text ads. Make sure that your users know that the double underline ad links in your website are there to help you finance better content for them, keep it free when possible, and that they are much less intrusive than jumping banners. By clarifying the advantages of in text ads to their user experience, you may generate genuine interest in these ads and as a result get more clicks. This can easily be done by a sidebar link to an FAQ explaining the nature of in text ads; consider a link saying “Double Underline Explained” or something in this spirit. As for technological improvements, you can optimize the appearance of in text ads to match the taste shown by your Firefox users, and for this you need to first get to know them better and then use the flexibility from your in text provider.

Chrome Users Follow Firefox Patterns

Chrome users seem to follow the footsteps of Firefox users and the statistics of both groups are quite similar – they click less than Explorer users and yield lower in text ads revenues. The similarity of results for Firefox and Chrome users teaches that Chrome users are more or less the same users and the conclusions for Firefox users can be used here as well. Currently, Chrome users still represent a small group of users and it would be worthwhile to study them further as it grows and develops its own unique behavior patterns.

Earn More with In Text Ads

The bottom line is that getting to know the differences between visitors according to their choice of web browser could help you in increasing your revenues from in text ads on your website. There is still much to learn. For example, iPhone and other mobile phone browsers show other surfing patterns, but this seems to stem from the different user experience on the mobile phone, and not only from the choice of browser. Getting to know your website’s visitors and acting upon the findings to optimize the user experience and the in text ads integration is an important part of your website monetization plan. Even if you’re not ready yet for running different scripts according to the user’s browser, you should at least adopt the recommendation about explaining your users the nature of in text ads – it could help with Firefox and Chrome users, and for the long run, this should improve overall quality and results from all users.

When defining in-text ads, the little tooltip that opens upon a mouse hover nicknamed “bubble” was a fundamental part of it. But, as it usually happens with definitions, there are exceptions. Some advertising methods that insert ads dynamically within existing online content do so without the so called bubble, or with variations of it.

Generally speaking, I find the bubbles to be a crucial part of the success of in text advertising. The ability of the users to view the ad before clicking it guarantees the double permission process – when hovering with the mouse, users first ask for some more information about the highlighted term (with the double underline), and then when they click they actually approve that they want to see more of the related ad shown within the bubble. Such genuine interest in advertised content generates higher conversion rates for the advertisers and in the long run yields higher revenues to the website publisher. Without this preview, more clicks will be by mistake, bounce rates will be higher and overall results for both advertisers and publishers will diminish. And yet, such bubble-less in text ads do exist, so they’re worth understanding.

Link Only In Text Ads

Some providers offer website publishers to integrate what seems like in text ads that do not react to mouse hovers. Upon a click such ads lead to the advertiser’s landing page without a bubble or other form of preview. In most cases, such providers also allow the configuration of the advertising links to confusingly appear exactly like regular hyperlinks.

The obvious outcome of these link-only in text ads is unaware clicks. Visitors to sites with such ads can’t differentiate regular or editorial links from the paid for links. The unavoidable result is that users get confused. They also get angry and this anger is directed at both the website and the advertiser.

So why would anyone integrate such ads? From the publisher’s point of view, misleading visitors makes sense only for websites that don’t view their visitors as anything else than onetime short term revenue opportunities. Websites that don’t look for returning visitors, like AdSense traps or websites that deal with traffic arbitrage, simply want clicks for immediate revenues, not much more. Some get-rich-quick programs that promote such websites may be candidates for this form of advertising.

But with this understanding, why would advertisers want to work with them? Well, there are many types of advertisers that look for volume with no focus on quality. Again, traffic arbitrage sometimes requires high volumes of clicks, some fraudulent activities may require disguising robot clicks among genuine clicks, and you can think of other examples, but they will all surely fall under dubious fields of online activity. As you can see, I personally don’t like it when people are cheated or misled into clicking and therefore, I don’t like link-only in text ads.

Animated and Interactive Tooltips

The nicer version of bubble-less in text ads is when the regular bubble is replaced by another form of creative preview. Instead of placing the ad within a bubble like tooltip, some in text ads use other formats that on the one hand generate the double permission process, but on the other hand attract much more attention. One example is 3D ads that pop upon a hover. Another example is rather big bubbles that include interactive content.

While such creative bubble replacements could prove to be very efficient, they do have a down side in the form of noise. One of the nicest advantages of in text ads is that they are subtle, and while they do hook themselves on actual content, they don’t overdo this with jumping animation. This is the secret that helped pave the route of in text ads into reputable websites. Adding interactive or large animated bubbles could prove to be efficient, but it changes the balance of content and ads, so it may not be suitable for all kinds of websites.

Added Text Link Ads and Google Text Link Ad Units

The last form of bubble-less in text ads – at least for the time being – comes in the form of added links. This method of advertising steps even further away from in text advertising since it does not highlight existing content, but instead it inserts additional content within the text. This can be done either by configuring text ad units within the content, where ads are later added dynamically, or even by letting a script push the content to add textual ad units. Then, these text links can perform as regular in text ads with hovers and bubbles, or as link-only text ads with no preview.

The most famous example is Google AdSense’s Text Link ad units, where publishers can add a line of text links with contextually related terms that link to pages full of paid for ads. Many website publishers integrate these ad units just above content to appear a little like a navigation bar, which clearly confuses visitors. Others add these text link ad units between paragraphs to appear as part of the text. One should question Google’s approval of these ads which stand in contradiction to Google’s general positive approach to online advertising. My guess is that with time, Google will back away from this format or at least restrict the integration to locations which will not be confusing.

Added text link ads could be legitimate and serve visitors with added value while creating a positive interaction opportunity for advertisers only when they are clearly distinct from the content. To Google’s benefit it should be said that all text link ad units are preceded by a small headline describing them as ads. As with other issues related to contextual advertising, the clearer the distinction between editorial content and ads, the better are the long term results for all sides involved. So, if you do choose to use bubble-less in text ads, do keep distinction in mind.

They look like in-text ads with double underline links and a bubble that opens upon a mouse hover, but their content is different. Instead of commercial content from an advertiser, the bubble offers additional content from various sources. They are informational links.

The offered related content can be in the form of links to potentially relevant pages from the same website or from other websites. Sometimes, and mostly when the content is originated in another free website like Wikipedia or YouTube, the content can be made available within the bubble itself, so the users won’t be tempted to leave the website. One of the pioneers of related content in text links, Snap, focuses on the end user’s experience and describes them as a “way to give your users a more fun and interactive experience on your site or blog.”

Where’s the Business Model?

The initial problem with related content in text links was the lack of a business model. True, some website publishers found such tools to increase page views through internal linking, but these dynamic links were not counted for SEO, so they lost popularity. Also true, some websites liked the idea that Wikipedia and YouTube content, which users look for anyway, is made available within their websites, so they don’t lose the visitors, but such rich content bubbles add a lot of noise to the website’s design.

So, like it often happens, it all came down to finding a justifiable business model. Someone had to pay for the added bubbles. The problem was that the websites’ publishers were hoping to earn from such services running on their websites, and not pay for them. And Wikipedia and YouTube most certainly wouldn’t pay for this offsite distribution.

And then, in the lack of another business model, related content in text links shifted towards regular forms of in text advertising and started including paid-for content within the so-called objective related content. On one hand, services like Snap started adding advertising to the offered content, while on the other hand, in text providers began adding non-commercial content alongside the ads within their bubbles. This way, the advertising revenues financed the free service of the related content.

A Hybrid is Born – In Text Ads Plus Related Content

A new form of in text links was born – the Hybrid. Such hybrid in text links combine both seemingly objective related information and paid-for advertising content. While this could have been a nice way to pave new paths into the hearts of more conservative publishers, through showing off with the added value to the end users while explaining the ads as a financial must, I find it to be highly problematic, to say the least.

The Problem with Related Content In Text Links

As discussed previously, one the most attractive aspects of in text advertising in the eyes of the advertisers, is the fact that users grant their permission to get exposed to the ad’s content. Users show active interest by hovering with the mouse and then clicking, and by doing so, they bring with them the promise of genuine attention – the highest prize for an advertiser.

When in text ads are mixed with informational links, the visitors are deprived of the ability to easily identify which is which. The website’s visitors mistakenly hover or click on ads while hoping to get seemingly non-commercial content, and vice versa. While in the short term this could increase the click through rate, on the longer term, this mixture significantly decreases the effectiveness of in text advertising. The more distinct the double underline links are, the higher the conversion levels are, and with it the higher the CPC to the publisher and the satisfaction to the advertiser. And the opposite is also true. The higher the confusion between informational links and advertising links is, the lower the results would be for both publishers and advertisers.

Best Practices: Distinction

This analysis doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for informational in text links. Related content in text links could in fact add some page views and, in some cases, contribute to the overall user experience. However, to keep both visitors and advertisers happy, there should be a clear distinction between the types of links. And when we’re looking for best practices, the distinction should be very clear…! If the links have the same appearance, but the shade of color is a bit off, this doesn’t count for distinction. Visitors need to clearly understand what they’re hovering over – an informational link or an in text ad. Once they do, they will be happier and eventually so will the advertisers and publishers.