In Text Advertising Networks and Providers

Choosing the Best In Text Ads Network

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…