Advertising Programmes

This article introduces some of the different advertising programmes that are available to "publishers" - which includes people who write blogs.

Advertising and Affiliate Marketing

Google's AdSense is the best-known, but actually there are number of advertising programmes that you could use on your blog.  There are also a number of affiliate marketing programmes - these are similar (you are advertising the programme), but also different in that you are actively trying to generate sales for them.

Every programme has different terms and conditions.  You need to know about them in detail, to make sure you're not at risk of getting barred from the program:  for most, once you're banned, you're out for life  (so far anyway:  it will be interesting to see if the same rules still apply in 20 years time).

Some Advertising Programmes

This list is a work-in-progress of programmes that I know about so far.   It has brief notes about what I know about them, and where to find more info.

Google AdSense	Every Blogger user's first option - and rightly so, because Google gives us great software to use. A help-forum article about putting AdSense and other ads on the same page. And a couple articles from me, about things that Google / AdSense forget to tell people who sign up through Blogger.: Putting AdSense ads inside Blogger posts Troubleshooting AdSense ads  Getting Image-only AdSense ads in Blogger
Google Affiliate Network	Update:   This program has now been withdrawn. This lets you select ads from specific advertisers (ie affiliates), rather than get served ads based on your sites context.  Payment is "Cost-per-action" (eg commission on sales) rather than per click or per view, and it appears in your AdSense account about a month after the action happens. You need to sign up and be approved (though I'm 99.9% certain that you should use the same Google account that you use for AdSense to do this).   The official criteria for joining are that you: Manage a site that attracts a desirable audience. Can test advertising offers and nurture the most productive relationships. Are an expert in driving and converting visitor traffic. Adhere strictly to Google Affiliate Network quality standards and advertiser policies.
Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP) - Small Business	Another part of the google family - targetted at small businesses who've started receiving enquiries about direct advertising on their sites.     Home page.
Amazon Associates through Amazon.com	Some articles about using Amazon Associates on Blogger
Amazon Associates through amazon.co.uk	Most of the articles are relevant for this programme too - just remember to log in to the right Amazon.
Chitika	Initially this was only good for blogs that got search-traffic from US/Canada.   However they've gone international, and added a new programme that puts ads on pages for some non-search traffic, too.    They've also started to appear stricter about who they'll accept (eg taking 2-3 weeks to review your site to see if they'll accept you for their programme.)   And they're putting a lot of effort into mobile advertising. See Chitika overview for more details
Text-link-ads	Only just found out about them ... need to explore some more
Vibrant Media	Dynamic text-ads, don't know anything more about them, except that there's sound on the home page of their website (don't look at it in the office! - unless your blogging-desk is your office of course.)
Nuffnang	Describes itself as Asia Pacific's first Blog advertising network. Better if you're based in the right part of Asia (payment is in RM).
Commission Junction	Text / Bannner ads - not contextual.
Pubmatic	Two versions:  PubMatic Premier for publishers with more than 100 million ad impressions a month PubMatic Self-Service Platform for publishers with less than 100 million impressions per month .  This is not an advertising network itself, just a different way to work with advertising networks.   You need to have an account (existing or new) with each network you work with thru PubMatic.
eBay Partner Network	This is an affiliate-marketing programme, a bit like Amazon Associates except you're promoting eBay as a place to buy and sell, rather than specific product that they sell. Here is an article about eBPN
Viglink	Another network programme: Viglink aggregates across lots of other affiliate programmes, meaning that you don't have to sign up with each of them.   They say that if you already have affiliated links on your site, no problem they'll leave them alone.  But for all links that aren't coded with affiliate code, they'll see if an affiliate programme applies and if so, ensure it's used.
BuySellAdds.com	An on-line ad exchange, supports bloggers from May 2012
BlogAds	Specialises in letting bloggers sell advertising slots on their blog. Has been in existence since 2002, looks like a good option for blogs that get enough traffic (at least 30,000 impressions per month for niche blogs - certain niches only). Payment monthly through PayPal, $75 threshold applies. Some other options, too.
Lijit	Another ad-slot selling company

Deal Direct

You can also sell advertisements directly, not through a programme.

This can be a lot more work (writing terms-and-conditions, advertising your offer, chasing sales leads, negotiating contracts, preparing invoices, generating monthly reports, following up queries).

But it may be a good approach for niche blogs, for example ones with a geographical niche ad and therefore a  limited readership who are likely to be highly drawn to local ads.  You might even offer some advertisements for free - eg the way it's done here.

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Related Articles

Things to consider about putting advertising on your Blogspot / Blogger blog.

Putting AdSense ads inside Blogger posts

Troubleshooting AdSense ads

Getting Image-only AdSense ads in Blogger

An introduction to advertising on Chitika

Putting Chitika ads into your blog

Amazon Associates and Blogger