IASH for Adify Media
April 7, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Adify Media in London has recently become a full accredited member of IASH after an independent audit by ABCE confirmed that the ad network has complied with the IASH Code of Conduct. This is great for both advertisers and publishers of Gourmet Ads because we work exclusively with Adify Media in the UK.
IASH exists to police and encourage best practice among online advertising sales houses and IASH is a symbol of trust and transparency, providing confidence and reassurance to advertisers and publishers.
Adify Media’s membership of IASH affirms its commitment to providing brand safe environments for advertisers. Nick Reid, VP of Adify Platform Development and Adify Media UK said: “We are absolutely delighted to now become a full accredited IASH member and look forward to working closely with the organization, helping to drive this sector forward in the UK.”
Julia Smith, head of IASH said: “Adify Media have worked hard to pass the stringent audit carried out by ABCe and they are now committed to adhering the IASH Code of Conduct, and protecting their clients’ brands. Aligning yourself with the IASH Council and successfully completing the ABCe audit demonstrates a real commitment to transparency, which serves to reinforce the integrity of our medium.”
If you’re currently media planning to run a campaign in brand safe environments on IASH certified sites in the UK, then download the Gourmet Ads UK Media Kit, or Request a Proposal from our team.
Featured Ad Network – Gourmet Ads
February 16, 2010 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
We are quite pleased to have Gourmet Ads as our first featured ad network. Gourmet Ads is a global vertical ad network reaching household Grocery Buyers with offices in North America, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The Gourmet Ads network only represents quality food and wine websites throughout the world, aggregating and managing advertising across these highly relevant websites and blogs.
Below is our interview with Benjamin Christie, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Gourmet Ads.
AdNetworks.NET: Currently, Gourmet Ads serves advertisers in the Food vertical who are trying to target consumers in USA, UK, Canada and Australia. Any other key market segments I am forgetting?
BC: No, those are our key geographical markets, but from an audience segment perspective Gourmet Ads concentrates on reaching the grocery buyer online. We tend to see this demographic being 27 – 55 year old female who makes the majority of the grocery buying decisions in the household. From a targeting perspective we then separate this up to 3 different age demographic targets enabling advertiser to target them via the sites in the network.
AdNetworks.NET: What competitive advantages does your previous experience as an Executive Chef, TV Co-Host, and Cookbook Author provide you when servicing your clients?
BC: Having experience in the food industry from being behind the stove to presenting recipes in front of a camera has certainly provided a great deal of understanding of what the public likes when it comes to food. Additionally having worked in online media and owned my own website prior to developing Gourmet Ads gave me real insight into how companies can use online to develop brand awareness and generate sales.
AdNetworks.NET: Without giving away your secrets, what makes for a successful campaign for an advertiser in your vertical looking to launch an online advertising campaign?
BC: The first is being relevant to our audience. Obviously food and wine advertisers have increased success simply because they are food and wine products. But we do run a great deal of advertising for non food or wine products and once again the advertising itself needs to be relevant to our audience of female, 27-55 years old. Areas that do perform well include Automotive, Travel, Financial and Lifestyle based campaigns.
The second is creative. There is no doubt that great looking creative with key messaging and strong calls to action outperforms ordinary ads. We highly recommend that clients produce Flash ads compared to static and we work hard with advertisers to develop creative that works. When possible we ask that they provide 2 or 3 sets of ads, so we can determine the best performing ad unit and messaging for campaign success.
AdNetworks.NET: How does working with Adify enhance your ability to deliver quality results for your advertiser and publisher partners?
Adify have been a great partner from day one and working with them has definitely given us competitive edge because of their platform. Adify provides us a wide range of targeting features allowing us to hone in on a client’s target market. Additionally working with Adify provides us the ability to manage hundreds of publisher relationships, opposed to just being an ad server.
AdNetworks.NET: Again, without giving away too much, are you finding certain technologies or targeting features most effective for an advertiser’s campaigns in your vertical?
Because we are a global network, every campaign we run must have some sort of geo targeting. We have the ability to go down to the zip level right up to country or global level. This has allowed us to work with smaller clients such as regional supermarkets and grocery store clients who only want to reach small areas such as 3 or 4 DMA’s. A fair percentage of clients are also using some sort of cookie based targeting as part of their campaigns.
AdNetworks.NET: Should small advertisers check out Gourmet Ads or do you primarily work with advertisers with a large ad spend?
Yes, we work with both global companies undertaking brand advertising right down to small family owned ecommerce sites requiring a direct response focus. Because of our geo targeting capabilites, we can restrict a advertising campaign to display locally in just a Zip Code, thus not wasting impressions in areas that are not relevant.
AdNetworks.NET: How do you define “quality content” when selecting publishers for your network?
The key is that unlike the majority of other ad networks, we simply don’t allow just any website to join and start running ad tags straight away. Every site we include in the Gourmet Ads network must adhere to our strict guidelines which are openly published on www.gourmetads.com . By rejecting unsuitable sites from the network means that we provide advertisers an environment which is brand safe and transparent.
For inclusion in the network, we look for a well designed website with uniquely developed content and a solid audience. We also work with sites to ensure they have ad units above the fold, thus making sites as attractive as we can for advertisers.
AdNetworks.NET: Ad exchanges have received significant media attention over the past 6 months.What are your thoughts on ad exchanges? Do you feel that comparing a premium, brand network to an ad exchange’s “remnant inventory” is “apples and oranges”?
We don’t use ad exchanges, because our clients require 100% transparency on which sites where their ads will run. Additionally because we have strict editorially criteria for sites to be included in the network we prefer not to run our ads on sites we don’t “know”.
AdNetworks.NET: Why should someone who hasn’t tried out a vertical network take a look?
BC: Particularly for food and wine advertisers, vertical ad networks such as Gourmet Ads provides advertisers the ability to buy and target advertising on multiple sites in one transaction, eliminating buying on a site-by-site basis. Because we specialise in food and wine, we know what works for advertisers and what doesn’t.
AdNetworks.NET: How has the ad network community developed since you got involved and where do you see it heading?
Since we started a few years back, the ad network community has certainly exploded which has increased the competition in the market place. Heading towards the future, I feel that there needs to be a little consolidation and I believe that as the economy returns, we’ll see acquisitions from not only other ad networks, but I believe they we’ll see media companies starting to buy into ad networks allowing them to increase their reach and viability in the long term.
AdNetworks.NET: Any exciting announcements/plans for the New Year?
As we roll into 2010, we’ve got lots on. The year starts with an advertising agency road show across London as we prepare to expand out UK network. Not only are we expanding the UK, but we’re recruiting more sites into the network enabling greater reach for clients, particularly in the US and Canada.
Throughout 2009 we’ve experienced a great deal of enquiry for beyond the banner placements, and we’re currently developing higher impact units for clients. Our team is working on about 4-5 different placements which can be deployed across hundreds of sites quickly and cost efficiently to provide greater ROI for advertising clients.
The full interview can be found at www.adnetworks.net
Adify Media Launches
May 5, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Gourmet Ads has been working along site Adify Media for over 6 months in the USA and last week Adify Media went live to the public with separate branding from Adify, and a dedicated website.
Adify Media provides advertisers, media planners and media buyers the ability to develop customised media plans over multiple Adify powered networks, such as Gourmet Ads. Additionally to this, Adify Media now offers the ability to not only reach engaged, educated and affluent audiences via branded networks like Gourmet Ads, but the ability to package this together with demographic targeting and behavioural targeting. Adify Media has already created private marketplaces for top marketers such as Best Western Hotels, Eukanuba, Febreze, HP, Microsoft and Can-Am Spyder roadster.
Adify Media’s audience is affluent, educated and engaged, and provides the perfect environment for brand advertisers to be seen. The combined reach of the 160 vertical ad networks available to Adify Media provides targeted access to more than 89 million people worldwide and 69 million in the US, through more than ten thousand categorized sites.
Adify Media’s combination of human categorization and ad-targeting technology ensures that media planners get a customized marketplace of relevant sites that are tailored specifically to their campaign. Advertisers have unprecedented access to premium inventory with real-time visibility into where audiences are most engaged. The result is highly effective campaigns with less waste, more accountability and better performance.
Gourmet Ads continues to work with Adify media in the USA with offices in New York, San Francicso, Chicago and Los Angeles.
To learn more about Adify Media visit www.adifymedia.com or call +1 650 392 6211
Vertical Ad Network Update
May 1, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
If you thought vertical ad networks were a fad fated to founder next to their more general counterparts, a new comScore research report will have you tipping your hat to these industry newcomers. According to a study of vertical networks — in essence subject-specific ad resellers — their collective reach has increased over the past year from 21.5 percent to over 57 percent. Whereas in March 2008, vertical networks reached 40.3 million unique visitors in the U.S., that number ballooned to 109.8 million in March 2009.
Additionally, vertical ad networks were found to be effective at reaching Internet users with “significantly higher than average engagement” in their preferred content category (e.g., gaming, entertainment, and health), with consumers spending at least 60 percent more time interacting with that category than the average site visitor.
What’s responsible for this increased reach and engagement? The vertical network space owes its newfound fame in part to new partnerships and new technologies that secure new users and improve business operations.
In January, MTV Networks (MTVN) introduced a comedy-themed Tribe, its term for its collection of vertical networks. The new Tribe includes sites like Comedy Central, JibJab, and Fark.com. This month, automotive research site AutoTrader.com launched a vertical network called AutoTrader.com Access that’s intended to reach in-market car buyers on related category sites.
Also assisting vertical networks in keeping their growth momentum going strong is the wide release of Google subsidiary DoubleClick’s Network Builder. The tool is designed for building and managing ad networks. In addition to integrating core DoubleClick products, like DART for Publishers (DFP), it provides a partner portal where site partners can directly access their sites’ performance and reporting data. Plus it simplifies financial reporting and partner payouts.
Vertical networks are in no small part affected by the news that vertical ad network platform Adify Corp. — which many vertical networks, including AutoTrader Access, employ — has launched a product that’s meant to simplify cross-network buys for agencies and advertisers. The new Adify Media service consolidates the over 150 vertical networks using the Adify Network Builder platform to create private marketplaces for advertisers and a customized and specialized media buy.
Whereas vertical networks for such content categories as travel, technology, beauty and environmentally conscious living already exist, there’s still space for newcomers if they pick a popular genre. One to watch is Gourmet Ads, another Adify partner that launched in July 2008. The gourmet food, wine, and beer network was created by Benjamin Christie, an Australian celebrity chef who also has his own popular food site and blog (look for him on Twitter at @gourmetads, too). The network started targeting U.S. sites in January and is up to 33 million monthly American page views and 42 million page views globally. Gourmet Ads will launch additional BBQ and coffee verticals to further entice advertisers searching for food-loving home cooks and wine drinkers who purchase quality cookware and appliances, drink wine with dinner, and visit wineries several times each year.
Established vertical networks are, of course, doing their part to boost reach and readership. Top women’s network Glam Media launched Glam Family last year and has since added womensforum.com. Tech-themed network NetShelter Technology Media, now with 90 million unique monthly visitors worldwide, ranked fourth last year among the fastest growing sites. Its growth can be attributed to efforts like Top Tech Gifts and Last Gadget Standing, two microsites the network built to leverage the expertise of editors from numerous sites within the NetShelter network.
Despite talk of the network space being too oversaturated to support such content-specific advertising businesses, vertical ad networks continue to demonstrate their value by exhibiting their massive reach. Keep an eye on the big ones and watch for new offerings to emerge in the year to come.
Source : www.clickz.com/3633578
By Tessa Wegert, ClickZ, Apr 30, 2009
Adify Rolls Out Centralized Ad Network
April 29, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
For a little over a year, vertical ad network platform Adify has operated a centralized sales team to broker inventory for those of its network customers who want the service. Now the company is formalizing its ad network offering with the creation of a unit, called Adify Media, that will offer a menu of individual site placements bundled with online properties owned by its parent company, Cox Enterprises.
The combined reach of the ad network will approach 90 million uniques, approximately 17 million of which will be attributable to Cox’s own sites, according to ComScore.
Adify Media prides itself on its dedication to transparency for both buyer and seller. None of its inventory is offered on a blind basis, and its network partners — whom it calls network builders — are free to opt out of individual campaigns or the network as a whole. When its six regional ad sellers are dealing with a client, Adify does not mention the names of individual networks using its platform, so as to avoid channel conflict, focusing instead on the properties themselves.
For advertisers, Adify emphasizes highly customized ad packages and site-by-site deliverability reporting. Its reporting data can be viewed by ad space, line item, creative execution or ad size.
“I don’t think there’s another aggregator that offers anywhere near that level of pipeline visibility, handholding consulting, and the ability to opt in or out at granular levels,” said Joelle Gropper Kauffman, Adify’s SVP of marketing and corporate partnerships. “For us it’s all about people staying in control of their assets and their inventory.”
Adify Media is offering a degree of creative variation in its menu of ad formats. According to Gropper Kauffman, Adify is the primary ad server for many sites offered by its media team. Therefore, she noted, “we can do things you just don’t do with a network.” For instance, she said available formats could include expandable ads, sponsorships, roadblocks, and interstitial video. Standard targeting options will include geographic, behavioral, and browser-based delivery.
Key to Adify Media’s pitch is the supposition that mid-tail publishers of the sort that define its network have more engaged audiences than do major portals and ad networks. Its 160 network partners cover topic areas such as politics (Politico Network), lifestyle (Martha’s Circle), and food (Gourmet Ads).
Adify employs sales reps in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Its team, led by general manager Rodney Mayers, has already sold campaigns to Best Western Hotels, Febreze, HP, and Microsoft, among others.
Source ; www.clickz.com/3633568
By Zachary Rodgers, ClickZ, Apr 28, 2009
Comscore & Vertical Ad Networks
April 29, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
This week comScore in the US released a press release on the Rapid Emergence of Vertical Ad Networks Reaching Engaged, Targeted Audiences. The study discusses how vertical advertising networks such as Gourmet Ads (through Adify Media) has substantially in the past year, from 21.5 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience in March 2008 to
57.1 percent in March 2009.
“comScore research indicates that vertical ad networks are a growing phenomenon in the online advertising space, in part because of their ability to deliver engaged, targeted audiences,” said Lesle Litton, VP, Media at comScore. “As more vertical ad networks prove their ability to effectively reach specific target audiences by aggregating mid-tail publisher sites, the industry will likely give greater consideration to these emerging ad delivery channels.”
Probably the biggest key finding the study for us was the confirmation that vertical ad networks were effective in reaching people with significantly higher than average engagement in their respective content categories. We’ve seen this internally through campaign metrics and reports, that when advertising campaigns are closely aligned with the content of the Gourmet Ads network the engagement rates are far higher than when not closely related.
One reason for continued engagement rates is that we editorially select sites for quality content and work closely with our partner sites in terms of above the fold, providing the ultimate environment to run an advertising campaign. Gourmet Ads continues to build our unique audience, which is largely duplicated and from this week’s release by comScore we’re on the right track.
If you’d like to learn more about Gourmet Ads, download a copy of our media kit or request a proposal for your next campaign.
To read the full release by comScore visit www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2790
