FastClick and BurstMedia

[Caesar]

Hi,

1)Can people who have used these CPM networks please comment on them ?

2)Has anyone ever seen any reviews of FastClick ?

3)Can I choose specific categories of ads from each of them ?

4)Do they allow their banners to be placed in forums (where forums do not dominate content of the site) ?

Thanks for the time !

P.S

Do they approve the site if there isn't very much content at first (say like 20 ~ 30 pages of content) ?

Also, what's the typical CPM rate when starting out with each of them ?
<Edited by Caesar on 12-15-2000 at 12:34 AM>

[lmergen]

Burst *WAS* good, but since they have an avarage CPM of about $0.10 right now, they aren't really worth it... rather use Engage or something like that...

[Mike Ossendrijver]

Burst! has gone from good to bad in no-time - I don't recommend them anymore ...

Fastclick is one of the new players in the market. Low CPM rates, CTRs are not sky-high on the banners they carry as well. Might evolve to a second Burst! but it depends how serious the blokes are ...

[Caesar]

Anyone else has any other comments or would like to add on ?

[freejavahelp]

BURST! has really dropped, its quite pathetic.

I have become a member within the last week and a half or so. It was highly recommended to me, and I believe that I would be getting a nice $4 or so CPM.

Now, here are my stats from yesterday:

802 banners served (of 905 pageviews)

87 cents was how much I made.

I'm starting to question whether its really worth it. I wish I could just get some advertisers myself.

Jim

[scslawin]

Jim:

Why CAN'T you get advertisers yourself? I'll bet you can do better than $0.87 a day, even if you offered a run-of-site banner for the whole month for $35.00 you'd make more.

[mjames]

I use Burst! as my main banner ad server and Fastclick for defaults. I must admit that Burst! has really dropped off in quality lately. Another thing I heard was that Engage is going out of business. Anyone else heard this?

As for Fastclick, they seem to be good, but I haven't been using them for long enough to give an accurate report of them.

[Mike Ossendrijver]

Marc,

Although the rumours and bad earnings, Engage is not going to throw in the towel - let me copy-paste the mail I received from them today:

Dear valued customer:

Some of you may have seen our Q1 financial results released on Tuesday, or articles in the press about those results. I wanted to take this opportunity to address any resulting concerns that you may have.

While our financial results were disappointing, Engage continues to be a leader in both the enterprise marketing software and interactive media markets. Even with current market conditions, our commitment to both our software and media businesses remains steadfast. In fact, we are extremely excited about the potential for these businesses, and our employees are hard at work to ensure that our customers receive the best product functionality and service. In the coming months, we are planning to launch additional products as well as bundle current products to make using them even easier.

I want to assure you that Engage is fully committed to becoming a profitable company in three quarters, and has more than adequate cash on hand to support operations until that expected date of profitability. In order to achieve these goals, the company will make changes - this is certain. In addition, our parent company, CMGI, stands behind Engage with a strong financial and strategic commitment for the long-term.

I'd like to share with you a comment from a financial analyst who covers Engage that may alleviate any fears you may have:

"Solid Balance Sheet Leaves Enough Fuel in the Tank: Cash burn for the quarter came in at $28M (vs $29M in Q4), leaving the company with roughly $107M in cash and cash equivalents. On the conference call, management reiterated its goal to reach profitability by July-01, and underscored parent CMGI's commitment of an additional $50M in financing if needed in order to help them get there." - Matt Davies, Chase H&Q

We look forward to a solid, long-term relationship with you as we continue to look for ways for you to maximize results.

Sincerely,
Deborah McWhinney
President
Engage Media Services

Well, nice to hear that, but I do wonder which changes they're going to make ... inventory clearout?

[freejavahelp]

scslawin,

I put together a Media kit to try to attract advertisers, and this is the only way other than services that I know how to get an advertiser. The media kit hasn't gotten any bites. I've asked around the forums, and no one has told me any other way to get an advertiser.

If you know of any other ways to get an advertiser, please let me know, because it make me very happy to have another chance to get advertisers!

Thank you

Jim

[scslawin]

Jim:

First, you need to see who is advertising at sites that are similar to yours, or at least in the same sort of business. Then approach those companies. Send them your advertising kit ASAP.

Second, you need to participate in discussion groups that are relevant to your topic--then make sure you pick up on who's spending money on advertising there and contact them.

Third, you need to e-mail sites that are in your field, or complementary to your site, and see if they'll spend a few dollars to set up some ads on yours.

Also, should consider making some very generous offers for run-of-site advertising that will cost the advertiser very little but will put money in your pocket.

I'll spend some time at your site and see what ideas I can come up with.

[Caesar]

Is it ok that I put my FastClick banners on my main content while displaying Burst banners on just my forum ?

[adam]

Originally posted by Caesar
Hi,

1)Can people who have used these CPM networks please comment on them ?

2)Has anyone ever seen any reviews of FastClick ?

3)Can I choose specific categories of ads from each of them ?

4)Do they allow their banners to be placed in forums (where forums do not dominate content of the site) ?

Also, what's the typical CPM rate when starting out with each of them ?
<Edited by Caesar on 12-15-2000 at 12:34 AM>

I've been trying FastClick recently, and I'm quite happy. My CPM rate is 98c and that is a helluva lot better than what I was getting with Engage, and what people are getting with BURST.

I'm not sure about the forums Caesar...


Adam

[malis]

I'm also using Fastclick, and I've been quite happy. Their pop-behind program has really been serving me well, and doesn't seem to be too distracting for users.

I'm currently netting $0.77 cpm which isn't great, but it's better than what I can get elsewhere at the moment. I have a %0.63 CTR and I'm showing all campaigns and sending defaults to clearbluemedia.com

I am optimistic that they will continue to add more campaigns as they become more established.

I would appreciate anyone willing to rate and review the various companies on my website:

http://www.webtowns.org/Webmaster_Re...ment_Services/

It's not a high volume site as this information is really fairly focused towards webmasters of larger sites.

Rick
http://www.webtowns.org

[freejavahelp]

scslawin,

you don't think it is out of line to approach advertisers on my own? Where is the line drawn between making an offer and spam?

Jim

[scslawin]

Jim:

Absolutely NOT out of line! The thing about spam is that it's mostly BULK mailings to tons of sites. You should craft an individual e-mail to each individual potential advertiser, and talk about their site/product and how you thought they'd benefit from advertising at your site.

[necrominator]

You should use clearbluemedia.com they have a similar popup behind program thats guaranteed atleast 1cpm

[adam]

Actually, FreeJavaHelp, I usually find that when I email advertisers, they don't respond, considering it spam or somethign of the sort..... however, when you call them, it's a different matter.

Calling advertisers is 100% better than sending an email, because they have to deal with it then and there. But make sure you've got all your details on hand, coz if they like your site they'll pound you with questions.

Adam

[freejavahelp]

thanks for the tips guys.....

adam, where would I get their numbers? from whois lookups and the sort? Would I find out what companies to contact from the banners on competing sites?

also, what kinds of details should I have on hand?

Jim

[adam]

FJH: you'll find most sites numbers on their sites, under an about us or company information page.

As far as what information, get traffic statistics (uniques and pageviews) for the last 3 months, and if you can demonstrate growth. Have your users demographics handy, and also have a little mini-speech prepared stating why your site is special and unique and why they should advertise with you.

Adam

[freejavahelp]

user demographics? I have heard this term, but am not quite sure what it means, could you explain it adam?

Thanks

Jim

[mjames]

Originally posted by freejavahelp
user demographics? I have heard this term, but am not quite sure what it means, could you explain it adam?

Thanks

Jim

User demographics is basically various information about your visitors. Their age groups, general locations, interests, male/female, income, etc.

[freejavahelp]

how do i find out the demographics?

Jim

[necrominator]

I find that emailing people does work, and ive established several bussiness relationships from just emailing people and asking them for advertising or to advertise on my site.

Originally posted by adam
Actually, FreeJavaHelp, I usually find that when I email advertisers, they don't respond, considering it spam or somethign of the sort..... however, when you call them, it's a different matter.

Calling advertisers is 100% better than sending an email, because they have to deal with it then and there. But make sure you've got all your details on hand, coz if they like your site they'll pound you with questions.

Adam

[mjames]

One of the best ways to find out your user demographics is surveys. Try to give people prizes or something as an incentive to take them. A lot of trackers also include this information.

[adam]

Yep, the best way to get demographics is by running surveys. If you don't want to do this, just make a rough estimation about your target audience etc.

Adam