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By Tom Hespos
Few concepts translate from the traditional media world to the interactive realm as well as the network advertising model. When we consider the value proposition -- rolling up the long tail so that smaller online venues become as easy to buy as the largest portal -- network advertising seems like a no-brainer. Content-specific ad networks are once again becoming the rage, packaging sites in a particular genre together. Take, for instance, Active Athlete, which provides a compelling buy for advertisers looking to target the active lifestyle set.
It's not just content-specific networks that are riding a wave of popularity right now. New networks seem to be springing up every day, as anyone who visited the exhibit hall at ad:tech recently saw firsthand. Ten years ago, only a handful of networks were getting attention. Now there seem to be more than we can easily count.
While networks are increasing in popularity, few are considered "must buys" like the Big Three (AOL, Yahoo and MSN) often are. Perhaps it's the overabundance of networks on the modern landscape, or perhaps it's that online buyers still need to see certain commitments from networks in order to dedicate a higher percentage of their online buys to them. Maybe it's a combination of the two.
Today, I'd like to explore the latter in further detail and share what buyers are really looking for when they're considering adding networks to their buys.
Author notes: Tom Hespos is the president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com. Read full bio.