Issues with online ad serving
When you are trying to market your business, there are several different advertising avenues available to you. Online advertising has become incredibly popular, and for very good reasons. It does not require a large sum of money to start. Plus,
ad serving gets your message in front of your target audience very quickly. As effective as online advertising is, there are still some definite drawbacks. That is why it is a good idea to work directly and build real relationships with publishers or advertisers instead of simply depending on the middlemen. Also, it's always a good idea to spread your ad budget across a variety of different marketing mediums and channels and then focus more on the ones with the best real ROI. Let’s take a moment to look at a few issues you might face when advertising online:
Ad blockers
While online advertising is now an accepted part of spending time on the internet, it is worth remembering that not everyone wants to see your ads. Many of those folks are happy to install an ad blocker that automatically kills ads before they get to the screen. Just be aware that a certain percentage of your ads are not going to reach the people they are intended for.
Non-human traffic
It’s worth remembering that it is not just your business that can benefit from placing ads. Publishers can make a nice little chunk of changes by placing ads on their website, and while most are legitimate and in it for the right reasons, there are others who are concerned about nothing but the money. What that means is that they will use bots and other nefarious black-hat tactics to make it appear as though a lot of traffic is coming from their site when in fact very little actually is. Knowing who you are working with is certainly a good advise.
Viruses and malware
If you are a publisher looking to run ads on your site, you might decide to go with an ad network or ad exchange. This is a good move given that you can quickly get ads to use when going that route. The problem here is that you don't really know or connect to your advertisers and not all ad networks or exchanges are created equal, which means that some dodgy and malicious ads can slip through the cracks. It’s not uncommon to find ads riddled with viruses and malware, neither of which are good for your site or its visitors.
Real ROI
Even with a ton of data and reports, how can you really be sure that you are really getting what you paid for when you run online ads? As we mentioned earlier, there are publishers and vendors out there looking to line their pockets at the expense of your wallet. While it may seem as though visitors are coming in droves, the opposite may be true. This is possible partially because of the complex layers of ad vendors with their own stats and data. With many vendors, data discrepancies are often unavoidable and some data sources for ad metrics might not be accurate or reliable.
Bad ad placement
It is not easy to have total control over where your ads end up unless you work directly with a publisher. With an ad exchange/network, there is always a small but real possibility that your ad ends up displaying side by side with another ad or on a content page that promotes hate or violence in some way or another, which may make you guilty by association in the eyes of the viewers.
Related
- Security issues with ad serving
"In the world of online advertising, there is a lot of money to be made for both publishers and advertisers, which is why so many are keen to get in on the act. There are also countless ad serving companies out there who are making the process of connecting advertisers and publishers that much easier. " More
- Security concerns with online advertising
"Publishers are well aware that there is a lot of money to be made by showing ads on their website. However, the issue here is that when rushing to monetize their pages, there are some site owners who do not perform proper due diligence. " More
- How to protect your site from malicious ads
"Serving ads on your website can be a great way to pull in additional revenue and help your visitors find relevant products and services within the same industry that your website is a part of. There are certainly a lot of positives to be taken from having ads on your site, but there are also drawbacks. " More