Mark Evans

About six weeks ago, I started to experiment with a new advertising network called AdGenta that lets you insert ads that are relevant to blog posts. I was curious to see how AdGenta compared with AdSense
in terms of click-through rates and revenue generation. The results
so far have been intriguing and suggest AdGenta could complement
AdSense or even replace AdSense for some bloggers. Last month, AdGenta
ads attracted 133
click-throughs and generated revenue of $19.95. This compared with
AdSense, which
had 90 click-throughs and revenue of $39.23. The caveat is I
didn't insert AdGenta ads into every post because I was concerned they
would compromise or detract from the editorial content. In any event,
I'm impressed with AdGenta, particularly given
it's just getting off the ground and still in the process of attracting
advertisers. What AdGenta needs to offer is better reporting tools to
show
how much each click-through is worth. This would provide bloggers with
a better idea of what ads are worth and whether they are worth
inserting. Putting
aside the AdGenta vs. AdSense comparison, the real story is my blog
pulled in a
whopping $59.18 in advertising last month - or about $1.94 a day, which
is enough to buy a Starbucks coffee unless it's one of those fancy
ones. To be honest, I'm still puzzled by the fact my blog and blogs in
general don't attract more advertising. My blog pulls in between 5,000
to 7,000 unique visitors a day - not quite Om Malik-like
performance - but certainly respectable. Yet, there have been, at best,
small
nibbles from advertisers. Is it my blog or just the common approach to
the blogosphere? I suspect what's happening is many advertisers are
still pretty cautious about the blogosphere and/or sticking to the
bigger,
better-known blogs that have the ability to effectively address their
needs with sales teams, rate cards, etc. For most individual-run blogs,
advertisers are a rare commodity because they don't have the resources
or time to directly pursue advertising, while advertisers don't have
the resources and/or willingness to fool around with blogs require too
much
legwork and/or offer little information on their popularity and reach.
With the exception perhaps of Om Malik, many of the blogs I read every
day have little or no information about their audience, which makes
them a mystery to advertisers. There is no doubt the blogosphere will
get more
advertising-friendly in the next couple of years as advertisers
look for more inventory as the online market grows. At that point,
advertisers will reach beyond the Tier 1 blogs (Weblogs, Gawker, etc.)
and start to explore new opportunities. Until then, blogs will continue
to be a labor of love for most of us who do it because it's fun while
offering a way to build a brand and contacts.
For more thoughts on the blogosphere and advertising, check out a column I wrote earlier this week in the Financial Post. Problogger, meanwhile, provides a good snapshot on the different ways that bloggers make money.