What Banner Ad Programs Are Still Worthwhile?

hafree asks: "To help defray the high bandwidth costs of running an online radio station, I chose to enroll in a banner ad affiliate program. After reading countless horror stories about affiliate programs not paying up, I was sure to check into many options before finally settling on focusIN's advertising network. Like all other programs, they have strict requirements as to what counts as a unique impression or click-thru, and their statistics on my Web site didn't quite match my Web logs. After less than 2 months, my account with them had been deactivated without any notification, no payout ever received, and they don't respond to my e-mails or return my phone calls. What is a reputable advertising program to use? In a previous article on this same subject, ValueClick.com was recommended by many users, but they still seem to have the same small print that allows them to cancel your account at any time without paying. Has anyone had any negative experiences using them, or positive experiences using other programs? I would much rather deal with an honest program with strict requirements and low payouts than have to find out after 2 months that I will not be paid because of some loophole in the fine print."

Comments

a place to start: Click Quick

[Leknor]

I'm in the same boat. I've been going down the list at http://www.clickquick.com/ and seem to be getting rejected quicker then I did back in high school. :~) Best of luck to you.

Leknor

Impressions, click-thrus, and your web logs

[jmaslak]

The person asking this question mentioned that his web logs and the advertiser's web logs didn't match. As someone who has worked in the online advertising industry, I can provide a few pieces of information that may help you understand why they don't match.

First, multiple visits from the same IP or user will be aggregated into less impressions and click-throughs.

Second, one person seeing the same banner 5 times might only count as one impression.

Third, search engines and robots don't get counted.

What you will want to do is to verify that any ad network you use has a legitimate business model. In general, if someone gave them millions of $$$ to run their business, they probably won't screw you, for public opinion is everything to an ad network. Once word gets around that you shortchange sites, you'll quickly lose any hope of becoming profitable - and the ad networks know this.

In my experience, they try their best to accurately pay you what you deserve, without screwing themselves, either.