Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Vatroslav Mihalj — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:26:55 -0000

Far too many (social network) services or startups expect "easy money" from advertising (usually AdSense network). Very soon they find out that this does not work, so they blame the provider or the platform ("you can't make money od google ads").
For more than two years Mashable has been explaining some simple rules of social networking:
- people do not come to SN to click on ads
- context is very important
- if you want to make money on your SN, it has to be "in the line of business", i.e. in a way that users do not find irritating, but acceptable and fitting into the way the service works
- ads are natural companions to web search, because the user is looking for something and ads are a kind of suggestion, help, not some annoying distracion (in the SN context)
I would definity recommend to such entrepreneurs not to blame "the ads" or "the users" for not making money, but to "do the homework" (assess the addressable market). They have to make some revenues from their service or brand - either through micropayment content, either through "commision" based on telco premium solutions (visit the link). Since a SN connects people with similar interests, it can charge a commision like a consultant or a head hunter.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

mysapce — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:04:24 -0000

They are very picky too, but then they can be since they are so huge!

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Rex Dixon — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:25:21 -0000

@Nabil Naghdy - uhm, thanks for the promotion, but Scott Rafer is the CEO and always has been. :)

Hopefully we can do business once again down the road, and thanks for the call last night to get this all figured out!

Rex Dixon
Publisher Relations, Lookery

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Nabil Naghdy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:11:18 -0000

Our communication issues with Lookery have been resolved. Rex [Lookery CEO] was able to solve the problems, and hopefully we would be able to do business again in the future.

Another great example of how simple communication can break through barriers, and allow money to flow.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Claire Herminjard — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:40:04 -0000

Hi Nabil,

Just came across this post of yours. Since you and I worked together throughout the duration of your campaign with Lookery, I thought I would respond to make sure you had all of your questions answered.

It seemed that by the end of your campaign, you were quite satisfied with our willingness to consider and agree to your requests, as we ended the campaign on good terms with the hopes of renewing our partnership in the future.

If I am mistaken and have missed something that matters to Lookery's relationship with your company, please do shoot me an email and I'm more than happy to help you out.

We at Lookery certainly want you to have the best experience posssible.

Many Thanks,
Claire Herminjard, Lookery Business Development

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Rex Dixon — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:24:19 -0000

@Nabil Naghdy - What exactly was your perceived lack of customer service here at Lookery? Please drop me a line personally, as I think it's quite unfair to say we don't provide customer service. Feel free to drop me a line directly, as we would like to know exactly how we dropped the ball with you.

Rex
Publisher Relations, Lookery
direct- rex [at] lookery [dot] com

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

PaulGlazowski — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:43:39 -0000

All comments much appreciated. We'll certainly keep a close eye on the ad business to see whether fruits to be harvested down the line are as sweet as is being predicted.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

PaulGlazowski — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:41:55 -0000

Of course. This bit's heavy on the ad angle, though. Thanks for the links!

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

PaulGlazowski — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:40:17 -0000

Thanks for the DrivePM reference. There are always a few that slip through undetected. A complete blanket of the market is an accomplishment that rarely materializes :) Keep commenting!

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

PaulGlazowski — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:37:16 -0000

You're right. It's still somewhat early. Which makes this moment ripe for some interesting surprises.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

PaulGlazowski — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:36:35 -0000

Good to note. Thanks for the tip!

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Nabil Naghdy — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:26:32 -0000

Great article Paul.

Another factor to take into consideration regarding the success of social advertising networks, is their customer service and flexibility. When there are so many options, keeping advertisers happy is the key to retaining them as clients.

We have worked with Lookery & Myofferpal in the past few months, and both have been terrible at meeting the clients needs. We moved on from both these companies as soon as we realised the poor customer service that they had.

When there is a lot competition, ad networks needs to be sure not to bite the hand that feeds it - and remember that in this (relatively) small industry, word travels fast.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Matt McAllister — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:49:16 -0000

Good overview, thanks Paul. You might notice that many of the networks you've mentioned are simply trying to fit old ad models (i.e. banners) into this very new medium. Offerpal Media, on the other hand, uses an entirely new and different advertising platform, one ideally suited to the social environment. Our use of a virtual currency platform is the difference between interruptive advertising and engagement marketing. So far we've experienced tremendous growth and success with it, and that's why we feel we're positioned to succeed in the long run.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Matt — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:12:33 -0000

I have started to work with Jason and others at SocialCash recently and they seem like a very smart bunch of folks. I would recommend them to other app developers.

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Rex Dixon — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:26:13 -0000

Well yes - we (Lookery) are an ad network, and doing quite well pushing billions of ad impressions monthly, we are also a data company. If you saw our latest post on our blog:

http://blog.lookery.com/200...

We have oodles of good data for bloggers, general web sites, etc... All you need to do is sign up - not even run ads (even though that is cool, you can) - and run our JS Code and watch cool data about your site.

The data we can show you for free is probably more interesting to those that don't code and have a social net application, but have a blog, web site, etc.

Btw, one last quick item - that link you have for us is the old guarantee for social net apps - we do have a new guarantee which is found here:

http://blog.lookery.com/200...

Rex
Publisher Relations, Lookery

Re: Social Ad Networks: Win, Lose, or Draw?

Ryan — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:24:31 -0000

I don't think social networks have figured out the advertising special sauce. Sure there is a considerable amount of money being pumped into these networks but are they really acquiring business for these companies. Check this out... www.gothamtechminute.blogsp...