Any adtoll experts please help

EarthWind · 10-07-2008, 02:59 PM

Hi,

I find adtolls rate cards for sponsored ads extremely misleading. Any suggestions on how to properly read them.

For instance, I purchased an ad slot because the rate card said I should expect about 240 clicks a week with a CTR around 0.19%. So, after looking at my stats a bit I see that my ctr is what they said from 0.17% - 0.20%, yet I'm averaging 10 clicks a day which is only 70 clicks a week... That's a big difference from the 240 clicks a week that I should expect as they said.

I now know that the slot is open to multiple advertisers... They really need to adjust the rate card to state how many people are currently in the rotation and what the max # in the rotation is. It seems as though they just take the price per week of one ad slot divide that by the clicks of all the ad slots and state those awesome stats on the rate card.

If I'm wrong please let me know how to read the card then and how to find the best deals. Currently I'm getting the CTR they said but my CPC is 17 cents!!! A far cry from the <0.01 they said it would be.

Gamehopper · 10-07-2008, 03:25 PM

Here is what I tend to do with that site. If they allow me to buy one day, I do and if its great I buy some more, and if it sucks I only lost a minimum of money.

The stats are very misleading on adtoll, and also on adengage.

I am unsure how adtoll figures it out. I can tell you a good clue for adengage, with adengage if a publisher has very few paid ads in place, the system shows a high amount of clicks per week so that prospective buyers will see the great rates, after a site has several paid ads in place this weekly click rate drops back down to normal.

So if you see an adengage publisher showing a huge amount of clicks per week, go look at the ads on their site and if they all look like RON ads on every other site, dont buy because the clicks are inflated, if however you can spot quite a few unique ad titles, then they have some paid spots, and you are more likely to get close to the rate posted.

Hope that can help a few of you in some way.

EarthWind · 10-07-2008, 06:17 PM

Ok, thanks for the tips... Next time I will taste test before purchasing more.

woochoochinchilla · 10-07-2008, 07:03 PM

AdEngage site stats are beyond me. Never been able to understand them. But I used to be a very very active publisher and advertiser with AdToll. I signed up at the launch, helped them promote a little by acting as a support type figure in forums, etc. The way they calculate stats is:

Clicks last 7 days total / Max ads in rotation = Clicks per week
Impressions last 7 days / Max ads in rotation = Impressions per week
Clicks last 7 days total / Impressions last 7 days = CTR

The publisher has the option to set 1 of 5 different pricing equations based on how much the publisher wants to or thinks they should earn. Very low, low, normal, high, very high (not those are not the names of the actual pricing options).

AdToll's rate cards would work perfectly if every site in there directory had the exact same impressions and clicks every single week. But since they don't you might be buying traffic from a site that just left the Digg hoempage and you will loose a fortune. But it can also work the other way around.

I look at a sites Alexa rank and see if it's 1 week rank is much worse than it's 3 month rank. If it is I don't buy becasue they might be losing traffic right now and I won't get my moneys worth.

EarthWind · 10-07-2008, 10:45 PM

woochoochinchilla, thanks for the comments... Although I really think something is off with the rate cards. The site I'm currently advertising on has a 1 week average of ~18,000 and a 3 month average of ~17,000.

I understand traffic can dip, etc... But this sites chart on alexa for the past year is pretty steady, and has actually grown a bit in the past 6 months.

I wish they would just put how many advertisers are currently active in that slot and what the max is... Would really help me out.

EarthWind · 10-09-2008, 10:04 AM

Well, it seems to be getting better now... It's worked down to about 2 cents a click now... Perhaps when the weekend hits the traffic will get super busy and it will make up for the low start of the week... Hopefully that was the problem.

10-07-2008, 02:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
EarthWind Full Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 88	Any adtoll experts please help Hi, I find adtolls rate cards for sponsored ads extremely misleading. Any suggestions on how to properly read them. For instance, I purchased an ad slot because the rate card said I should expect about 240 clicks a week with a CTR around 0.19%. So, after looking at my stats a bit I see that my ctr is what they said from 0.17% - 0.20%, yet I'm averaging 10 clicks a day which is only 70 clicks a week... That's a big difference from the 240 clicks a week that I should expect as they said. I now know that the slot is open to multiple advertisers... They really need to adjust the rate card to state how many people are currently in the rotation and what the max # in the rotation is. It seems as though they just take the price per week of one ad slot divide that by the clicks of all the ad slots and state those awesome stats on the rate card. If I'm wrong please let me know how to read the card then and how to find the best deals. Currently I'm getting the CTR they said but my CPC is 17 cents!!! A far cry from the <0.01 they said it would be. __________________ Downloadable Games Partner Program Free Online Games Quality flash games for your site

10-07-2008, 03:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
Gamehopper Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 379	Here is what I tend to do with that site. If they allow me to buy one day, I do and if its great I buy some more, and if it sucks I only lost a minimum of money. The stats are very misleading on adtoll, and also on adengage. I am unsure how adtoll figures it out. I can tell you a good clue for adengage, with adengage if a publisher has very few paid ads in place, the system shows a high amount of clicks per week so that prospective buyers will see the great rates, after a site has several paid ads in place this weekly click rate drops back down to normal. So if you see an adengage publisher showing a huge amount of clicks per week, go look at the ads on their site and if they all look like RON ads on every other site, dont buy because the clicks are inflated, if however you can spot quite a few unique ad titles, then they have some paid spots, and you are more likely to get close to the rate posted. Hope that can help a few of you in some way. __________________ Play Online Games Sniper Games and Scary Games Trade Traffic with GameHopper

10-07-2008, 06:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
EarthWind Full Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 88	Ok, thanks for the tips... Next time I will taste test before purchasing more. __________________ Downloadable Games Partner Program Free Online Games Quality flash games for your site

10-07-2008, 07:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
woochoochinchilla Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 836	AdEngage site stats are beyond me. Never been able to understand them. But I used to be a very very active publisher and advertiser with AdToll. I signed up at the launch, helped them promote a little by acting as a support type figure in forums, etc. The way they calculate stats is: Clicks last 7 days total / Max ads in rotation = Clicks per week Impressions last 7 days / Max ads in rotation = Impressions per week Clicks last 7 days total / Impressions last 7 days = CTR The publisher has the option to set 1 of 5 different pricing equations based on how much the publisher wants to or thinks they should earn. Very low, low, normal, high, very high (not those are not the names of the actual pricing options). AdToll's rate cards would work perfectly if every site in there directory had the exact same impressions and clicks every single week. But since they don't you might be buying traffic from a site that just left the Digg hoempage and you will loose a fortune. But it can also work the other way around. I look at a sites Alexa rank and see if it's 1 week rank is much worse than it's 3 month rank. If it is I don't buy becasue they might be losing traffic right now and I won't get my moneys worth. __________________

10-07-2008, 10:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
EarthWind Full Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 88	woochoochinchilla, thanks for the comments... Although I really think something is off with the rate cards. The site I'm currently advertising on has a 1 week average of ~18,000 and a 3 month average of ~17,000. I understand traffic can dip, etc... But this sites chart on alexa for the past year is pretty steady, and has actually grown a bit in the past 6 months. I wish they would just put how many advertisers are currently active in that slot and what the max is... Would really help me out. __________________ Downloadable Games Partner Program Free Online Games Quality flash games for your site

10-09-2008, 10:04 AM	#6 (permalink)
EarthWind Full Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 88	Well, it seems to be getting better now... It's worked down to about 2 cents a click now... Perhaps when the weekend hits the traffic will get super busy and it will make up for the low start of the week... Hopefully that was the problem. __________________ Downloadable Games Partner Program Free Online Games Quality flash games for your site

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