5 ms·

The self serve ad market has been grossly ignored. A good startup opportunity. http://buysellads.com http://buysellads.com does some of it, but is very limite

by arn 16y ago

The self serve ad market has been grossly ignored. A good startup opportunity. http://buysellads.com http://buysellads.com does some of it, but is very limited in the options (30 day buy only). https://www.isocket.com/ https://www.isocket.com/ promises to do more, and seems like a very promising option. it's in private beta now. So, I haven't tried it.

buro9 16y ago
isocket looks to be exactly what I need. I've just signed up to the private beta and if accepted will feed back my experience. Thanks for pointing it out (I'd never have found it).
- alabut 16y ago
  I work at isocket - ping me at my HN username at gmail and I'll bump you to the front of the queue.
  - buro9 16y ago
    Thanks alabut, another isocket HN member ( jasonshen ) has already bumped me. But it's appreciated.
    - alabut 16y ago
      Sweet, glad you're in. And definitely let either of us know if have any feedback. We've even been running occasional batches of usability tests, if you're open to going through the onboarding process with one of us.
toddynho 16y ago
One thing that is very important to understand when selling ads on your own is how those ads are actually sold. Depending on your site, the niche, and how much time and effort you put into the ad sales process, results can vary greatly. At the end of the day, the only thing that REALLY matters is if ads are sold or not sold. Software alone, in my opinion, won't get the job done. With roughly 2 and a half years of data from running BSA, less than 20% of ad sales come from a publishers website directly - sure, some sites are higher and some are lower, but 20% is the average (and we're in a tech savvy space). One of Arn's sites, for example, came into BSA with a handful of ad sales. And, once we worked with him and his team on pricing and marketed the site to our existing advertiser base in the iphone niche, his sales soared. I don't know the exact numbers, and I doubt Arn would appreciate me sharing these here - but it's safe to say that his ad sales at least tripled once he joined BSA. In this case, it wasn't the software, it was our ability to sell ads for his site. The point I'm trying to make: there are a billion ad networks out there. Do some research on them before using them, try some out, and find the ones that sell for YOUR site the best. And, if you can sell ads on your own, do it - hard code them into the site, have people pay you via PayPal, and use a network to supplement those sales. Full disclosure: I run BuySellAds.com
- arn 16y ago
  Actually that is a fair point. AppShopper's ads have sold much better through BuySellAds than us doing it direct.
- bgeorgescu 16y ago
  Would be interested in exploring opportunities to work with you guys on ipodtouchfans.com (site in same space as arn's). My email is username at gmail.
  - toddynho 16y ago
    sent you an email a couple days ago, maybe I got the address wrong? :) if you didn't get anything, can you ping me at todd@buysellads.com so that I make sure I have the right email address? we would kick ass for ipodtouchfans.com, very nice fit with our existing inventory and advertiser base.

by arn 16y ago

buro9 16y ago

isocket looks to be exactly what I need. I've just signed up to the private beta and if accepted will feed back my experience. Thanks for pointing it out (I'd never have found it).

alabut 16y ago
I work at isocket - ping me at my HN username at gmail and I'll bump you to the front of the queue.
- buro9 16y ago
  Thanks alabut, another isocket HN member ( jasonshen ) has already bumped me. But it's appreciated.
  - alabut 16y ago
    Sweet, glad you're in. And definitely let either of us know if have any feedback. We've even been running occasional batches of usability tests, if you're open to going through the onboarding process with one of us.

toddynho 16y ago

One thing that is very important to understand when selling ads on your own is how those ads are actually sold. Depending on your site, the niche, and how much time and effort you put into the ad sales process, results can vary greatly. At the end of the day, the only thing that REALLY matters is if ads are sold or not sold. Software alone, in my opinion, won't get the job done. With roughly 2 and a half years of data from running BSA, less than 20% of ad sales come from a publishers website directly - sure, some sites are higher and some are lower, but 20% is the average (and we're in a tech savvy space). One of Arn's sites, for example, came into BSA with a handful of ad sales. And, once we worked with him and his team on pricing and marketed the site to our existing advertiser base in the iphone niche, his sales soared. I don't know the exact numbers, and I doubt Arn would appreciate me sharing these here - but it's safe to say that his ad sales at least tripled once he joined BSA. In this case, it wasn't the software, it was our ability to sell ads for his site. The point I'm trying to make: there are a billion ad networks out there. Do some research on them before using them, try some out, and find the ones that sell for YOUR site the best. And, if you can sell ads on your own, do it - hard code them into the site, have people pay you via PayPal, and use a network to supplement those sales. Full disclosure: I run BuySellAds.com

arn 16y ago
Actually that is a fair point. AppShopper's ads have sold much better through BuySellAds than us doing it direct.
bgeorgescu 16y ago
Would be interested in exploring opportunities to work with you guys on ipodtouchfans.com (site in same space as arn's). My email is username at gmail.
- toddynho 16y ago
  sent you an email a couple days ago, maybe I got the address wrong? :) if you didn't get anything, can you ping me at todd@buysellads.com so that I make sure I have the right email address? we would kick ass for ipodtouchfans.com, very nice fit with our existing inventory and advertiser base.