Ad Network, Vertical Ad Network, Affiliate Network – What’s the Difference?

September 18th, 2008

At NETexponent we get asked this question a lot. There are so many to choose from and it seems like everywhere you look there is a new network and they all claim superiority. So how can an advertiser and/or publishers choose the right one for their business? The first step is knowing how ad networks, vertical ad networks, and affiliate networks differ.

In his article published in the inaugural issue of FeedFront, our CEO and Co-Founder, Peter Figueredo shed some light on the subject by comparing each side by side.

In a perfect world networks would be…

Transparent - telling you who you were working with always and what those sites are earning
Safe for your brand – keeping your ads off of inappropriate sites
Innovative - offering robust technology options for publishers
Targeted - allowing advertisers to segment and target easily
Informative - providing full access to campaign reporting and not hide any metrics
Responsive - offering great client service and account management
Unselfish - allowing advertisers to connect with publishers directly and keep relationships on their tech platform rather than their role as middlemen