Using Better Ad Sizes 

 

Google’s dislike for text link ads was made clear when they publicly announced that websites selling text ads will be penalized in terms of search engine rankings. Since then, the text link ad industry took a huge hit as many people pulled all text ads off their sites.

 

With the loss of ad revenue, site owners started looking at other advertising methods much more aggressively. At this point, the 125×125 ad started to attract advertisers from all over. Some of the reasons this type of ad was popular included (but not limited to):

It fit at least 2 ads side by side on the sidebar comfortably, thereby increasing ad revenue

Small enough so even novice graphic designers can design something that looks good

Loads fast enough so many can be populated without affecting site’s load speed

 

AD

 

As more and more sites started utilizing this type of ad, bloggers who run popular blogs likeJohn Chow and Problogger started to notice. It was coincidental that both of these blogs were redesigned around the same time to include this type of ad, which created a huge buzz around the blogosphere on not only the importance of blog designs but also the popularity of 125×125 ads.

 

If those two blogs put 125×125 sized ads on the runway, Entrecard gave this type of ad the fuel it needed to jump off the popularity charts. This online ad exchange system’s model was based on traffic exchange through 125×125 ads. As Entrecard explored in popularity, 125×125 sized ads came along for the ride.

 

This is where Performacing Ads step in. Cutting through the bells and whistles, it is basically a middleman that helps you sell 125×125 ads. Websites who want to sell ads sign up as a publisher and put the sites up for display; advertisers looking to advertise sign up to buy ads.

How Performancing Ads Make Money

 

As with all middlemen, they make money by taking a cut off your ad revenue. Performancing Ads is no different, taking at most 40% (meaning you keep 60%). There seems to be a tiered system where they will take fewer commissions if your ads are performing well but it is not documented well enough for me to explain further.

Thoughts on the Ad System

 

What I Like

One thing I like about Performancing Ads is that I can customize how many spots I want to sell and how many groups (called regions) of ads I have on each page. This gives me quite a bit of flexibility because I can sell 4 spots on the sidebar and another 6 spots on the footer for example as long as I set it up that way.

Another benefit is that I can put my own ads up within the system, so if I have direct advertising relationships, I can use the system to put them onto my site without anyone taking a cut, which makes management convenient.

 

Download This Free Mini Course

 

Installation

 

For those of us using WordPress, it is very easy to install. After you activate the plugin which is downloadable off the website, all you need is to add a line of code at where you want the ads to appear.

 

What Needs Improvement

 

Exchange Ads

 

When I wanted to book my own ads, I was asked to create a 125×125 ad. Once I was done, I booked it without a problem. Then, I created two more ads in the ad exchange section for a total of three.

No problems right? However, when I click on exchange ads now, I only see two and not the one which I originally created!

Where the third one is stored is a mystery. Perhaps someone can let me know how this could be fixed.

 

Lack of Control in Managing Ads

 

In the brief time that I’ve spent using this system, I didn’t see an option to cancel ads. You can argue that this is done on purpose but I should at least be able to control my own ads right? I tried to see what would happen if I added the same ad in the system twice, and the results are self-explanatory.

I’ve since contacted them to resolve this issue. I didn’t expect them to get back to me right away as I emailed them late at night but hopefully, they can get this rectified in a timely manner.

 

Final Thoughts

 

The success of Performacing Ads will lie on its ability to attract advertisers, as new publishers will join the network if everyone in the system is having good results.

Despite the minor issues that I’ve found, this system is easy to implement and as 125×125 ads become more popular, Performacing Ads will be a good source of advertising stream.