Setting Up A Default Chain

Ad networks can normally not fill 100% of a website’s inventory, and the problem only gets worse with bigger sites. Therefore, in order to monetize all your pageviews, you will need to set up some form of default chain where any spare impressions from one network are sent to another network, and then any spare from that are sent to the 3rd network.

Most ad networks today offer some form of default option, often rich media defaults, where you are able to send any spare inventory to another network. In order to set this up, taking 468×60 banner ads for example, you will need to generate the ad code for your top network (the one with the highest eCPM), and then hardcode that into the html of your pages. To begin your chain, you will then need to generate the ad code of your second best ad network, and save this as network2.html and upload it to your server.

I have found it easiest to set up a subdomain on my server called ads, so all my default networks html files can be found at:

http://ads.example.com/network2.html
http://ads.example.com/network3.html
http://ads.example.com/network3.html

In the default interface of your top network, you need to set up a default directing to http://ads.example.com/network2.html, and then from the default interface of your second network, you need to set up a default directing to http://ads.example.com/network3.html, and so on, until you have managed to fill all your available inventory.

It is a common question to ask what is the best order to set up your default chain, and to be honest it really does vary for every site. However, as an example, here is the default chain I use:

Burst Media >> ValueClick Media >> Casale Media >> CPX Interactive

and that tends to fill all my impressions, with the eCPM dropping by about 20% with each tier.

It is generally a good idea to play around with your chain until you are happy that your are recieving the most amount of money. In fact, Casale Media lets you run your default campaign as a real campaign through their interface, so if you say that your lower network has an eCPM of $0.30, then Casale Media will send any impressions to that default that they cannot fill with ads worth more than $0.30 eCPM. Moreover, many networks, including Burst Media and ValueClick Media allow you to run multiple default campaigns, weighting them so you can split your default chain after that network into maybe 4 lower paying networks to try and bolster your overall eCPM.

1 comment on “Setting Up A Default Chain

  1. Pingback: Google Buys Ad Optimisation Platform AdMeld for $400 Million | AdBalance

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