What Is An Ad Network? An Advertisers And Publishers Guide

What is an ad network? Imagine a digital ecosystem where your ads consistently reach the right audience without the complexity of open auctions.

As a business, you want to run your ads. As a publisher, you want to host these ads. How does this critical meet-up occur? Fortunately, ad networks do the heavy lifting to make this match happen. In this guide, you’ll master the basics of what an ad network can do for both advertisers and publishers to make informed decisions and maximize ad revenue opportunities.

How does an ad network work? This blog will highlight what an ad network is and how to make it work for you. 

What Is, And Isn’t, An Ad Network?

Think of an ad network as an intermediary between the advertiser and the publisher, a go-between who speaks both parties’ language and understands both parties’ goals. In digital advertising, ad exchanges, ad networks, and programmatic advertising are key components, each playing a distinct role in how ads are bought and sold online. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Ad exchange: Digital marketplace where advertisers and publishers buy and sell ad inventory using automated real-time bidding (RTB) processes. It operates like a stock exchange but for online ads. Multiple advertisers bid on ad impressions as they become available. The highest bidder wins..
• Ad network:  A platform that aggregates ad inventory from multiple publishers and sells it to advertisers. It acts as an intermediary, bundling inventory based on criteria like audience demographics or content type. Advertisers can skip individual negotiations by purchasing bundled inventory that targets their audience.
• Programmatic Advertising: Automated buying and selling of digital ad space using algorithms and real-time data, typically through Demand-Side Platforms and Supply-Side Platforms. This process targets ads based on demographics and behavior, optimizing delivery to maximize ROI by reaching the right audience at the right time.

While ad networks and ad exchanges are both programmatic advertising solutions, the primary difference between an ad network and ad exchange involves where the ads are purchased. Ad networks provide access to first-party data unavailable on the open exchange, often offering a more cost-effective option than buying directly from publishers. In an ad exchange, advertisers and publishers buy and sell ad inventory directly in a digital marketplace in real-time using RTB. 

Taking the time to fully understand the technologies an ad network offers or can integrate with is crucial to ensuring it aligns with your campaign goals.

Ad Network Examples

When considering ad network options, explore the network’s extent and whether it offers a variety of ad formats to optimize the monetizing potential. Here’s a brief look at three ad networks: Google AdSense, Amazon Publisher Service, and Next Millennium.

• Google Adsense is free to use and is known for its vast reach and sophisticated targeting geared towards both small publishers getting their feet wet in website monetization (100K/month traffic) and large publishers who get millions of page views. 
• Amazon Publisher Services connects publishers of all sizes with leading supply-side platforms (SSPs), offering access through a single, streamlined ad network. This enables publishers to choose the marketplace that best aligns with their organization’s size and needs. Factors such as the number of ad campaigns, bid amounts, keyword targets, listing quality, and category competitiveness can all influence pay-per-click (PPC) costs.
• Next Millennium bridges the gap between publishers and advertisers with cutting-edge digital advertising solutions. By using proprietary ad units and state-of-the-art technology, Next Millennium empowers publishers to maximize revenue while maintaining a seamless user experience without compromising user experience or site speed. Strong partnerships with top agencies and brands provide access to premium demand and exclusive ad formats. As a result, publishers double their ad revenue, and advertisers exceed Google benchmarks by 4-10X on average.

Are you interested in next-level results with a programmatic advertising partner that makes more money and makes more sense?

How Does An Ad Network Work For Advertisers?

Let’s explore how an ad network works with advertisers to reach the perfect target audience. Advertisers create campaigns on the ad network platform, filling in all the necessary campaign details. The ad network algorithm then matches these campaigns with the right publisher supply and then pushes the ads to the publisher site ensuring that ads are placed where they’re most likely to succeed. Ad networks use AI-driven campaigns to analyze the performance of different ad creatives and automatically optimize them for maximum impact.

• Technologies like Next Millennium’s proprietary IntelliLaunch™ AI solution, launch campaigns using 1st-party data and multiple data partners simultaneously. 
• Then, boost results by allocating inventory simultaneously to the highest performing data partners in real-time. 
• Bringing more engagement and reach for every dollar invested offers a centralized way to view reporting from multiple publishers, saving advertisers time and resources.

It is essential to research and understand how the ad network verifies traffic quality. For instance, Next Millennium ensures that over 98% of advertiser traffic is human, verified by trusted companies like Integral Ad Science, MOAT, and Pixalate. Additionally, our data solutions help in choosing the most effective ad formats, optimizing campaign performance.

Explore how Hasbro achieved a 237% increase in CTR with Next Millennium?

How Does An Ad Network Work For Publishers?

As a publisher, maximizing your ad revenue is key as you know most of your revenues come from showing ads to the audience you’ve worked hard to build. You want to find the right ad network partner to increase ad revenues and protect your brand. And, of course, to sell unsold inventory.

• An ad network centralizes the operations, providing real-time dashboards that track important metrics publishers care about, giving you a clear view of how your ad revenue is being created, where, and when. 
• No more guessing at performance, doing manual calculations, or unquestioningly trusting an advertising service.
• Another benefit to publishers is access to a wider range of ad platforms and exclusive agency budgets. Ad yield can be very low when filling ad inventory with ads from one or two partners. 

With an ad network partner like Next Millennium, publishers gain access to all the large advertising platforms and ads from premium brands, including partner agencies with large budgets that they usually can’t access. Ad networks generate income faster for publishers and broaden their options for advertisers tailored to their audiences.  

Want to learn how Next Millennium doubles ad revenue for our publisher network on average? 

Are Advertising Networks Worth It?

Finding the right advertisers or publishers, negotiating deals, and tracking performance takes tremendous time and knowledge. For many brands, partnering with an ad network simplifies this process. Conversely, some publishers also prefer working with an ad network rather than dealing with each advertiser individually. And since ad networks manage the financial aspects of transactions, providing a secure and straightforward way to ensure payments are handled efficiently.

While ad exchanges might offer more transparency and potentially higher CPMs, they don’t always have access to premium publisher inventory. Ad networks that secure exclusive inventory offer a competitive edge, helping advertisers get more value from their campaigns while enabling publishers to fill unsold inventory.

Support is also another important consideration. Ad networks often provide specialized technical support, such as marketing expertise to choose the best ad formats proven to perform within publisher networks, data scientists to optimize algorithms continuously, and developers. Overall, ad networks are integral to publishers’ programmatic advertising strategies.

Next Millennium: The Programmatic Advertising Solution For Advertisers And Publishers

Understanding the pivotal role that ad networks play in digital advertising opens up significant opportunities for both advertisers and publishers to enhance their ad monetization efforts. With programmatic advertising, campaigns can be optimized, monitored, and adjusted in real-time to achieve maximum performance and reach your revenue goals. 

Let Next Millennium do the heavy lifting, so you don’t have to. 

There’s a reason why we are trusted by some of the world’s leading publishing brands. Take a look at these client results:

• For Publishers:  Minute Media, a premier digital media company, generated $2 million in new annual ad revenue.
• For Advertisers: Hasbro achieves a 237% increase in CTR with Next Tack Unit compared to standard banners.

At Next Millennium, we help you do what you do best—whether that’s publishing great content or selling great products. Ready to elevate your strategy? Book a discovery call today.