Ask HN: Can niche ad networks work?

[callmeed]

I was browsing the deck today (http://decknetwork.net/) and noticed they have a small but well-known network and get a decent rate ($7,600 per month per advertiser).

I think I have the connections/resources to build something similar in a niche industry (weddings) and find some advertisers.

Could it be a decent source of additional revenue? Could it grow into something bigger?

Anyone ever done something like that?

[javery]

I run a number of niche networks (http://zerkmedia.com) and they provide a good source of income. The small ad size of The Deck and some of my networks works well in technology, but in the wedding space you would probably want more conventional sizes. You would also be dealing with larger advertisers which means more of a sales effort, do you have sales experience? (if not it's not very hard, it's just not very fun either)

I have also written software to manage running these networks, if you are interested in using it drop me a line (javery at zerkmedia.com).

[vaksel → javery]

btw you have a bug on the http://rubyrow.net/ index page(probably other sites too) when javascript is disabled. The footer is fixed height, with the photos appearing below it.

[callmeed → javery]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I might be in touch.

[vaksel]

isn't that what adroll does?

[javery → vaksel]

adroll is more of an open ad marketplace, a site can be in multiple rolls and from what I can tell the sales force isn't actively pushing individual rolls. It also doesn't appear to be very selective. The CPMs are pretty bad compared to what I would expect with a niche network and a good sales team.

If you want to advertise on Surfing sites would you rather go to the surfing roll at adroll or to a niche network focused on Surfing sites that has the best sites and good ad placements?

Playing around with adroll I also noticed that once you want to advertise you still choose sites individually where in a network you are usually paying for the expertise of the network builder to have chosen the best sites.

[rwebb → javery]

hmm....what you're saying doesn't make much sense. niche networks charge premium CPMs (e.g. expensive to the advertiser) because they have to support their sales force and support staff. they are also generally not self service at all. adroll is way, way cheaper than a vertical niche network because it is self service. if you want to pay +$20/cpm for someone to pick sites from a list for you, definitely go with a niche vertical network. if you want a cheap self service option that has access to the same sites go with adroll.

[javery → rwebb]

well, from a publisher perspective would you rather get 50% of $10 or 80% of $1? Adroll doesn't contain the same premium level of sites as a vertical niche network because those publishers know that they can make much more with the niche network then something like adroll.