Technorati Media Isnt Moving In The Right Direction
I have been receiving a lot of emails lately from webmasters using Technorati Media as their ad network. Techn0rati is a blog search engine which launched an ad network back in June last year. At the time it was very big news, because Technorati was losing its way a little bit and also traffic at the same time. Thus, they launched Technorati Media which would open up a new revenues stream. At the same time Technorati purchased AdEngage which would be the backbone of the Technorati Media platform. AdEngage is a basic self service advertising platform which deals in CPC display advertising.
Anyways, Technorati Media launched their ad network with a lot of media attention and were offering some amazing CPM rates, in which was going to entice a huge amount of small and medium blogs. However, now since the economy is in a bit of a decline ad revenues have dropped but this is nowhere near the amount Technorati Media’s CPM rates have dropped.
I’m not too sure what Technorati Media is trying to achieve because using the current model they have for advertising, I’m sure they will be in a huge amount of trouble come the end of 2009. The economic crisis is not going to be fixed over night and it will take a couple of years to sort itself out, so Technorati please think of another advertising solution. CPC campaigns are great for advertisers because they get an instant return on investment for their money, but CPM is great for publishers because they can see a return on their investment. Technorati Media is struggling even to sell CPC campaigns even with some great sites on board, so this spells big trouble!
Disclosure: Im CEO of Adphilia which is a site representation company.
6 Comments
Steven, you couldn’t be farther off base with this article. I personally use Technorati for both the Technorati Engage 125×125 ads and their premium display (300×250, etc) ads. Not only have they brought high CPM ads through their display solution but the 125×125 ads are getting better by the day. I’d be interested to know the group of people you’re talking to.
Being that you’re a CEO of you own ad network you must surely know that ad placement is important. So I am wondering where your ’sources’ are placing their ads and what their sites are like. How many page views per month are they generating? Asking and answering these key questions would have made your post interesting and worthwhile. Instead, from what I can see, you constantly talk bad about Technorati (check out your twitter stream involving Technorati (http://is.gd/i1oF)).
Net net – this article is something you should honestly be ashamed of. Three paragraphs of negativity about a competitor network with nothing to back it up and no real substance.
In the spirit of being open with data – last month my site (I’d like to remain anonymous) generated 3.1mm ad impressions and Technorati filled 60% of these with a CPM of $1.92 (they utilize price floors to ensure they hit a CPM I’d like to achieve). For me – that’s above anyone else I’ve ever used. Additionally, the 125×125 ads are bringing in consistent revenue (about $8.00 a day) and I’ve received two weekly buys which come at a flat rate to me.
I hope next time you’ll do some more research Steven and actually bring some data to the table. Instead you’re just making yourself look like a negativity machine and in my mind that devalues anything you say or publish.
TM is falling
I have quite a few friends running TM ads and their revenues slumped since Mid January.
Fill rates are close to zero and CPMs are not as high as they used to.
Guess your prediction was 100% correct.