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How do I get started with Kontera contextual advertising?

I notice that you run Kontera's contextual advertising network on your site, Dave. I've heard good things about the network, but am curious: how much do you actually earn off this program, and is it worth it? If so, how can I get started?

Dave's Answer:

I'm actually quite pleased with the results I'm getting from Kontera's ContentLink program, truth be told, and they tell me that the Kontera advertisers are also quite happy to appear on AskDaveTaylor because, as Kontera exec Mike Glover explains, "our advertisers are really enjoying your site and its content/readership: The conversions they're seeing are higher then on other sites..."

Before I go further, though, let me explain what I'm talking about. In this very article you'll notice that there are, somewhat randomly, words or pairs of words underlined. If you move your cursor over one, you'll find that there's a slick looking pop-up advert that appears, and if you click on that ad, you'll go to an advertisers' page. Kinda like Google AdSense, but hidden behind text links. Here's how it looks with a popup:

An Example of a Kontera ContentLInk contextual pop-up advert

Is Kontera worth it for me on this site? Well, let me just show you a report for the last week and let you do the math so you can answer that question:

As you can see, if you have some good traffic to your site and your site and content is advertising friendly, it can be a terrific new source of revenue for you.

Mike explained when I asked him about why he thought my site was doing well: "Because of your content and how tailored it is to people looking to solve problems, it works especially well with our technology and suite of advertisers. Kontera is always looking to promote publishers who have quality content for our advertisers."

Sound good? Heck, I'd suggest to you that as with anything else, it's worth experimenting with Kontera, even if you're already using Google AdSense or another advertising network, because of how unobtrusively the ads blend into the content of the page. If you'd like to get started, Kontera's given me a specific link for you to use so they'll know I sent ya:

Get Started Making Money with Kontera!

When you sign up, you'll also then want to read my article on how to use their special codes to specificly include and explicitly exclude passages of text on your site from their matching engine: How to Customize Kontera Text Ads.

Generally, though, I've found that it's easy to get started. Who wouldn't like to make a few more bucks from their site, in a way that I think is quite respectful of the attention and time of your readers? :-)

Yes, that's an affiliate link I'm using here. By signing up through my Kontera link you help me keep the lights on in my office and help keep this site chugging along. If you'd prefer not to, well, okay, just go to the Kontera home page and click on "sign up" instead.

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Categorized: Pay Per Click (PPC) (Article 7422)
Tagged: google adsense, kontera, monetizing, ppc
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Comments

Hey Dave - is there a way for Kontera ads open in a new window - I'm always afraid of advertising that takes people AWAY from my site.

Cheers!

Posted by: Karen at June 8, 2007 2:16 AM

Dave, how did you get your Kontera links to appear with just one underline? Mine have two which then forces the line spaces apart creating funny formatting. Thanks.

Posted by: Matt at June 8, 2007 6:36 AM

Matt, you're welcome to "view source" and see what I'm doing, since I'm not sure that the single-underline trick is widely disseminated. You can also ask your Kontera rep, of course. In terms of your line spacing, try adding this to your style sheet:

body { line-height: 1.1 };

and see if it makes things lay out better.

Karen, from what I understand, there is a way to have the Kontera ads open up in a new page, but the problem is that it is flagged by pop-up blockers but Kontera can't recognize that situation. Net result is that the advertiser pays for the click, but doesn't gain the visitor. That's why they aren't explaining how to do that in the documentation and that's also why I haven't tried it out on my own site.

As with Google AdSense placement and anything else, the best way for us to ensure that there's an ongoing revenue stream from advertising in the online world is to go out of our way to NOT trick people, to NOT defraud the advertisers and to instead ensure that they get the best possible leads from our sites so that they're happy and pour more money into their ad budgets, not less. Make sense?

Posted by: Dave Taylor at June 8, 2007 10:14 AM

I am able to see the above financial statement can you please share what u r getting is it revenue or ECPM? :)

Posted by: Varun at January 30, 2008 4:55 AM

FYI, I’ve created a Wordpress plugin that helps wrapping Kontera’s ad zone tags around post content and/or comments easily.

See it here

Cheers

Posted by: Jimmy at March 12, 2008 9:16 AM

Thanks I signed up! Hopefully i'll get accepted into the program.

Posted by: Heather Bryant at April 8, 2008 7:03 AM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!