I'm looking for some channel/partner through which I can sell clicks
on the links on my web site. Where do I start? How does it work?

I'm looking for an answer with specific information, names of the
buyers, prices, etc. For good info will tip handsomely.

---

Request for Question Clarification by larre-ga on 20 Jun 2004 16:53 PDT

By "selling clicks" do you mean you want to locate advertisers who
would place links/ads on your website?

What type of content do you publish? (Category or industry)

What is the size of your website? (number of pages)

How many visitors do you receive each month?

The more specific you can be, the better. There are a number of
advertisers available, but the best match up will depend upon the type
and size of your website, as well as the number of visitors it
attracts.

---larre

Hello Knowser

There are two main ways you can tackle this problem.  One is to sell
the advertising clicks yourself and the other is to farm this job out
to someone else.

You have indicated that you wish to choose the latter of these two
options, if you require information on the former please ask for
clarification and I will tell you how that is possible also.

The whole money-for-clicks business used to be run solely by
advertising companies who paid the webmaster for allowing the
advertising company to place advertising on their sites but this has
changed slightly since Google entered the market (since their main
business is as a search engine).

How this works in general is this; you place a small piece of code on
your web pages and when someone accesses your page the code delivers
links and/or pictures from the advertising company.  When the user
then decides to click on the link (s)he is then redirected to the
advertising company's site who records the click and redirects your
user to the correct page.

The advertising company can do this because people are willing to pay
money to have their adverts placed upon other people's sites.  They
usually specify the types of website they wish their advert to be seen
on and also sometimes specify the general market on which it should be
seen (for instance only sites with 100,000+ hits a month or only sites
geared towards teenage boys).  Every time someone clicks upon their
advert the advertising company gets paid by their customer and the
advertising company returns its agreed percentage to you (this can be
anything from a few cents to hundreds of dollars!).

In addition to paying per click some advertisers will pay you per
every 1000 views of the adverts on your site.  In general this works
in the same way as paying per click but usually pays you a lot less. 
This used to be the major way web advertising worked.

Some terms you may come across when researching this are CPM and CPC
(or PPC).  CPM advertising is "pay per 1000 views", CPC is "pay per
click".

There is also the area of affiliate linking to consider which allows
you to link directly to a product on another person's site, if your
user then buys this product you get a cut of the selling price.  The
most widely known solution using this method is Amazon.com's Affiliate
Scheme.  In general these take more effort on the webmasters part as
they are usually static links on your site whereas the others are
usually delivered dynamically.  I will not touch much on these in my
solution but if you require further information on this type of
advertising please ask for clarification.

There are a number of major players in this industry of which I will
detail below who I think they are.  Each has slightly differing
options in the advertising they deliver and, most importantly, their
methods of payments.  I would recommend that you take the time to
study their websites and possibly even trial each before making a
final decision as to which agency to go with (since many do not allow
you to use more than one company delivering adverts to your pages).

So where can you find buyers for the advertising space on your site? 
Here is my list of top contenders with a little piece on what each has
to offer.

Google AdSense
--------------

This is one of the most popular current pay per click programs because
it is run by Google and arguably one of the best well known.  Once you
have been accepted into the Google program it uses your site to target
relevant customers allowing you to achieve a better CPC ratio with a
minimum of effort.

https://www.google.com/adsense/faq
https://www.google.com/adsense/

Overture
--------

One of the largest players in the field Overture delivers content to
many of the major websites including MSN and Yahoo.

http://www.content.overture.com

Allfeeds.com
------------

This site pays out when you have earned a smaller amount than most at
only $25, some of the other advertisers require you to earn more
before they will pay you a penny.  It also has perhaps the most
flexible delivery of the ads for you site as they are available in
many different formats.

http://www.allfeeds.com/?action=publishers

BidClix.com
-----------

This site guarantees that your advertising space will always be sold,
whilst this is not always a good thing it does help maximise your
possible clicks.  They claim to serve over a billion ads per month
with over 1000 different companies.

http://www.bidclix.com/PubTop.html

Clicksor.com
------------

Offers both a CPC and an affiliate program for ease of integration
into your site and offers payment by PayPal if you need this (most
companies will only send out checks).

http://www.clicksor.com/PPC_affiliate_program.php

Revenue Pilot
-------------

With a 60% payout for each click you get a good return for the clicks
you get on your site.  Payment options again include PayPal and you
also have the option of a referral scheme for extra revenue.

http://www.revenuepilot.com/faq.html
http://www.revenuepilot.com/howitworks.html

Search123
---------

Part of the widely recognised ValueClick company it has a large range
of delivery options allowing you flexibility in how you design your
site.

http://www.search123.com/sc/partner_programs.shtml
http://www.clickquick.com/programReview.asp?P=23&M=1&S=15

Sprinks
-------

A fairly standard but respected solution for delivering adverts.

http://www.sprinks.com/da/index.htm

Fastclick
---------

They claim to be the highest pay-out per click with a 65% payout and
also have a non-exclusivity contract allowing you to host other ads as
well (as long as the other ads allow it!).

http://www.fastclick.com/publish.html
http://www.fastclick.com/pu_faq.html
http://www.clickquick.com/programReview.asp?P=319&M=1&S=15

Commission Junction
-------------------

One of the old players in this area it has its opponents as well as it
supporters.  It appears to have sorted out many of the problems it had
in the past with clicks not registering.

http://www.cj.com/index.jsp
http://www.clickquick.com/programReview.asp?P=22&M=3&S=9

It is difficult to recommend any one of these advertisers without
knowing your exact site requirements and statistics.  Even then it
would be a matter of choice and opinion.  My recommendation would be
to look at the FAQ of each site and to assess which one will work best
for you.

If you have any further questions regarding this subject please ask
for clarification and I will do all I can to help.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by knowser-ga on 21 Jun 2004 06:46 PDT

Thank you. This is good. If you would like an "extra credit", please
research which of these channels are "newbie-friendly". Meaning that
my web site will be brand-new and I won't know the traffic patterns on
my web site for some time...

---

Clarification of Answer by palitoy-ga on 21 Jun 2004 07:18 PDT

I am onto this for you and will post this information in a few hours
once I have had time to research it thoroughly for you.

---

Clarification of Answer by palitoy-ga on 21 Jun 2004 07:57 PDT

Hello again

Here is a breakdown on which sites are newbie-friendly:

1) Google Adsense
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies
As long as you abide by their policies there are no barriers to your
website being accepted into the network.  If your site hits 20 million
visitors a month you can get special terms (something to dream of
here!).

2) Revenue Pilot
http://www.revenuepilot.com/faq.html
Only 10% of sites submitted are accepted to their network therefore I
would guess that if you are a new site to the block you may have less
chance of being accepted.  I suspect part of their acceptance
procedure will be to see how many sites link to you.

3) Overture
No firm information on their website except to say if you generate
more than 1 million hits a month you will be more than willing to
contact them.  I suspect your chances are small-to-nil with Overture. 
You will probably be able to take part in their advertiser referral
program here (but I doubt that really is worth it):
http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/about/company/partner/resell.jhtml

4) Search123/ValueClick
http://www.search123.com/sc/partner_traffic_partner_faq.shtml
"The program is restricted to web properties that meet our overall
website quality and content standards, have a domestic user-base with
appropriate consumer demographics, and can meet our ongoing traffic
quality standards."

5) Allfeeds.com/Bidclix.com/Sprinks.com
https://www.allfeeds.com/?action=p_begin
http://www.bidclix.com/PubTop.html
I could find no information suggesting you will not be accepted into
these programmes.

6) Clicksor.com
http://www.clicksor.com/publishers_faq.php
http://www.clicksor.com/publishers_agreement.php
Providing your site passes their terms and conditions there appears to
be no objection to your site.

7) Fastclick.com
http://www.fastclick.com/pu_faq.html
You require your site to receive 3000 hits per month to be accepted
into their scheme.

8) Commission Junction
There were no limits placed upon participation in their scheme (other
than the useful no illegal content ones).

Thanks, palitoy, this is great.

Thanks for the 5-star rating and very generous tip.  They are much appreciated.