Text Link Ads is a growing company that currently sells the text link and RSS feed ad space of over 10,000 publishers. These small ads can be customized to make them very unobtrusive, and are a great way to simultaneously monetize a blog or forum and increase its search engine links without drastically altering the site’s appearance. The owners of Text Link Ads recently started a new site, ReviewMe.com, which pays bloggers to review advertisers’ products and services. Simultaneously, however, they have continued to improve Text Link Ads and to add more features, making their network very successful in selling advertisements and monetizing sites.
Features
Text Link Ads offers three ways for publishers to make money from their sites: by posting text link advertisements on the site itself, by inserting these ads into the site’s RSS feeds, or by becoming an affiliate.
Text link ads on a website can be used in conjunction with the ads of other networks and are sold at a flat rate per ad for a 30 day run on the site. The price asked for an ad space is determined by Text Link Ads based on a pricing algorithm that factors in the site’s traffic, theme, and link popularity. Publishers cannot set their own prices at this time. This can prove to be a problem, as prices set too high may discourage advertisers from buying the ad space. A similar problem was encountered at ReviewMe.com, but the companies’ owners have since allowed publishers to choose to set their own prices on that site. So far, this improvement has not found its way to Text Link Ads, which continues to require that the network set the prices.
Text Link Ads newest innovation on this ad network is the addition of post level text link ads that allow publishers to put ads at the ends of individual entries. Pricing for these ads is automatically set lower than regular homepage ads.
The second form of advertising handled by Text Link Ads is what they call “feedvertising,” or putting text link ads at the bottom of a blog’s RSS feeds. Currently this feature only works for WordPress blogs, but the network says that it will soon expand its compatibility to include other blog types. Publishers have the option of choosing not to opt in to this feature; they can also put this software to personal use and choose not to sell their ad space through Text Link Ads.
In addition to these features, Text Link Ads also has some neat tools for publishers on its site. The Text Link Ads Calculator figures out the amount that the network would charge for a link on a site given its address, number of link spots, website category, whether it will be a site wide or single page ad, and the position of the ad. No signup is required, so this is a good way to get a feel for the network’s pricing before joining. Another tool offered by Text Link Ads is the Blog Juice Calculator, which shows the rating of a blog among others in its general category when the site’s address is input. Again, no signup is required to use this tool.
Controls
Accounts at Text Link Ads are run using a simple control panel that is accessed by logging in at textlinkads.com. Through this panel, multiple sites can be managed as a single account, as can both text link and RSS feed ads.
To market their ad space, publishers must create a description of each website that Text Link Ads represents that includes the site’s name, description, category, Alexa rating, number of pages the ad will appear on, link popularity, and the number of filled and available ad spots. This is made easy, however, by the simplicity of the control panel, which walks users through these steps. Feedvertising can also be set up as an extension of this process, with publishers simply selecting that they would like to participate in this campaign and choosing how many of the ads they would like Text Link Ads to sell for them and how many they would like to keep for personal use. This information is added to the site description for prospective advertisers to view.
Also via the control panel, publishers can pick the approval system they would like to employ to manage their advertisements. With option A, Text Link Ads will autonomously approve ad campaigns for the site when they are offered by advertisers, although these can be cancelled by the publisher if they choose. Ads never contain adult, illegal, or gambling content, so this method is generally sufficient for most publishers. With option B, the site’s publisher is emailed each time they receive a new campaign offer. This offer is automatically approved within 24 hours by the ad network so the publisher will not miss out on campaigns if they miss the email, but it does offer some advance notice of ad sales. Codes for campaigns are generated through the control panel.
The control panel also offers publishers a way to edit the appearance of their text link ads. They can choose the color of the ads’ border, background, and link. They can also specify the number of ads in a row and the language in which these ads will appear. Previews of any changes made are displayed in the control panel, which makes it much easier to get an ad to look just right. The advertisements’ formatting can also be different on each of a publisher’s sites.
Available Types and Formats
Publishers can control the format of their text link ads, specifying their size, color, quantity, and number of columns. RSS feed text link ads can also be customized; publishers may change what heading they appear under, as well as the way they look.
Reporting
Revenue reports are available through the control panel. They are updated daily and prorated to take into account the earnings of campaigns that are still running. Earnings can be viewed by month or by site, as well as totals, and are separated into the various campaigns. A publisher may also view their payment history here.
How to Get Started
In order to join the Text Link Ads network, publishers must complete an online application, which should take the network approximately 24 hours to review. If the site is approved, they can then create descriptions of their sites, which will begin being screened by potential advertisers 1-3 days after their completion. When a site is chosen to run an ad campaign, the code for that campaign is generated through the control panel according to the publisher’s specifications and can then be placed on the site.
Payment
Text Link Ads has a reliable and convenient payment system. Unlike many ad networks, this company does not have a minimum monthly payment amount if publishers choose to be paid via PayPal. Payments are made on the first of the month for all revenue generated the previous month, including partially completed campaigns. For publishers who choose to receive their payments by check, however, there is a $25 minimum. If the publisher’s sites have not generated that much revenue in a month, their earnings are rolled over into the next month until they have reached $25.
Text Link Ads gives its publishers 50% of the sale price for each ad they sell. This includes homepage ad links, post level ad links, and RSS feed ad links.
Referral Program
Text Link Ads has a simple referral program where publishers receive a one-time $25 reward for any referred advertiser that results in a sale, or for any referred publisher who applies to be represented by the network and is approved. These referrals are made through links that publishers may place on their sites and are processed automatically.
While shared revenue would be preferable to $25 CPA, Text Link Ads does have nice referral report features. Each referral is displayed by date, customer name, and even the exact URL where the conversion took place to help publishers find what links or pages are converting best.
More Information and Support
Support at Text Link Ads is polite and responsive. They are reachable by either phone or email. New developments are announced in the site’s blog, which is accessible from its main page.
Summary
Text Link Ads is a good alternative to blend in with other ad networks in order to fully monetize a site. It pays good rates for the relatively small amount of ad space, and its customization options make its ads unobtrusive. The biggest problem with this network is that it bans publishers from adjusting their prices when the network sets them too high. In spite of this, many sites could possibly benefit from the services it offers.
URL: Text-Link-Ads.com
Category: Advertising Network
Creative: Text Link.
Payment Methods: Check, PayPal.
Minimum Payment: $25 USD
Payment Frequency: Net-30
Features:
Ads Allowed on Forums: Yes
Referral Program: Yes
