FAQ's for Advertisers
To read the FAQ for Viewers,
please
click here.
To read the FAQ for Publishers,
please
click here.
Why advertising on blogs
Sales Questions
Ad formatting, specifications, ad submissions
Questions about submitted ads
Why advertising on blogs
What are Blogads good for?
Blogs are ideal for promoting books, gigs, candidates, software, EBay
auctions, legal services -- goods and services that require a strong
intellectual or emotional engagement with an audience. Most of all,
Blogads are good for new products and services that require word of
mouth to really catch fire.
Word of mouth? What do Blogads
have to do with "word of mouth?"
Most purchases are made in a social context. Only 1 in 10,000 people
buy something really new; most of us wait until two or three or ten
friends or peers try something. (Were you the first person in the
Western Hemisphere to get a tattoo?) So marketers are obsessed with
"word of mouth." But you can't rely on demographic slicing to get good
word of mouth... unless you've got thermonuclear ad budget. You've got
to think in a new dimension, and advertise to groups of influential
people who know each other, respect each other, talk to each other.
Blogs make the networks of peers reachable. Now you don't have to hit
500,000 eyeballs to stir up some word of mouth... it's far better to
talk to 500 people who know and respect each other, right?
So is this peer to peer?
Yep. For a while at least. While software, books, music and magazines
are sold by big companies, obviously they are usually created by
individuals or small groups. Blogads pricing and scale should mesh well
with the individual creators' needs and wallets.
Where else can I look for
information about Blogads?
Visit archives full of quips and quotes about
Internet
advertising trends.
Sales Questions
We are an ad agency. We would
like to brainstorm and talk about our campaign. Can you help?
Please contact our sales experts at (919) 928-8384 or get in
touch with us via
http://web.blogads.com/ba_contact_us
I work for an ad agency. What are
your net prices?
The prices you see displayed on the blogs or on the
blogads
Order a la carte page
are net.
Why do Blogads run continuously
for a set period?
You get more branding and the reader gets the ability to come back
tomorrow and click the ad... rather than waiting 'til the ad gets
regurgitated again from some mammoth database queue of ads.
What kind of clickthru can I
expect?
Some advertisers get 5% clickthrus, some get 0.01% on the same blog.
The key thing is to keep your ad fresh. You've got a great chance to
really dig into the minds of a key network of decision makers, to drive
word of mouth. Tweaking your ad every couple of days or completely
revamping it is a great way to get into a dialogue with these people.
Can my ad appear at the top of an
blogger's adstrip?
Bloggers get to designate where ads appear. On some blogs, you can
order on a premium or patron slot to ensure your position.
How can I ensure that my ad is
prominently displayed on a page?
While click thrus on even the biggest adstrips are
competitive with industry averages, advertisers who want prominent
placements can order "premium" ads on some bigger blogs.These ads are
generally priced at 2 to 4 times ads in standard slots and can be
backlogged.
Ad formatting, specifications, ad submissions
I
don't have a userid, how do I
get one?
You do not need to get a userid in
advance. Once you have selected the blogs you are interested in and
uploaded the ad, the system will prompt you to either log in or
create a new account. Your user id will need to be an e-mail address
you have access to.
How
do I change my password once I have created a blogads account?
Once you have logged into your account click on the 'Logins' link on
the left nav bar of the page. Click on your user email address that you
use to login to your account with. Now you will be able to add in your
new password. Please remember to save the changes.
What are the technical
specifications for ads?
For a standard ad your image can be up to 150 pixels wide by
200 pixels tall
(jpeg/gif, max 16K or flash (swf), max 32K) plus an optional 30
character title and 300
visible characters of text, which can include simple HTML tags like b,
i, link and u. We discourage fast or infinitely looping
animation,
since these annoy readers and decrease your clickthrus. You will be
able to edit your creative at any time during the campaign.
Please refer to the technical
specifications below for the other ad formats or click here to see examples of the
various ad formats:
"Standard Ad" 150x200
pixels, 16kb jpeg/gif file size or 32kb flash file size plus 300
characters of text
"Hi-Rise Ad" 150x600
pixels, 35kb jpeg/gif file size or 70kb flash file
size plus 300 characters of text
"Mini Ad" 150x100
pixels, 5kb jpeg/gif file size or 10kb flash file size plus
100 characters of text
"Classie Ad" 500
characters of text and NO edits after the ad has been
submitted
Why
can't I choose the 'Classified Ad' format from the order a la carte
page? Could you please give me directions on how buy a 'Classified Ad'?
Classified ads are cheaper than the other ad types, and are
intended for the readers of each blog rather than for network
advertisers. To submit an ad, you need to go to the individual blog and
use the 'Advertise Here' link at the bottom of the Blogads adstrip to
buy a classie ad.
Can I put links inside my ad text?
Yes. This format is perfect for magazines who want to posted
links to different articles as well as to their subscription form.
Likewise, a company pushing multiple services can link to each
individual service. An added benefit: this format makes the ad look
like an ad. Not for nothing these things are called blogads.
The
hyperlinks in my ad are not showing correctly. The keywords are
invisible. Why?
The URL should include quotation marks around the URL to look
like this: <a href=
"http://www.yoururlhere.com">Words
to Hyperlink here</a> For more information on basic HTML
tags, please see
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_primary.asp.
I am buying on a bunch of
blogs. Can I add a separate tracking URL for each?
Yes, this can be done on the Create Ad page, click on the 'Advanced
Details' button at the bottom of the page and you will see a
column called 'Clickthru
URL', this is where you are able to add in your individual adstrip
tracking urls. You will
need to do this for all the URLs of the adstrips. If you can track
traffic
separately to each of these destination URLs, you will be able to see
on your end how many clicks each blog generates.
Can my ad be animated?
Yes, although some bloggers reject ads that loop infinitely.
Best to stop your ad after three or four rotations. Also remember that
although you may design your ad as a joke (a + b = c!?) the reader may
see the punch line first and never see the set-up line.
I am unable upload my
image. What
gives?
Please refer to these technical specification for each of the
ad
formats. If you are having problems it is more than likely you have
exceeded one of the requirements for a certain ad format.
"Standard Ad" 150x200
pixels, 16kb jpeg/gif file size or 32kb flash file size plus 300
characters of text
"Hi-Rise Ad" 150x600
pixels, 35kb jpeg/gif file size or 70kb flash file
size plus 300 characters of text
"Mini Ad" 150x100
pixels, 5kb jpeg/gif file size or 10kb flash file size plus
100 characters of text
"Classie Ad" 500
characters of text and NO edits after the ad has been
submitted
Note also that images must be either jpeg or gif.
If your ad fits all these requirements and you still have trouble
uploading it, please drop us a note via
http://web.blogads.com/ba_contact_us
and attach the image to your
message.
Can
I add line breaks and/or empty lines into my ad?
You are able to add up to 3 empty lines into a ads text. You
do not
need to use the <br> html tag, you only need to
leave a
empty line which will work as a line break.
Can I add Flash to my ad?
Yes it is possible to ad flash to ads, please click
here to see the technical
specification for the various ad formats.
Can I add HTML to my ad?
You can add bold and italics, but centering and text color
will not
work. You are also able to add in direct links within the text of the
ad.
How
can I insert RSS feed headlines in my ad?
To auto-feed headlines into your adtext place your RSS url
after the letters
@RSS:http://
and your text will update every 30 minutes. You can add
additional ad text after the RSS feed, but not in front of it.
Can I use special characters,
symbols in my ad?
Yes you can. In order to include characters such as
&,@,® etc. please use the HTML code of the character
rather than entering the character directly as a combination of keys
from your keyboard.
Why can't I see exactly what my
ad will look like on the "preview" page?
Since ads could run on different adstrips with different
formatting and widths (depending on the taste of the individual
bloggers), we can't give you a true preview unfortunately.
How many days does a "one month"
ad run?
31
Can
I add tracer pixel url's into my ad campaign?
Yes, this can be done by using the Advanced Details page
during the
ad creation process. Tracer pixel url's can be entered for the global
campaign as well as for the individual adstrip in the campaign.
When will my ad appear?
First, payment needs to clear for the
ad. If the ad is in the Shopping cart, you have not paid for it. If
it is on the Active ads page, but there is a “payment
pending”
message, we have not yet received your payment. (See
our
FAQ item
on pending payments.) If it says “waiting for
approval,”
the ad has been pushed through the blogger. Bloggers get to approve
ads after payment has cleared. In most cases, bloggers approve ads
very quickly. After three days, however, the system auto approves all
ads that have not been rejected by the bloggers. If that is too late
and your ad hasn't appeared after 24 hours following submission, please
drop us a note via
http://web.blogads.com/ba_contact_us.
It says that my ad text is over
the limit. What am I doing wrong?
When creating the text for the ad please remember that spaces
and
punctuation marks are counted as text characters and add to the total
of the character count for the ads text. If your text fits
these criteria but you are still getting an error message, please drop
us a note via
http://web.blogads.com/ba_contact_us
and include your ad text in the message
I
am a friend of the blogger and received a code for him to submit an ad
for free. Where can I enter this code?
At the bottom of the page where you
upload the ad, you will see a button called “Advanced
details.”
Click on it and you will be able to enter the offer code on the
following page. When proceeding to checkout, you will see that the
price is $0.
On
the Payment Page I only see Paypal. How can I pay by credit card?
We offer credit card payment for
purchases above $75. If your order does
not exceed this amount, you will not see the WorldPay credit card
button displayed on the payment page. You can still use your credit
card via Paypal. However, if you pay via Paypal but do not have funds
in your Paypal account, payment will take 3-4 business days to clear.
We will be able to run your ad only once payment has arrived.
I
paid with Paypal two days ago but my ad isn't running and still says
"payment pending" on the Active ads page. What gives?
It sounds like you have paid with a Paypal eCheck. This happens when
you do not have enough cash in your Paypal account to pay for the ad.
EChecks take 3-4 work days to clear. For more information, please
consult the Paypal FAQ items:
What
is an eCheck?,
Why
does it take so long for my recipient's account balance to reflect my
eCheck payment?
Questions about submitted ads
Can I revise an ad?
Yes, please do. This will improve your
clickthru. Please keep your new ad in the spirit of the original, so
the blogger gets what s/he bargained for.
How do I revise my ad?
When logged in and on the Active Ads page, click on the
"version"
link in the row of your ad in the 'Edit' colum. Now you click on the
'Edit live' button and now you will be able to edit the ad. After
making edits to the ad click the 'Preview' button at the bottom of the
page to view your changes. If you agree with your changes you can now
click the 'Publish' button. You will now see a list of your different
ad versions. If you choose to go back to one of the previous versions
you simply select it in the 'Live' colum and click on the 'Make
selected ad live' button.
I've revised my ad but the new
text isn't showing up yet on the blogs.
Sometimes it takes a few minutes before your revision appears
on the blogs. If you think you have been waiting for too long now
please get in touch via
http://web.blogads.com/ba_contact_us
and we will investigate.
Where
in the adstrip will my ad appear once accepted?
By default, the ads are reshuffled each time a viewer downloads the
blog: each ad appears each time, but their order is randomly
determined. Bloggers, however, can override this random order and
specify positions for each ad within the adstrip.
What is the Shopping
Cart?
The Shopping Cart is a place to put all your ads that you
have not
yet made a payment for or want to save for later. To place an ad in the
Shopping Cart you will need to click on the 'Add to shopping chart'
button on the 'Preview' page of the ad creation process. Once the ad is
in the Shopping Cart you will be able to either
select 'Buy
now', 'Save for later' or 'Delete'. You are also able to edit the ad in
the Shopping Cart by clicking on the 'Edit' link in the row of the ad.
Use the 'Proceed' button to confirm you selection.
It says ˝Deferred˝ next to my ad
on the Active Ads page.
What does this mean and what should I do?
This means that the blogger has put the ad on hold for some
reason. This stops the clock from ticking, so your ad will still appear
as long as it was purchased for. Feel free to send a polite note to the
blogger to find out the specifics of the deferral or drop us a note
via
http://web.blogads.com/ba_contact_us
and we will try to help.
I
got an e-mail saying the blogger rejected my ad. When do I
get a refund?
The money has been credited to your account for use in a
future
purchase. If you want to request a full or partial refund, please log
into your account, click on the Accounting link in your navigation bar
and specify at the bottom of the page how much you would like to
withdraw. We will credited the money to your Paypal or credit card
within 10 business days.
I've bought an ad on multiple
blogs. Can I see click counts for each?
Yes, all you need to do is go to the 'Active Ads' page and
there is
a colum called 'Clicks-Views-CTR', here you can choose what stats you
would like to see for each ad.
What
type of statistics does
blogads offer?
You can track the impressions and clicks for your ads during
and after
the campaign. Besides the total, we provide statistics broken out per
blog as well as per creative execution for each ad.
How
often do the ad statistics get updated?
Every hour during the day. To be more exact, the statistics
get
updated at the following hours (Eastern time): 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m.,
8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m.,
5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m.
If
I am not satisfied with the performance of my ad, can I pull my ad and
receive a refund for the time not used?
Blogads are fixed period sponsorship
ads, and as such cannot be terminated early. We recommend that you
revise your ad, which will improve your click thrus. See
http://www.blogads.com/examples
for examples of great blogads.
My ad looks different on
different blogs. Is there anything you can do about this?
Most site designers try to serve 97% of the people 99% of the
time. Bloggers want their sites to look nice, so if your ad looks bad,
please drop them and us an e-mail.
What
is the "renew" link on the Active ads page at the end of the ads rows?
Does clicking it mean my ad will continue running seamlessly after the
original one expires?
Yes, if your ad is running in a
nonexclusive adstrip. (In finite adstrips, which can hold a fixed
number of ads, someone may have jumped the queue ahead of you.) You
can only renew an ad that is currently running. When renewing an ad
you cannot specify a run after date: it will begin running
immediately after its current term expires.
I
want to renew a ad campaign that contains tracer pixel url's, will my
old tracer pixel url's be saved or not when I renew the campaign?
If the tracer pixel tag was global for all the adstrips in
the
campaign the it will be saved. If there were different tracer pixel
url's for each adstrip in the campaign then no they will not be saved
and will need to be inputted again during the renew ad process.
My
results are unbelievable. How can I renew my ad?
You can renew active ads by clicking on
the renew link in the row of the ad. You will be able to specify
whether you want to renew on all blogs in the original run, or only a
few of them. When renewing an ad you cannot specify a run after date:
it will begin running immediately after its current term expires. You
can only renew ads that are currently running. If your ad has
expired, you will have to start anew.
Where can I see the stats for ads
that have already run?
Please click on the 'Expired ads' link from the
left nav bar
and here you will be able to see all expired ads and also check the
stats for these ads.
I cannot see the URL or Versions
link on the Active Ads page. What is wrong?
If you are running Norton Security, or other
similar software, make sure you either have Adblocking turned off or
whitelist Blogads pages. Once you've done this, you will likely see the
Edit link.
I have an ad that expired on one
blog. Now I want to display it on a different blog. How do I do that?
You need to create a new ad, by first picking the
blog(s) on
http://web.blogads.com/adspotsfolder/choose_blogs
and then uploading the creative again. The "renew" functionality is
for running the ad again on the same blog only.
To read the FAQ for Viewers,
please
click here.
To read the FAQ for Publishers,
please
click here.
