Advertising FAQ
What are Lijit Ads?
Lijit makes websites more engaging, keeping readers on site longer, and uncovering rich and interesting content. At the same time, Lijit provides you, the publisher, valuable intelligence about what readers are interested in and searching for. Lijit Ads help publishers get more value from the unique audiences they attract with the great content they produce.
Why does Lijit Ads work better than other solutions?
Using the data and information Lijit delivers publishers in their stats pages each week, Lijit Ads enable publishers to monetize their site's ad inventory by providing premium ad campaigns and unmatched optimization techniques in order to maximize revenue per page.
Where do you get the Ads for my site?
Lijit's sales team sources premium campaigns from leading consumer brands or from the advertising agencies that represent them.
What exactly are the services provided by Lijit?
Lijit provides the technology to make it easy for publishers to install and manage their ad placements, receive prompt payment, and enjoy campaigns that match the context, demographics and specific intent of a highly engaged audience.
How do I sign-up and start making money?
Easy. You need a Lijit account first. Log-in and go to your "Wijits" tab. Then the "Ad Wijit" tab. You can create 1 or more ad tags based on the size and layout that best fit your site. Once you create a new ad tag, then it's an easy cut-and-paste, or 1-click install for most major platforms.
What if I already have ads on my site?
No problem. In fact, many of the publishers in the Lijit network have current relationships with traditional untargeted ad networks. Our offering is designed to co-exist with all of them. You can run Lijit's ad tag and we will optimize revenue for you with our premium ads as well as across multiple ad networks - or if you prefer - Lijit can work with your existing advertising relationships to hand off to them in the case where Lijit doesn't have a premium ad to return. Either way, we work to make you as much money as possible.
What is CPM and eCPM?
Advertisers buy ads by something called CPM or Cost Per Millia. That translates to cost per thousand ads that are shown, or impressed. Different campaigns cost the advertiser different CPM's depending on the target audience. When these campaigns all run on your site they blend into an "effective" CPM (eCPM). Lijit reports your eCPM in your Lijit account stats dashboard. An eCPM will fluctuate day-to-day as different campaigns come and go.
How much money will I make?
The amount of money you will make depends on several factors all related to the size, demographics, readership and content of your site. Lijit strives to either directly sell premium advertising and/or to optimize multiple ad channels in order to make as much money for you as possible while at the same time making sure the ad creative is consistent with the audience of your site.
What eCPM can I expect?
The type of site you have and the type and location of audience that visits your site influence the eCPM potential. Lijit sells both premium ad campaigns as well as optimized ad inventory across multiple channels to get you the highest eCPM possible. Lijit reports to you daily on the eCPM performance of the ads on your site.
Is Lijit competing with ad networks?
No. Ad networks don't have access to the unique targeting data available to Lijit. Lijit understands your content and your readers thus making a higher value transaction possible. We encourage publishers to try traditional untargeted ad networks along-side or in rotation with Lijit Advertising Services and compare the quality of brands and creative. Lijit's goal is to be a set-it-and-forget-it solution for our publishers that works better with their site and makes them more money.
If you have existing ad tags from a traditional ad network let us know and we can schedule those in rotation with Lijit Advertising Services tags. You'll continue to make money from your existing traditional ad network relationship - you'll just make more with Lijit.
How does Lijit's ad targeting technology work?
The same information that publishers see each week in their Lijit dashboard are the key ingredients of how Lijit matches audiences with advertisers. Indexing site content for search uncovers the frequency of words and terms. The frequency match of these words and terms along with demographic and intent information indicate audience targeting that highly aligns with an advertiser's message. Lijit scans across tens of thousands of publisher audiences to find readers that advertisers are looking for. When Lijit finds an audience match for an advertiser campaign, that campaign is offered to participating Lijit publishers using Lijit Advertising Services. Simple and effective.
What is an "ad tag"?
An ad tag is a piece of code which communicates with ad servers via the internet to serve advertisements on your web site. This term is synonymous with "ad unit" or "ad block" or "ad wijit".
How do I create my own ad tags?
Log into your account on Lijit.com and visit the "Wijits" menu option. Proceed to the "Ad Wijit" page to select, create and manage your ad tags.
What ad sizes are available?
Six IAB-standard ad units are offered on the "Ad Wijit" page: a 728x90 Standard Banner; a 160x600 Wide Skyscraper; and a 300x250 Medium Rectangle. We also offer three new sizes that are available for Rich Media campaigns that Lijit may bring to our publishers.
How many ad tags can I create for my site?
Lijit allows you to create as many ad tags as you desire for your website or blog. The ad tags should be installed in a prominent location for optimum reader visibility and engagement. It's highly recommended that you only install one unique size per page and you place the ad tag near the top of the page to maximize your ad revenue.
Once I create an ad tag, what do I do with it?
Once your ad tag size(s) are selected and uniquely named, simply copy and paste the ad tag script into the location on your site where you want the ad to display - or - use the simple one-click installer for Blogger and TypePad sites to automatically place the ad tag in the appropriate location on your site.
After I install my ad tag what happens?
Once you install your ad tag(s), Lijit will begin serving advertising from our different partners which may include ads from Google. Over time as we learn more about your audience, we will begin including your site in premium campaigns.
Do Lijit's premium advertisements show all of the time?
No. Lijit closely monitors fill rates and applies optimization techniques to maximize revenue for you, the publisher and optimal ROI for the advertiser. This means that there are cases when premium advertisements may not be displayed at all times. Campaigns have different fill rates depending on frequency capping and or targeting that the advertiser requests at the start of a campaign. In the event that a premium campaign is not displayed Lijit will either enable the publisher to supply their own ad tag (see "pass-back" below) or provide the publisher with the option to use our high quality channel of advertiser partners to fill the impression.
Does Lijit support pass-back of tags if I use traditional untargeted ad networks?
Yes. In the case where Lijit's Advertising Services don't serve a premium ad, we can accept custom pass-back ad tags from traditional ad network providers and/or ad servers. Please contact adops AT lijit DOT COM if you have a custom pass-back tag or need help with implementing your pass-back tags.
What is a fill rate?
A fill rate is the percentage of time an ad shows. For example, if a campaign has a 20% fill rate, the ad will show a maximum of 20% of the time.
What does "above the fold" mean?
Above the fold refers to the default location where an ad tag appears on a website. If it is visible when the page first loads and before the reader starts to scroll down, then it is considered an "above the fold" ad.
What is a floor price?
The floor price determines the minimum CPM value of the ad being displayed in an ad tag on your website. If you set a floor price for an ad tag, consider adding a passback tag to ensure that you continue to show ads to your readers if Lijit doesn't have an ad at your requested price.
What is a passback tag?
A passback tag is an ad tag you provide to Lijit that gets used in the event Lijit Ads aren't available at the Floor Price you specified. Whenever you set a floor price (minimum CPM you want to receive) it is important to provide an alternate tag ,if you have one, so you can optimize the monetization of that ad placement. A passback(or alternate/default) tag can be an ad tag that you received from any other online ad provider that you work with. For instance, if you already have a relationship with Google Adsense, you can give us that ad tag. If Lijit can't find an ad at your specified price, we will serve your reader the Adsense tag.
What is frequency capping?
Many advertisers only want a unique reader to see the same ad a few times within a set period of time. Common frequency caps are 3 impressions per each unique reader in 24 hours. For the publisher this means you want to find the best ad targeting possible to maximize the revenue you receive within the frequency cap.
Is there any frequency capping?
For most premium campaigns there is a frequency cap based upon unique readers who view and/or interact with the ads being served. These caps are defined by each individual advertiser and each individual campaign. This is why Lijit sources premium campaigns from a variety of advertisers and advertising agencies to ensure high fill rates and meet your revenue objectives.
Is there a contract I need to sign?
Yes. We require all publishers either physically sign or electronically agree to a Publisher Agreement. This agreement is available at http://www.lijit.com/publisher_agreement and is a required step when you sign-up for revenue sharing with Lijit. This agreement ensures that our network of publishers is of the highest quality and adheres to certain standards of conduct. The strength and quality of this network allows Lijit to confidently sell and place premium campaigns from premium advertisers.
Is this agreement exclusive?
No. You can run ads from traditional ad networks in addition to Lijit. In fact, our model is designed to work alongside your revenue strategy whether or not that includes ad networks or your own direct sales capabilities.
How do I get paid?
Before you create your own ad tags, you will need to apply for advertising with Lijit. You can do this by visiting your "Wijits" Administration Page and then "Ad Tags". First time publishers will be greeted with the Publisher Agreement and a simple Application screen before you are granted access to build and install your Ad Tags.
After you accrue a minimum of $25 in your account (see this in your "Account" / "Earnings" page), you will be eligble for receiving payment on the ad revenue you earned.
How do I receive payment?
Once you accrue a minimum of $25 you will be eligible to receive payment. You need to visit the "Account" section of your Lijit account, select the "Earnings" tab, and set your payment information by clicking the "Edit Payment and Registration Info" link. All payments are made via PayPal. You will be prompted for your PayPal ID and asked to supply required tax information (tax information is required for U.S residents only).
When will payment be processed?
As long as you have provided Lijit with your payment details, and accrued more than $25, you will receive revenue from the previous month at the end of the subsequent month. All transactions will be completed on the 28th of each month. As long as you set your payment details before the end of the month in which you earned over $25, you will receive payment at the end of the following month. You only need to set your payment details once. Lijit will automatically pay you at the end of every month if you earned more than $25 in the previous month.
For more information or if you're question was not answered, please contact us at: adops@lijit.com
