Publisher FAQ
Lijit Ad Network Publisher FAQ
Lijit provides plug‐in search applications to online publishers. The Lijit Search Box is currently installed on over 5000 publications across the internet. Readers utilize the Lijit Search box hundreds of thousands of times a day to find specific information through publishers they trust.
During 2008 Lijit has been building out the functionality to allow advertisers to reach very specific readers with highly targeted Ad placements within search results. A large portion of this development effort has been building tools into Lijit to allow publishers an unprecedented level of business control over the ads that are displayed. These capabilities will be offered in several software releases during Q4 2008 to support our general release in Q1 2009.
Our first Beta release of the Lijit Ad Network will be open to publishers and advertisers October 8th 2008. In this first release publishers will be able to opt‐in to the search based ad network and will start to receive shared revenue for ad units displayed within search results. As a thank you to our publisher base for their patience during development of this functionality, publisher accounts will be pre‐loaded with a credit for estimated revenues earned during development and testing of the network. This amount will vary based on the search history of each individual publisher, but a minimum of $5 will be credited to each account.
In our second beta release in mid Q4 publishers will be able to sell ad space directly to advertisers they may already have relationships with, targeting just their publication. In the final beta release in late Q4 2008 publishers will be able to set their own price for search based inventory, capturing unique ad opportunities that their publication creates. In order to help publishers better understand the Beta offering of the Lijit Ad Network, we have put together this FAQ consisting of commonly asked questions and answers. As always, creating a compelling product for our publisher base is key to our continued success and we welcome any additional questions you may have that are not covered in this FAQ. More information is available at info@lijit.com. To register for the Lijit Ad Network, login to your Lijit account and on your logged‐in home page click the registration link.
Ad Network Questions
1.What is the Lijit Ad Network? When readers search for information using the Lijit Search box on publisher sites, information is returned within search results pages displayed on those publishers’ sites. While the majority of real estate on these search results pages are devoted to organic search results, a clearly identified region on the right side and at the top are available for search term targeted ad placements. The Lijit Ad Network provides the mechanics to allow publishers, as well as Lijit, to sell these ad placements to advertisers who desire to reach specific, often niche markets.
2.What’s unique about the Lijit Ad Network?
Advertising opportunities within the search context on a publisher’s site represent a unique confluence of reader intent and behavioral knowledge. When a reader searches for information using the Lijit search box on a publisher site, that reader has selected a topic of interest (derived from the publication focus), selected a specific item of interest (derived from the search term), and is actively in the pursuit of information (derived from the explicit search action). This information coupled with geo‐location data provides a very rich opportunity to reach a target market for advertisers and a unique, high value monetization opportunity for publishers.
3.Do search ad placements work?
Ad placements next to search results are an often overlooked, but are a very valuable ad unit for publishers. Some publishers run content or display ads next to their search results. These ads, while contextual to the publication, don’t take advantage of reader’s intent. Keyword‐targeted text ads (which do take intent into account), when placed next to search results, typically outperform content ads and have click‐through ratios of 4% or more, which make them a simple and very desirable enhancement to the search result page of any publication.
4.What does it mean for me to “opt‐in”?
Opt‐in simply means that you, the publisher, are acknowledging that you would like to share in the revenue that is generated from ads that display within Lijit‐powered search results on your publication. Opting in adds a tab to your Lijit stats page that show search powered ad performance and money you have earned. In addition, soon you’ll see a new section in your weekly stats email communicating your current earnings and informing you about additional ad opportunities. Not all publishers monetize their publications and Lijit respects that. The Opt‐in mechanism communicates to Lijit that you are interested in monetization. As a result of Opting‐in we may from time to time communicate with you about enhancements to the monetization components of the Lijit service. Of course these communications will be consistent with the email policies you have already configured. If you do not opt‐in we will assume that monetization is not of interest to you and we won’t bother you about it.
5.Does opting in allow Lijit to place ads directly on my site?
No. Lijit displays ads within the sidebar and at the top of search results pages we generate on behalf of the publisher. Lijit will never display additional ad units on your site without your consent. It is in our roadmap to create new ad tools and display widgets in the future; they will be introduced for optional inclusion and never ever enabled without your consent. Opting‐in won’t change the way the Lijit service works on your publication and will not enable new ad placement that is not already occurring.
6.What is Lijit’s privacy policy?
Lijit’s privacy policy can be found at http://www.lijit.com/privacy_policy
7.What kind of stats will I get related to ads?
Lijit provides you with the following information on the Ad tab in your stats pages: ‐Searches: The number of searches that readers have made on your site through the Lijit Search Wijit ‐Clicks: The number of times that readers have clicked on ads. ‐Click‐through Rate: The percentage of search results with ads that result in clicks. ‐eCPM (Effective CPM): Calculated by dividing your total earnings by every thousand impressions. For example, if you earn $100.00 on 25,000 search results, the eCPM is calculated as 100/25, or $4.00. eCPM is primarily used as a metric for efficiency. ‐Total Earnings: The amount you earned during the specified date range.
8.Does Lijit use cookies to track specific reader behavior? No. When readers visit your site, Lijit places a cookie on their browser that stores information about that session. This allows Lijit to provide usage statistics, which we display in your stats pages at www.lijit.com and in the weekly stats email we send to you each Sunday. Lijit does not capture any personally identifiable information about any readers. (For more on that, you and your readers can check out our privacy policy.) How to Get Started 9.Who can participate in ad revenue sharing?
All publishers! Currently Lijit is running a beta deployment of our ad network and all publishers are welcome to sign‐up to participate. Because of the fiduciary responsibilities that Lijit has for our publisher and advertiser partners, it is vitally important to verify that the functionality and data capturing methodology we’ve deployed are operating as designed. Once we are confident everything is working as desired Lijit will provide a general release of the platform. Publishers that opt‐in during the Beta period will automatically be included in the general release.
10.How do I get started?
Simple, first you will need to opt‐in to the Lijit Ad Network. From Lijit’s home page (www.lijit.com), log in to your publisher account with your Username and Password. On your logged‐in home page, you’ll see a link to the registration page. After you’ve completed the registration, you’ll see a new “Ads” tab in your Lijit stats pages, which shows you the search based ad impressions that readers have generated on your site, clicks on those ads, click‐through rate, and earnings.
Ad Placement
11.Where will Lijit place ads?
Lijit will serve ads based on the reader’s search term at the top and right side of your search results pages. These ad zones are clearly marked as such and are not confused with organic search results. Readers who are looking for information about specific products or services know to look for ads in these places, making them effective placements for both publishers and advertisers.
12.How does Lijit select which ads to place? Lijit sells ads that are associated with keywords and the topic of the online publication where the search is occurring. When a reader enters a keyword into the Lijit Search box, Lijit will select an ad that is associated with that unique search term as well as the general topic of the publication. The combination of contextual and keyword targeting makes the ad placement more relevant for the reader and more valuable to our advertisers and publishers.
13.Why is Lijit placing ads at all? Lijit is a business that enables publishers to better understand their readers as well help monetize their publication. Lijit maintains a substantial infrastructure and R&D expense in order to provide and enhance the service. Revenue from ad placement allows us to pay for the service and make it free to all sized publishers.
14.Can anyone just inject an ad onto my search results pages? To be an advertiser with Lijit you must first apply and be approved by our ad team. All campaigns created through the self‐serve campaign creation process are validated by Lijit before they are run. Offensive or irritating material such as those that include sounds, flashing banners, etc. are disallowed. Lijit is only successful if our publishers are receiving quality ad products that do not distract from their publication.
15.Can my readers opt‐out of seeing ads when they arrive at my search results pages?
No.
16.Does Lijit use behavioral targeting to customize ad display?
No. Lijit enables ad targeting through a combination of the search term entered by the reader, the topic of your publication, and geo‐location of the readers. Lijit does not use any information specific to the current reader other than the search term entered and the location of his/her IP address.
17.I don’t want to sell my own ad inventory. Why should I opt‐in?
No problem. The ability to sell your own search based ads is a feature, not a requirement. Lijit will always attempt to sell these placements at the highest possible rate. Often, motivated publishers have active dialogs with site sponsors or direct advertisers and can sell their own inventory at a higher rate than any third party can. Lijit just provides the mechanics for these publishers to do this if they are so inclined. Regardless of your interest in selling, by opting in, you’ll have the ability to keep track of your ad clicks and revenue generated from them. Once your balance reaches $25, you’ll have the ability to request payment through PayPal. And in the future, as we add more ad‐related features you will be able to take advantage of those too.
18.If I don’t opt‐in will Lijit stop running ads within my search results pages?
No. Lijit maintains the ad placements within search results pages in order to make our service free to every sized publisher.
19.If I don’t want any ads can I just pay directly for the Lijit service?
Lijit does not currently have a paid service offering as we believe most of our publishers would rather “pay” for their use of the service though the display of ad units. We would like to hear your thoughts, however, as we are always looking for ways to enhance our offering. Please let us know you think by writing us at support@lijit.com.
20.Instead of opting into Lijit’s ad network, can’t I just use my own AdSense ID to get revenue from the ads run in my search results?
Google currently does not allow multi‐way revenue splits, nor do they offer the reporting necessary for Lijit to perform the accounting functions required to support individual AdSense ID use. That said, we’ll continue to work with Google on this front and hope to be able to offer you this capability sometime in the future. In addition, many higher value advertiser relationships come directly though Lijit and from other publishers in our network. These opportunities are not transacted through AdSense and would be missed in this model.
Earning Revenues
21.Why provide revenue sharing at all?
Lijit has been running ads within search results since the inception of our search service in order to support costs associated with building out the infrastructure necessary to enable our offerings. We believe working with our publishers by enabling them with tools to monetize their site (if they choose) is the best way to form a solid partnership.
22.What is the revenue split between Lijit and me?
There are three levels of revenue sharing between Lijit and the publishers. In the case of publisher‐sold ad inventory, the publisher receives 60% of the revenue and Lijit will receive approximately 40% of the revenue. Ad opportunities that Lijit is able to directly sell, will be shared 50%/50% between the publisher and Lijit. In the case that neither the publisher nor Lijit is able to directly sell the ad opportunity, Lijit will backfill with ad networks that include Yahoo!, Google and others. These networks do not universally provide split analysis necessary to compute splits so publishers receive $.10 a click that over time has been observed to be about 50% of earned revenue from backfill.
23.When will I be able to sell my own ads?
Lijit plans to offer publishers the ability to sell their own ads, and realize additional revenues, in Q4 2008. Stay tuned for announcements. Getting Paid
24.What do I get paid once I opt‐in to the Lijit ad network?
Lijit sells ad space on a cost per click basis, which means advertisers pay when a reader clicks on an ad in your search results pages. When that happens your account is credited with the click.
25.When and how do I get paid?
After you’ve opted‐in to the Lijit Ad Network, at any time you can check the “Earnings” tab in your Lijit stats pages. Once the amount accrued is greater than or equal to $25 you can request payment. The first time you do this Lijit will ask you for PayPal and specific tax information we are required to collect for government use (W‐9 information for US citizens). After you’ve provided this information, we will pay you via PayPal. After payment, your account will show $0 and you will begin to accrue again. Requests received on or before the 15th of the month will be paid on the last day of that month. Requests made after the 15th of the month will be paid on the last day of the following month.
26.Why do I have to provide W‐9 information?
Lijit is required by United States tax laws to collect certain tax‐related information from you. We do not, however, provide any guidance for tax rules or laws. You should always consult your tax advisor if you have any questions regarding the taxes you may owe as an individual or a business.
