The new LWN text ad system

[Posted January 29, 2003 by corbet]

LWN text ads are the small advertisements that appear in the left column of most pages on the site. They are, we hope, relatively unobtrusive (no bouncing, flashing animations), but, since they tend to be relevant to our readers' interests, they have response rates that are as good as banner ads. Text ads are a small but important part of LWN's revenue stream.

Late last week, we transitioned over to a new version of the text ad system. The new code features some amazing innovations, such as being integrated into the rest of the LWN site. It is no longer necessary to create a separate account to place and manage text ads, and text ad transactions can be viewed along with the rest on the "My Account" page. The new system also allows advertisers to make more changes to ads as they are running. (Certain other desired new features, such as the ability to restrict ad delivery to specific countries, have been deferred for now).

What has not changed is the basic method by which text ads are sold. LWN uses a sort of auction system; each advertiser names his or her own price for each ad. At the beginning of each day, the available ad exposures are divided up between advertisements according to how much is being spent on each. The result is that we can accommodate small advertisers (the minimum is $5) while providing a large portion of the site to those who are willing to pay more.

See the text ad section of the LWN.net FAQ for more information on how the text ad system works. You can also head over to this page to see which advertisements are currently running on the site.

LWN text ads are a great way of supporting the site while simultaneously drawing attention to your company or some other cause that you support. They are, for example, ideal for drawing attention to a free software project that could use more users or developers. Please consider placing your ad today.

The new LWN text ad system

Posted Jan 30, 2003 5:15 UTC (Thu) by ksmathers (guest, #2353) [Link] (2 responses)

The one trouble I have with the Text advertisements, speaking as a user of the site, is that they aren't archived with the page. Instead of being fixed, the ads are dynamically added to the page each time it is shown.

This makes it very difficult to refer back to advertising that I may have seen earlier in the day, or earlier in the week, but forgot to follow before leaving that page.

Minimally I think that LWN needs a list of advertisers page, and possibly an ad to user linkage that remembers which ads I've seen and can reveal them to me. If coupled with something to make the ads more interesting (in general), like an interest/advertiser match that stratifies the payment levels in exchange for directed advertising, then that would be ideal.

As for the value of advertising, editorial content shows things that the staff thinks are interesting. Advertising shows things that an advertiser thinks are interesting. In a well defined community like LWN, both types of content provide valuable data to the reader.

The ad on this page is for someone who seems to be selling an E-Commerce & credit card processing open source library. Having some experience with commerce sites, I doubt that the ad is completely forthright -- most credit clearing agencies are somewhat leery of revealing the algorithms and protocols they use for authorization, but it is definitely interesting. Actually I'd prefer it if text ads got a little more space -- not so as to interfere with the editorial content, but enough to get more interesting data than the advertising hyperbole of the one liner.

List of advertisers page

Posted Jan 30, 2003 13:11 UTC (Thu) by corbet (editor, #1) [Link] (1 responses)

"Minimally I think that LWN needs a list of advertisers page...

Ah, but we do, it was listed in the article. Look here.

"The ad on this page is for someone who seems to be selling an E-Commerce & credit card processing open source library. Having some experience with commerce sites, I doubt that the ad is completely forthright...

That must be the TrustCommerce ad. They are for real, that's how LWN does its credit card handling.

List of advertisers page

Posted Feb 2, 2003 3:07 UTC (Sun) by wolfrider (guest, #3105) [Link]

--Ah yes, that was quite handy! I clicked on a number of links that caught my eye, and may pursue some of them. I recommend keeping the total # of ads down to 30 or less, and concentrating on the real hi-quality folks. That should help distinguish LWN even more. :) (I love you guys!)

--Right now I need an inexpensive (less than $50 would help) but roomy hard-sided briefcase to hold my laptop and equipment; if anybody has some good tips email me: mailto:kingneutron@yahNOSPAMoo.com - un-obfuscate address 1st.