I’ve noticed that a lot of web publishers this day and age still don’t understand what ad network tiering is. I decided to write this little guide to explain what it exactly is, and to a minimal extent on how to do it. Since most ad networks have their own method of setting defaults it would be to hard to create an extensive guide on setting up ad tiering. Ad tiering is basically using multiple ad networks on one site, while using the same ad formats. When one network runs out of ads to display, it will display the next network ads instead of public service ads. Below is an example. Ad Networks* Tier #1 ValueClick Media Tier #2 RealTech Network Tier #3 CPX Interactive * note this is just an example, I am not recommending using these networks in this specific order. We are now using the above 3 networks as an example, we will now assume that we are only using 2 ad units, 160x200 and 468x60. Below is an example of how it would work. ValueClick Media Displays all available ads to both ad dimensions, and will continue to do so until it runs out of ads to display. ValueClick Media caps on the 468x60 dimension and can no longer display ads, it will now starting using the default which is Real Tech Network. Real Tech Network continues to display its ads in the 468x60 dimension until either ValueClick Media can display more ads, or it also caps out and can no longer display ads. Then it will default to CPX interactive ads until either Real Tech Network or ValueClick Media can display more ads. To setup this type of system, you need to set your defaults. Most ad networks have a tutorial or help page to explain how to set default ads. Doing this will increase your earnings, especially if you keep getting public service ads. Below is another example of how the defaults would be set. Value Click Media - Default: Real Tech Network Real Tech Network - Default: CPX Interactive CPX Interactive - Default: None or another network I hope this basic guide was simple enough to send you in the correct direction for ad network tiering, you can also send me a PM if you need help setting up defaults, I know how to do it for most of the popular ad networks.
This is another small guide I wrote on sitepoint that seem to draw a lot of attention, hopefully it can help out someone here. You can always PM here if you need help setting up defaults.
Not sure if you know who I am, but I also use SitePoint and did reply to your post. This is a good article for the newbies on how to tier cpm ad networks. Well it's alright anyway.