Website Advertising

I am writing a business plan for a school project and my idea is an information portal that generates revenue through advertising. I was wondering if anybody knows what is the industry norm for the percentage of a websites advertising space that is purchased by advertisers. Thanks in advance.

 

It all depends on the site. If you look at aol or Cnn they have large percent. If you look at most sites they have low percent so number is hard to figure out.

If site is very popular the more advertising can be sold.

 

Is there any organisation that measures advertising space usage?

 

The amount of money a site desires and receives is usually based on a series of metrics. The more complete and better they are, the more apt advertisers are willing to get into bed with the site.

The only norm is that there isn't a norm.

Actually, norms in the advertising world tend to form around delivery methods, sizes, etc and not price--except when comparing a small group of like outlets/scenarios.

For instance, if one were about to purchase advertising during the TV show LOST, that media buyer would probably compare the cost to shows on other networks with similar metrics.

If you were the media buyer, you wouldn't take a show on PBS in Fargo, ND and use it as a comparison. Even scaled, they are far different.

 

I just reread your post and I'm wondering if you're asking about how much SPACE is sold and not the cost per item. I've had too much coffee today.

If that's the case, some good ol' fashion research is in order. Pick some sites and see what % of their layout goes to ads. Merge them together and you can your results.

There are numbers out there that deal with the types of ads being purchased, such a size, delivery method, etc (usually in trade mags). I'd start Googling all sorts of terms to see what you find.

 

I have had a look around and it's quite a tedious process. Some of the websites that are based in my home country don't seem to fill up their space. I just wanted to get an international idea, but the popular sites seem to be just that, popular. I will just have to go with some small sample observations.