I have been thinking about adding internet advertising (particularly in-text) to my blog. I was trying to decide which service to use by going to various other blogs to see what was popular. Kontera seems to be the most widely used in-text ad network. But I can't understand WHY. Their targeting SUCKS. I was looking at an electronics review website today that had the word "PalmTops" underlined with Kontera. The ad that was linked was "Remove cat lint with Bounce sheets!" This is ridiculous. I don't care if they have tons of ad units, clients, or customer service. I'm not going to get high conversions if the in-text ads are not relevant. Why is this company so popular!? They really need to work on their targeting.
Kontera, is an ad-network which we are using from long back in 2006. It was second ad-network I signed up for! Of course the first was Google Adsense as in most cases. And after trying many ad networks, coincidently Kontera turn out to be our second major source of income. Kontera ads are unique in the sense that they links keywords in content to relevant ads at runtime using javascript. Links are double-underlined to stand-out differently from normal links. And as all links are generated by javascript, there is no risk involved of search-engine penalty as with text link ads.
Kontera makes a decent amount of money, and I do admit at times they are fairly...odd? The reality is that, if you are running an established blog with a steady traffic stream, I would shy away from them as the inline text adds give a VERY spammy appearance. While existing members won't mind that much, new ones will close out in a heartbeat.
@AFDI Thanks for your "un-biased" review of the "unique kontera ad experience". </sarcasm> @GlowCapital. I really agree with the spammy appearance for sure. But, I think that the idea of having contextual links is good IF the content matches the links. Like, if you're reading a review for IPad and then there's an intext ad for buying an Ipad, that'd be great. Kontera, however, does not seem to spend enough time on the targeting aspect. And it pisses me off that they are riding on their popularity when there are other, much better, in-text advertising options available for people.
Hey RedStapler, This is Jonathan from Kontera. First of all I'm pretty sure ADF1 did give you their unbiased opinion. As a paid Kontera employee, I can tell you with certainty that ADF1 isn't a Kontera employee. Speaking to your more general issue though, I understand your frustration. The In-Text ads Kontera displayed on a particular page is dependent on a variety of different factors including the content of your web page, traffic sources, geo-targeting, current campaigns running, advertiser preferences, and more. Kontera’s algorithm takes all these variables into account when delivering you with the most relevant and high-performing ad. While no network has achieved 100% relevancy, that Kontera is the most popular In-Text company with over 15,000 Publishers in our network, speaks to the fact that Kontera has the most relevant In-Text ads. More specifically, the reason Kontera has more relevant ads is because of our contextual technology, an algorithm that's able to read your webpages for meaning, not just scan for keywords like competing In-Text networks do. This allows us to identify the most relevant and effective ads for your content, leading to the highest CTR and best CPC. Additionally, and this speaks to GlowCapital's concern, Kontera features an exclusive ad inventory from such recognizable brand names as Microsoft, L'Oreal, Volvo, Blackberry, Sprint, National Geographic, Dove, and more. These premium, often Rich-Media ads are the most creative and attractive to site visitors, offer the best possible CPC, and are only available through Kontera. Keep in mind that because these ads are geo-targeted, just because you don't see them where you live doesn't mean that other people aren't seeing them when they visit your site. However, I think the most effective way to figure out if Kontera ads would work for you RedStapler, is to just try it and see if you get results. If you want, feel free to e-mail me at and I'll be happy to work with you to make sure your account is as optimized as possible. Thanks, - Jonathan Cohen Kontera Community Manager Monetize Your Website with Kontera In-Text Ads
With sites like infolinks you have to wait to get each site approved, but with Kontera you can start adding their code to your site. Also with Kontera you can submit your tax form online while with sites like infolinks you may have to scan or fax a copy of the form to them.
well , at the moment i am getting like 6-9 $ for 230-250 clicks which donst seem to be fair enough . I am trying to figure this out with Hanna C. of infolinks support , lets see what we come up with . I have a targeted traffic , just need to get things right to get high ECP. currently i hold the no1 position for iphone 4 jailbreak in all google domains like .us , .uk , de , fr , jp etc
I've tried Kontera and I am lucky if I get $0.01 a click (a lot of the time I get $0.00 a click!). I think they are popular because people see big bloggers like John Chow making $6.000-$8.000 a month from them. How he manages this is mind-boggling to me.