47 Media Helps Publishers Shun Ad Networks, By Building Their Own

SAN FRANCISCO - In just one year of operation, 47 Media, a San Francisco-based consultancy, has helped over a dozen media companies build their own ad networks, providing not only key expertise in online strategy but the unique service of pro-active publisher recruitment.

Demand for these services increased tremendously in 2009, as publishers see their long-term revenue disappearing into the pockets of third-party ad networks and try to fight back, following the adage: If you can't beat 'em — join 'em.

By reaching out to other publishers and aggregating high quality, content-related inventory across a single, proprietary network, these web publishers are strengthening the authority of the brand, extending the reach of their audience, and increasing the value of their ad offerings.

But starting an ad network is not for the faint-hearted. There are many challenges associated with the ad network model that are unfamiliar to media companies; many are totally unprepared to bring their digital business to scale.

47 Media, led by CEO Scott Swanson, has stepped in to assist 13 different companies with ad network strategy and development of their publisher networks, including AdRocket, NetSeer, and the Tech Media Network.

"Our main property, TopTenReviews.com, was a perfectly successful website. But after seeing the the potential to scale revenues, we started the Tech Media Network, and needed to quickly add high quality partners," explained CRO Mark Westlake. "That's where 47 Media came in, leveraging their expertise and contacts to help us get to market within a matter of weeks. In a very short period of time, we were able to scale our network and thus attract larger sponsors and a bigger ad spend."

47 Media's services, in detail:

— Helping companies choose the right network technology platform: When starting an ad network, a media company is essentially adding a new type of customer to its mix: other publishers. Like advertisers, they will require technical support and access to analytics, as well as some control over ad placement. But unlike advertisers, they also need access to revenue reports, and they need to be paid. To maximize its own revenue, the company will need inventory management and yield optimization tools, plus resources for ad tag deployment. 47 Media carefully weighs these criteria and help the client select the platform best suited to their needs.

— Publisher recruitment: By far the biggest obstacle to building an ad network is simply the inability to quickly and efficiently recruit a large number of high-value affinity sites. The development staff at 47 Media, having recruited hundreds of top-tier publishers for successful ad networks like Glam Media, Vibrant Media, and Tribal Fusion, takes care of all of the outreach, from identifying partner sites to presenting the value proposition and ultimately closing the deal.

They do this with the help of PubContact, 47 Media's comprehensive database of over 10,000 executives and online professionals at web properties in 17 niche online verticals, including Automotive, Education, Entertainment, Health, News, Parenting, Shopping, Sports, and Travel. In addition to information about key decision makers - many of which are trusted, personal contacts of the team - PubContact contains data from Alexa and Quantcast, each website's number of monthly unique visitors, and a record of alignment with other networks.

— Creating a sustainable, scalable model: After the initial on-boarding process, 47 Media provides clients with mid-term and long-term strategy, such as workflow integration, human resources needed for network management, and a map for continued growth of new partner sites - allowing each business to reach its projected levels of scale.

"There's no question that media consumption on the web is getting more and more fragmented: people used to visit 10 websites a week, now they visit hundreds," said 47 Media Principal Scott Swanson. In order to deliver adequate reach to their sponsors, publishers and media companies have to embrace the network model - or risk getting left behind. We're simply helping them take that necessary step."

About 47 Media
47 Media, Inc. is an online media consulting firm specializing in ad network strategy, publisher relationship development, new media syndication, monetization strategy, and outsourced business development.


Media companies looking to scale their business also take advantage of 47 Media's network development services. In just one year of operation, the 47 Media team has custom-built 6 vertical ad networks using PubContact, the company's proprietary database of over 10,000 web publisher contacts.

For more information, see the 47 Media website.