Review of Netklix advertising network – new PPC alternative to Google Adsense

Today I am going to review the new pay per click advertising network from Netklix who have started advertising in our blog.

Netklix are not actually a new network; they were founded in 1999 and originally began life as an affiliate network, running programs in the UK and USA. Shifting from CPA to CPC, the reincarnated set-up offers a way for web site owners and bloggers to earn money for every click generated.

From an advertisers point of view the Pay per Click model allows for ads to run online, however you only need to pay when a person clicks on one of your adverts. Pay per click advertising usually yields a higher Return on Investment (ROI) than CPM advertising as there is less wastage.

Looking at it as a Publisher

As a website publisher you will probably always be looking for a way to monetise all the hard work that you put in when building and maintaining you site or blog. By joining Netklix you could maximise your earning potential.

Netklix works very much like Google Adsense. When you click the sign up button you get taken through to a screen where you design your ad space. You can choose any colours you want so that the ads fit nicely with the look and feel of your site.

Once you have chosen your colours you must choose the subject categories that your site or blog covers. This is important as the Channels selected will help the most relevant ads to appear on your site maximising your earning potential.

The third step of the sign-up process is to add all your details such as name, address etc. I was a bit sceptical of the claim that the sign-up process would only take 5 minutes, but it does.

The interface looks easy and simple to use with the information you really want to know like “how much money have I made?” clearly displayed on the left hand side in your account. It is also really easy to create additional ad spaces and add more sites to your account.

So why would I want to use Netklix?

• The choice of content channels means relevant advertisers on your site
• You can create your own ads so they blend well with your site
• Netklix provides an additional revenue stream for your site or blog

Looking at it as an Advertiser

Netklix offers advertisers a cost effective way to run adverts online. It works in very much the same way as other PPC products. When you sign up you firstly choose your ad text and the maximum CPC that you are willing to bid. This is the maximum price you are willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad.

You then choose the categories that the product you are promoting fits into. This will help to place your ads on contextually relevant websites which will increase the conversion rates of your campaign. The third step is to add your details and you’re away.

One of the advantages I saw of Netklix was the bidding system which continually optimises downwards, i.e on the UK network you only pay £0.01 more than highest bid of the Advertiser in the next position below you, up to your maximum bid.

So why would I want to use Netklix?

• You only play when potential customers click through to your site
• You can choose from 400+ content Channels
• You can promote your business across thousands of sites instantly
• You set the click costs
• You can manage your account online anytime

Ask the CEO

Doing my impression of Deborah Meeden on Dragons’ Den, I posed some questions to the CEO of Netklix, Andrew Pike, which I thought would be the ones that advertisers and publishers might like answered.

What anti-fraud mechanisms do you have in place? – “We know that click-fraud is something that Advertisers are increasingly concerned about. Netklix have developed our own multi-stage technology to detect and isolate invalid clicks. That means Advertisers only pay for valid clicks, helping them increase traffic in safety. Publishers feel the benefit too. By tackling click-fraud, Netklix Advertisers are more confident in their CPC bids, which means a high-yielding, sustainable revenue source for Publishers”.

What controls do you have in place in terms of quality of publishers? – “Every Publisher that applies to the Netklix network is reviewed individually, by hand, prior to approval by our Account Management team. This means that Advertisers can be assured of our network quality. We apply the same rigour to Advert approval too, which means Publishers also gain from joining a responsible network.”

What are the strengths over Google Adsense? – “Netklix matches Advertisers and Publishers using our unique channel list. Keyword based targeting, although often effective, can be an added burden, especially when you are starting out. Advertisers have to build and maintain a list of thousands of keywords or risk congregating around which can burn budgets quickly. Publishers are also forced to constantly think up new ways to employ trigger keywords in their copy. In contrast, Netklix customers simply select the channels that best fit the content of their site and the Netklix does the rest. It’s as easy as that.”

In Summary

Netklix looks as though it is a great tool for advertisers to place highly targeted ads online next to relevant content, which will no doubt lead to higher conversion rates over CPM banner advertising. For a publisher the Netklix network will allow the monetisation of valuable online real estate.