About six weeks ago, I started to experiment with a new advertising network called AdGenta that lets you insert ads that are relevant to blog posts. I was curious to see how AdGenta compared with AdSense in terms of click-through rates and revenue generation. The results so far have been intriguing and suggest AdGenta could complement AdSense or even replace AdSense for some bloggers. Last month, AdGenta ads attracted 133 click-throughs and generated revenue of $19.95. This compared with AdSense, which had 90 click-throughs and revenue of $39.23. The caveat is I didn't insert AdGenta ads into every post because I was concerned they would compromise or detract from the editorial content. In any event, I'm impressed with AdGenta, particularly given it's just getting off the ground and still in the process of attracting advertisers. What AdGenta needs to offer is better reporting tools to show how much each click-through is worth. This would provide bloggers with a better idea of what ads are worth and whether they are worth inserting. Putting aside the AdGenta vs. AdSense comparison, the real story is my blog pulled in a whopping $59.18 in advertising last month - or about $1.94 a day, which is enough to buy a Starbucks coffee unless it's one of those fancy ones. To be honest, I'm still puzzled by the fact my blog and blogs in general don't attract more advertising. My blog pulls in between 5,000 to 7,000 unique visitors a day - not quite Om Malik-like performance - but certainly respectable. Yet, there have been, at best, small nibbles from advertisers. Is it my blog or just the common approach to the blogosphere? I suspect what's happening is many advertisers are still pretty cautious about the blogosphere and/or sticking to the bigger, better-known blogs that have the ability to effectively address their needs with sales teams, rate cards, etc. For most individual-run blogs, advertisers are a rare commodity because they don't have the resources or time to directly pursue advertising, while advertisers don't have the resources and/or willingness to fool around with blogs require too much legwork and/or offer little information on their popularity and reach. With the exception perhaps of Om Malik, many of the blogs I read every day have little or no information about their audience, which makes them a mystery to advertisers. There is no doubt the blogosphere will get more advertising-friendly in the next couple of years as advertisers look for more inventory as the online market grows. At that point, advertisers will reach beyond the Tier 1 blogs (Weblogs, Gawker, etc.) and start to explore new opportunities. Until then, blogs will continue to be a labor of love for most of us who do it because it's fun while offering a way to build a brand and contacts.
For more thoughts on the blogosphere and advertising, check out a column I wrote earlier this week in the Financial Post. Problogger, meanwhile, provides a good snapshot on the different ways that bloggers make money.