Valueclick Media

January 19, 2009 by Jim
Filed under: 2nd Tier, Ad Network Review 
Value Click MediaValue Click Media

 

ValueClick Media – http://www.valueclickmedia.com/

At a threshold of 3000 unique visitors a month, ValueClick Media is a great company that any site should be able to join- provided your content meets their criteria. In the past, some publishers complained about the quality of their offerings, but the company seems to be moving in the right direction on this front. The thing that keeps ValueClick top of mind for so many small to medium publishers is the controlled offered in adjusting their content, and the always up-to-date products- such as interstitials- and top-of-the-line visitor tracking. Features and service often only reserved for big publishers in the top tier networks are made available to the little guy with ValueClick.


Ad formats available:

  • Skyscraper (120×600) 
  • Wide skyscraper (160×600)
  • Medium Rectangle (300×250)
  • Rectangle (780×150)
  • Standard Banner (468×60)
  • Interstitial
  • Pops (728×300)
  • Leaderboard (728×90)
  • Half Page (300×600)
  • Video
  • inVue (Rich Media)

 

Interface: 8/10

Positive:

Always up-to-date stats

Negative:

Some interface loading issues 

Some the site may seem to chug along, but small publishers are rewarded with filters and tracking features they may not have access to anywhere else. The design leans toward the utilitarian- but maybe that’s the value side in ValueClick.  Some publishers have vented the page load can be slow and report running can timeout.  Not a huge issue but can be frustrating to publishers used to top tier speed.

 

Support services 7/10

Positive:

Polite!

Negative:

Not Personal, no assigned Account Manager

For a big company dealing with small to medium size publishers, ValueClick have their customer service down pat. The treatment publishers receive is always professional and helpful. With this degree of service readily available and so much of the set-up and maintenance intuitively built into the ValueClick site, perhaps there’s no need for assigned reps for every account- and perhaps the business model doesn’t allow for it. In the practical experience of most publishers, ValueClick service is there when you need it, but the call center is not the best way of leveraging a relationship. 

 

Payment schedule and payment options: 9/10

Positive:

Direct deposit, paypal & ACH; NET20; Payment date and amount noted on interface

Negative:

None

With a Direct Deposit option you only deal with your own bank and your own bank’s transaction fees. Downside is direct deposit is only available to US based publishers.  That said- if you do the math, with ACH the savings add up over Paypal, and it can be considerable- when your transactions are over $1000.00 USD per month. At a NET20 with an impeccable record of paying on time, ValueClick is the best in the financial department.  

 

eCPMS: 8/10 

Minimum eCPM bid control and default traffic redirect option available.  The rates are solid, but some publishers will quibble that other sites are the better.  Of course this can come down to traffic quality.  Try it and see. 

 

Overall Rating: 8/10 – Good

With the ad engine of Fastclick and the payment and fulfillment of the ValueClick behemoth, you have a top tier winner.  But with size comes bureaucracy and lack of attention.  Hopefully you don’t have any issues which require a hands-on solution.  Otherwise this is an excellent fire-and-forget publisher revenue solution.

 

Resources:

ValueClick: http://www.valueclickmedia.com/pub_display_advertising.shtml

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Comments

One Comment on Valueclick Media

  1. Adi on Wed, 28th Jan 2009 4:51 pm

    2. ValueClick has Paypal as a payment method. I receive payments from them via PayPal for almost a year now.

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