Need AdServer Advice (22)
Brothers,
I need advice. We've mainly been doing pops until now but it's time to "do" banners.
I have some stuff running but the banners are hosted by the networks (CPX, Xtend, etc.)
I'd like to run my own adserver as I need to test dozens of ad variations in a few dozen countries. There's no way I'm going to deal with an account manager on that, well maybe there is - depending on the cost of the alternative 
I'd also like to easily tweak weights of the ads and pause/unpause 24/7 not to mention weekends...
So that being said, I looked at Sitescout which will run me about 3 cents per thousand impressions, or in other words, for 300 million impressions; $9,000 and that doesn't include their CDN cost which is billed on top of that at $0.11/GB
Sitescout sounds awesome but is this the best way to go about things?
If I'm doing my own adserving and image hosting, will the CPA networks give me 3 CPM lower cost price? Like right now for a lot of 728x90 I'm paying 10 cents CPM, is it realistic to ask for 7 or 8 CPM? I'm doing them a big favor; no account rep to harass 24/7, no server cost (well less at least) and no IMG/CDN data cost to them...
I'm also looking at OpenX Source. Has anyone used it? I know the hosting and everything has to be done in-house but feature wise how does it compare to SiteScout?
I don't need incredibly advanced features, my 2 most important requirements are;
1) Rotating/controlling ads (duh...)
2) Being able to fire 3rd party pixels from traffic sources.
That's it.
Any advice would be great.
Also, if you've used Google Doubleclick ad server and/or AdShuffle, let me know how that's working out for ya as I haven't looked into those yet.
So no1 runs their own adserver? 
We have tried pretty much everything out there but most of the time we use Yieldmanager. It does a pretty good job. Only issue is that you can't use yieldmanager tags in yieldmanager - in this scenario we usually use other adservers like Sitescout or Adtech. Plus side is that you get access to Right Media inventory via Exchange. RMX isnt for everyone - its a beast, prepare to sink money into learning the ins and outs. Don't expect any help from anyone, especially Yahoo
0.03 CPM (+ overages) is pretty typical adserving costs. If you are still getting your feet wet I would recommend something like Sitescout. We havent been using it for too long but so far are seeing value. Especially with the hybrid creatives.
Maybe its late but I dont really get what your question is?
If you're really serving 300 mill impressions maybe you can talk to SiteScout to get a bulk discount.
Another option is to use AdShuffle.
Ad Serving costs are part of the cost of doing business when you're in media buying.
As for getting better rates because you use the ad server I doubt that will be the case. One thing I noticed networks often don't like when you use your own ad tags because they can't control the ads you serve... so you can sneak in "adult" and "gambling"
If I was you I'd grab adshuffle since they have a pay as you go option. And slowly migrate your stuff over to see how you like it.
Thanks guys, I'll look into AdShuffle. As said, I've mainly been doing pops where hosting the 'landing pages' obviously isn't an issue as it's done on our own servers. But now with banners and rotations I created hundreds of banners across different GEO's and I just didn't want to have to deal with an account manager to pause/unpause and change weights and add in new creatives but until they ask me but I'm just going to get it started that way anyway it seems
it's important to use a better adserver.
not recommend adshuffle
you can check adtech, zedo, mediaplex
adshuffle is good for start up
blink hands down, I use it and I love it, if you need a hookup let me know its faster then site scouts and no cdn fees
appnexus - best optimization features & UI in the SaaS enterprise adserving business. bonuses - you can access their RTB as an existing customer (connected to rubicon, pubmatic, admeld, adecn and others), ability to serve both mobile and online display units.
CPXinteractive has recently moved their entire direct-response business onto Appnexus' platform, where previously they were using their own inhouse adserver. Video interview with CPX CEO regarding this here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWzLoEm60RI
YellowHammer Media Group (YHMG) are also another group of folks in the performance advertising space who use Appnexus.
Do you have a link to check out blink? I couldn't find much info ...I'm running on SS also
bnmla.com
hey heavyt - tell me more about bnmla?
why do you like it so much? what are some of its key features?
You don't want to use OpenX Source. You can't do any serious ad serving with PHP/MySQL. I'm pretty sure they have a disclaimer saying that it shouldn't be used for commercial or high-volume purposes.
Originally Posted by tijn
andy@engagebdr.com its their ad server for affiliates but they have the other side they use too for all their campaigns hit him up
Hey guys, I keep hearing Google doubleclick adserver is free to use if you only use 10 m imps per month. But just finished talking to their rep and she said there is $1500 initial setup fee and .03 cpm after that. Anyone used google's adserver before?
sitescout, adshuffle and blink are good
anyone use AdZerk?
100m free impressions a month, and benchmarks showing its faster then openx & dart
Originally Posted by tijn
Is there any initial fees to setup?
Edit: I just signed up and it is 100 % FREE. Though if anyone has experience using it please comment, cheers.
Don't mean to derail the thread but does anyone have recommendations for an ad server if you're buying strictly mobile traffic? Made a thread in the mobile section but haven't received any feedback.
Originally Posted by tonyt2929
I've used Adzerk for a while - works very well indeed (especially considering it's free). Give it a go.
I'm a rep at AVID Ad Server. So of course I'm bias but honestly your not going to find a better adserver for an advertiser(affiliate marketer). We offer the best and most targeting options to make sure the right people are seeing the right ad. We are extremely affiliate friendly. Also, we are certified with all the major players AOL, YAHOO, GOOGLE(Adwords & Doubleclick Adx). PM me or request a demo on our site to get a look under the hood http://avidadserver.com
PM me and we can talk about AVID Ad Server...built for affiliates and works great on mobile...we even have a free mobile SDK for Android and iOS for in-app ads...
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