After the whole ADSDAQ fiasco (the network kicked off just about every webcomic site), many webcomickers were left floundering, forced to try out other ad networks in the hopes of making as much as they once did. Sadly, today’s post isn’t all too encouraging.

Adtegrity is an ad network that boasts a 100% fill rate. And it does! It really lives up to that part of the bargain.  Most networks, ADSDAQ and Burst Media included, often have fill rates of only 5-15%. Even with those really low fill rates there, I made 3-5x more there when compared with Adtegrity. The problem is, a 100% fill rate often means (especially with a huge archive like mine) that 1 visitor might see the same ad 50 times over, if not more. This means there is no frequency cap, and that means the ad company basically loses money. If visitors aren’t going to click an ad the first 10 times they see it per user session, they’re not going to click it the next 40 times they see it.

All of this is leading to one important fact: a 100% fill rate means a REALLY LOW CPM. No one is going to pay well for ads without a frequency cap. So, if my average CPM at ADSDAQ was $2.00, and I had a fill rate of 15%, I made 3-4 dollars a day. At Adtegrity, with 100% fill rate, my CPM is often less than $0.10, which in my opinion, in unacceptable as a means to earn revenue from my comic.

Those of you looking to make money with ads: Adtegrity is good for the last link in your ad chain only! Never as your primary network. In one month of using them, I have never made more $1.50 a day, and far more often, make less than ONE dollar.  I’ve made as much from a single project wonderful as I make with 2 ad sizes filled by Adtegrity.

In my book, Adtegrity gets a 2/10.

They get 1 point for the 100% fill rate, and 1 point for really great customer service. You won’t turn much of a profit though!

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