Recommended Sites

I recommend these sites as general banner locations. They are not targeted sites, thus they might be exceptionally expensive as marketing programmes.

FEE: CNET SHAREWARE.COM & DOWNLOAD.COM. These sites offer a rotating banner programme, so a banner on one will also appear on the other. The impression count requirements are high, the audience is general, not specialised, and the banners are 476x54. They operate at a monthly gross rate of $15,000 for 500,000 impressions ($30CPM), dropping to $11,250 per month on an annual agreement ($22.50CPM). Our experience is that you will get at least 20% more impressions (I have gotten more than 770,000 in a month). Their month is actually 30 days, so every month is the same. I consider CNET to be the best test environment for any serious banner program, especially for tuning the flow from banner to order. CNET also offers additional sites, as well as BuyDirect.com for online sales (they charge about 22.5% of sales).

FEE: There are many sites that offer banners for a fee. It will take some time to identify the real target market for your site, but it can be done. Visit Market Match for help, or use a consultant.

FEE: ANY Search Engine! They all derive money from banner ads. And some have some exceptionally targeted banner programs at rates up to $50CPM. The best program seems to be at LYCOS for focus -- you can even specify a list of domain names (company focus!) for your ads! They also offer city, country, and category programs -- $50 to $60CPM. You might also consider the Yahoo! program for category focus at $24CPM (500,000 minimum).

Although not a banner, don't forget the "free" registration with all sorts of directories as well.