Vertical Ad Networks Reaching Further, More Engaging

Traditional ad networks take note: vertical ad networks are swindling money and attention from your audience! Vertical ad networks—those that specialize in specific categories like sports, gaming, and travel—have seen an explosion in growth over the past year. And the haul has been huge.

A recent comScore study measured specific online audiences made up of demographic & category content. The collective reach of networks tracked went from 21.5% (total U.S. Internet audience) in March of 2008, to 57.1% in March of 2009. In traffic terms, vertical ad networks went from approximately 40.3 million to 109.8 million unique U.S. visitors—that’s a 172% increase!

The study also shows that vertical ad networks are more effective in the reach and engagement of people to their respective categories, as compared to the average category visitor.

Of the 5 segments studied, the visitors who reached the categories by vertical ad networks spent at least 60% more time there as compared to the average visitor. The Gaming segment alone shows vertical ad network visitors staying an average of 423 minutes/month as compared to the average category visitor of 190 minutes/month. That’s a whopping 123% higher than the average visitor.

2009: The Year of Vertical Ad Networks?

What does this mean for us, the agencies and advertisers? Leslie Litton, VP, Media at comScore, concludes that “As more vertical ad networks prove their ability to effectively reach specific target audiences by aggregating… publisher sites… the industry will likely give greater consideration to these emerging ad delivery channels.” Vertical ad networks tracked by comScore include entities such as Adify, Federated Media,Glam Media, and Travel Ad Network.

New technology, new partnerships, effective specific targeting, massive reach and the growth of established networks are just a few things that have helped to propel the growth of vertical ad networks. For example, MTV Networks recently launched its “Comedy Tribe,” a humor-focused vertical ad network featuring site publishers such as ComedyCentral.com and JibJab, a popular site for creating funny, custom user-generated videos. AutoTrader.com also joins the vertical ad network space, rolling out AutoTrader Access, a new vertical network focusing specifically on car shoppers and automotive dealers.

But there’s countless others out there, and the trend in 2009 toward vertical ad networks isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

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