The Ad Network: Every Question Answered + Top 10 Display Advertising Platforms on the Market

“Do you take your Domino’s order yourself and get a 10% discount, or leave it to the delivery guy and pay extra?” No, your humble servants haven’t lost it yet; the answer to this question is a legitimate hint about whether you should use an ad network or not.

Intermediaries are what you’d want to get rid of in any business, but as the years go by and the ad tech becomes more accessible, the ad networks just don’t lose in terms of demand. Why is that?

Today, besides marking the basic theory, let’s discover what the market of display ad networks can offer to both advertisers and publishers!

What Is an Ad Network in Display Advertising?

An online advertising network is a business that matches the publisher’s inventory with the advertiser’s demand.

Basically, ad networks (also referred to as “display advertising platforms”) are brokers/middlemen between the supply and demand side of advertising.

They have existed since the first days of the open web in the late ‘90s, and their job has remained the same – aggregate unsold inventory from publishers and sell it to advertisers.

To put it even more simply, from the advertiser’s perspective, an ad network is the partner who buys a limited collection of fresh Jordans (from the publisher) to later sell it to them for a higher price.

As a result:

• Publishers get their inventory sold quickly and effortlessly but at a lower bulk price;
• Advertisers get premium ad placements but at a premium price;
• Ad networks profit from both, but they have to do all the transaction work.

How Is an Ad Network Different from an Ad Agency?

“Ain’t it the same as an ad agency?” – No, dear reader, technically it is not.

By definition, programmatic agencies are the advertiser’s agents who act in the latter's sole interest. They don’t profit from traffic resell; instead, they manage their clients' advertising or marketing activities. Their success depends on how well they assist the advertiser.

Naturally, as with all things ad tech-related, the definitions get mixed up. Some companies position themselves as display ad networks despite being ad agencies, while others do vice versa. Carefully analyze the company’s bio before making any deals.

How Is an Ad Network Different from an Ad Exchange?

Display ad networks and ad exchanges are completely different beasts.

An ad exchange is a marketplace where supply-side platforms and demand-side platforms connect to make programmatic deals. It's technology first, business second.

Buying/selling with an ad exchange is the choice for those who already have access to a DSP and SSP. You set the parameters and pricing, and you’re in full control of the process.

Display advertising platforms, on the other hand, eliminate the need to participate in programmatic auctions for their clients. Buying/selling with an ad network won’t cost you an ad tech service subscription, but you’ll be completely detached from better pricing opportunities. However, the advertiser can still optimize their campaign.

How Does Display Ad Network Work?

By now, you should’ve got a general idea of how display advertising platforms work. But we still have a lot to discuss. So let’s not drag it any further; here’s how an ad campaign made with the help of a display ad network goes:

• Step # 1. Onboarding

The ad network aggregates a solid amount of publishers to operate a large stock of inventory. The advertisers sign up for an ad network and their services.

• Step # 2. Ad campaign start

Advertisers set up campaign goals, budgets, audience criteria, and pricing models (CPM, CPC CPA etc.). They can set up their reporting via ad network interface (display ad platform) or by using good old ad server pixel tracking. The former is more convenient, the latter allows advertisers to run campaigns across multiple ad networks.

• Step # 3. Ad network does its job

Display ad network matches the demand with the most appropriate supply. It manages the bidding process with its own set of ad tech tools and verifies that ads are placed correctly.

• Step # 4. Publisher integration

Publishers integrate the ad network’s ad tags/SDK into their website or app either directly in the page code or by using an ad server.

• Step # 5. Tracking & optimization

Ad network tracks ad performance metrics. Advertisers monitor performance via the dashboard and make real-time adjustments. What’s better is that the advertiser can switch ads on the website independently from the publisher.

• Step # 6. Payment

The display ad network pays publishers based on generated impressions/clicks and calculates how much the advertiser owes based on the pricing model. Finally, they charge both a service fee for facilitating transactions.

• Step # 7. Campaign conclusion

As for the final chord, the display ad network providers check if all of the ads meet legal & quality standards. The advertiser reviews performance and makes conclusions for the future. The campaign ends.

So yes, just like with a Domino’s delivery guy, you, as an advertiser, still have to choose the pizza flavor in the app, track the courier location, open the front door to him and make conclusions if the service is good enough. Both advertiser and publisher take an active role in the campaign.

However, the details of how a display ad network operates its media buying and the services it offers differ. Let’s talk about it.

Types of Display Advertising Platforms

Ad networks come in different shapes and sizes. Once again, the definitions often get mixed up, but as ad tech media, we should at least try to put all of those in distinct categories.

Inventory Type

The first division comes from the inventory predominantly offered by the ad network. According to those, there are these types of display advertising platforms:

• Horizontal ad network

A horizontal ad network is like a jack-of-all-trades. It has a broad and wide-ranging scope, offering traffic across various industries, publishers, and topics. This is the best option for advertisers looking to reach a broad audience and build basic brand awareness across different demographics.

The examples of horizontal display ad networks include Google AdSense and Media.net.

• Vertical ad network

A vertical ad network is the opposite of its horizontal brother. The traffic covers very specific niches and industries, sometimes in groups like gambling + finance. The focus with these is obviously the audience in highly relevant interest groups for the advertiser.

As for the examples, we’d include RichAds and Gourmet Ads.

• Premium ad network

Do you remember how we’ve mentioned that ad networks mostly work with expensive premium inventory? Well, premium display advertising platforms are the VIPs within the VIP world. These networks only work with top-tier publishers known for their high-quality traffic.

Premium ad networks are the best pic for advertisers who a) have a lot of money ready to spend b) want the audience to associate their brand with high-quality content. The examples are The Rubicon Project and a specific section of Google’s Premium Inventory.

• Specialized ad network

We all had that one box of Lego parts from different official sets to create our own. Well, specialized ad networks do just about that. These focus on highly specific ad formats and audience characteristics and offer advanced targeting techniques. Basically, specialized ad networks are just like vertical ones, but they have the option to have more choices than simply interest niches.

Put the examples from the vertical ad networks section here, and you’ll have the general idea.

Programmatic Role

Before we move on, it’s important to note that few companies actually use the terms below. However, that doesn’t mean we should ignore this classification since it will help us understand who’s the final beneficiary in this business.

• Ad arbitrage

Ad arbitrage is the classic programmatic display advertising platform, something that comes to mind when we hear the term “ad network.” Its main purpose is to be a broker that buys undervalued ad inventory in bulk and sells it for more than they paid by using strategic placements and targeting.

• Rep firms

While rep firms are the intermediaries between both advertisers and publishers, they mostly value the interest of the latter. Their focus is to sell high-quality inventory from well-known publishers on their behalf.

So, rep firms are a great outsourced sales force for publishers and a convenient partner for advertisers who seek premium placements, as they don’t need to deal with multiple pubs.

• Ad aggregators

If rep firms function with publishers in mind, ad aggregators do the same for publishers. They aggregate (duh) traffic from multiple sources into a single display advertising platform and sell it as a package to advertisers. The latter gets scale and variety in a single tool.

Should You Use a Display Ad Network?

At this point, you’ve probably already made up your mind. But before moving to the best display ad networks, let’s summarize the pros and cons of using their services. There’s still a lot to cover, so we’ll be brief.

Benefits of Ad Networks

Let’s start with the good stuff that ad networks have to offer:

• Efficiency & Ease

Using the best display ad networks means eliminating the constant pain of having 100% ad fill rates and finding the best ad placement deals. Advertisers no longer need to negotiate with publishers or take part in programmatic auctions.

Moreover, the largest display ad networks provide their users with the ready-to-use platforms. You save up time and money on using ad tech tools.

• Professional exposure

Ad networks offer advertisers a wide range of traffic to satisfy every possible need, from broad and accessible to premium and highly-valued inventory. As a marketer, your hands are still free to make performance optimization decisions, and ad networks usually give plenty of tools to do that.

As for the publishers, they can sell their inventory at a desired price (with the ad network markup ofc) without the need to communicate with brands.

• Flexible payments

Most ad networks aren’t some evil companies that want to strip you out of every cent. They are interested both in their and your own success. That’s why the best display ad networks offer flexible payment options, allowing advertisers to choose their pricing and payment models.

Downsides to Ad Networks

Now, for the cons of programmatic display advertising platforms:

• Lack of control & transparency

Both sides lose control compared to the scenario where they’d use SSPs, DSPs and ad servers.

As a publisher, you don’t know where exactly and which ads the display ad network will place. As an advertiser, you don’t know that either. Moreover, neither side can verify how effectively the display ad platform makes use of their hard-earned money.

From this perspective, using programmatic ad tech is a much more transparent option.

• Pricing & Competition

Using ad networks isn’t free; neither is it cheap. But that’s on the obvious side. The other big disadvantage is that the bidding system used by ad networks can drive up costs, especially in competitive industries or for high-value keywords.

What do we mean by that? During high seasons, smaller users of a display ad platform need to compete for preferable ad placements with larger advertisers who have higher budgets. In short, ad networks may prioritize more well-known and profitable brands.

• Too much traffic

Just like the third benefit, this disadvantage is minor but still present. In an ocean of aggregated traffic, the advertiser can forget about lazy campaign management. High volumes of ad inventory raise the need to filter low-quality leads and adjust targeting.

Top 10 Display Ad Networks

We’ve analyzed dozens of Internet reviews and tried a lot of products by ourselves to deliver this display ad networks list.

One important thing before we start!!!

The world of affiliate marketing is a soup of definitions and product positioning. In our case, the boundary between ad tech providers and display ad networks is often blurry and thus ignored by the industry.

That’s why, on this top, you’ll sometimes see DSP and SSP companies that just happen to provide services similar to those of ad networks and vice versa. Ultimately, we’re just trying to give you a list of service providers you can be sure of. We’ll try not to steer far from classical ad networks but don’t get confused, just in case.

Google AdMob

Everybody knows of Google AdSense since it’s the most popular ad network on the market today. You can read about it anywhere else; instead, we decided to tell you about something less obvious: Google’s solution for in-app advertising, AdMob.

AdMob is regarded as one of the best display advertising platforms for mobile use. Users report smooth integration with other Google services, effective placement monetization (both fill rates for pubs and CPM for advertisers), and, naturally, high levels of security.

On the other hand, Google is a large corporation, which results in typical issues. We’ve found many claims of unjustly banned advertisers’ accounts, low-quality support, and even banning publisher’s apps, again for no reason.

TargetVideo

TargetVideo is a programmatic video advertising platform with many solutions, but we’ll concentrate on its premium demand ad network.

TargetVideo is a great platform for, you guessed it, video ad inventory; however, display banner ads are also available. Users on the web praise them for good analytics and support; TargetVideo is quite affordable, and their video creation tool is top-notch.

There aren’t many complaints about TargetVideo; most users just seem frustrated with the lack of features. Their display advertising platform is relatively new, so let’s see how well it holds in the future.

Adsterra

Most people online hold Adsterra in very high regard. Since it has a long history on the market, it’s natural that Adsterra has developed a loyal fan base, but what’s really inside?

Well, Adsterra is truly on the level of the largest display ad networks when it comes to top-performing countries. Campaign approval is fast, there are no strict policies (unlike walled garden solutions), and the support team is on top.

Adsterra only misses high CPM rates if you’re working with less profitable regions. Plus, the platform lacks some ad formats like responsive ads or AMPs.

AdMaven

AdMaven used to have a flawless reputation, but now things are a bit worse. Still, it’s on our top display ad networks for a reason, multiple reasons to be exact.

The platform UI is easy to navigate, the CPM rates for publishers are pretty good and the auto-optimization makes advertising with AdMaven a great experience. Customer support also gets much praise from the users.

As for the negatives, recently many advertisers have reported low CPM and even “no earnings” on their ad campaigns. Some even make claims about robot spam traffic. If you’re an advertiser, we’d advise you to do your own research.

Facebook Audience Network

We can’t talk about Google’s products without including their main walled garden rival. The pros and cons of each aren’t as similar as you’d think they are.

As you’d expect from the world’s biggest social network, the targeting is precise and deeply customizable, the A/B testing works like a Swiss clock, and the CPA/CPM rates are good. The amount of data that Meta has gives them the edge over many contenders in our display ad networks list.

Surprisingly, Facebook Audience Certification is not as easy to master as the other platforms on our list. Research Meta ad certification; otherwise, your campaigns won’t go far. Overall, the success with the platform depends on how well you know what you’re doing.

Taboola

Taboola is a native display advertising platform that doesn’t have as much presence as the contenders above, but is still a high-quality product.

It boasts great customer service, a bunch of targeting options (including customizable targeting), and good value on clicks. The pricing is affordable, and the network has high-quality traffic.

Speaking of which, traffic is a double-edged sword. There are many sources and they are mostly in the A-tier, but the abundance of traffic makes some verticals less profitable. This is especially valid for news websites.

As for the other downsides, the UI is a bit clunky and difficult to navigate. The white/blacklisting is non-existent, and the performance of the campaigns can be quite uneven.

Outbrain

Outbrain usually goes nose-to-nose with the previously mentioned Taboola. Is it as good, though? Spoiler: yes.

The traffic is plentiful and quite affordable. The content recommendation tool deserves its own praise. No issues noticed with traffic and support quality, so Outbrain is one of the most consistent display advertising platforms.

As for the downsides, Outbrain has a 60 to 40 revenue share with publishers while also charging them another 10% as a serving fee. The 50 to 50 rev share can be a great turn-off, so be aware.

Leadbolt

Leadbolt is one of the oldest ones on our display ad networks list. It has had its share of both positive and negative reviews, but the former outweighs the latter by a ton.

Leadbolt provides its clients with high-quality traffic and consistent monitoring. The payments come on time, and generally, the support team works great. It has stood the test of time and hasn’t stopped developing; the range of ad formats is wide, and the real-time optimization based on machine learning works splendidly.

Occasionally, however, some support managers slack off instead of doing their jobs, which results in a bunch of unsatisfied customers. The traffic quality is not always at the top level, but Leadbolt provides refunds without any disputes; plus, the user pools could be bigger.

Monetag

Monetag is yet another service that offers a range of advertising products. They strongly facilitate AI and machine learning both in features and monetization. How well does it go? It seems pretty successful.

Users report great 24/7 customer service and stable revenue. There are different payout options, and they support all kinds of traffic.

The company policies, however, are a bit weird, and you can get a ban for seemingly no reason. Also, the revenue stats aren’t always accurate, which makes some users furious.

TrafficStars

Few campaigns on this list actually allow what we’d call gray verticals. Adult, gambling, and crypto often get outcasted, but TrafficStars is a ray of sunshine for publishers in these niches.

The UI is intuitive, the traffic is abundant, and it consists of high-quality sources. The selection of ad formats is also quite diverse, and conversion is integrated with 15 trackers. Plus, there are many pricing models to choose from.

The downsides are unsurprising. Expect uneven performance (which is okay for these niches) and inaccurate traffic estimator.

We’re really grateful for all the resources that put us on their top display ad network lists; you guys are awesome!

However, we should explain that Epom is not an ad network – we are an ad tech provider. The difference is that we don’t give you fish; we give you the fishing rod. No matter if you’re an advertiser, publisher, or an ad network, our white-label DSP and ad server will help you achieve your advertising goals.