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I don't want an ad network that puts you anywhere. I don't want dozens of ad sizes and specs to worry about.

I could really use an ad service that let's me easily buy and manage the basic blog ads across dozens or hundreds of targeted blogs. Otherwise, we have to buy and manage each blog directly meaning I can handle maybe a dozen before the time spent really weighs on the ROI.

Any ideas?

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Check out BuySellAds -- ad sizes are pretty uniform, and you can hand-pick targeted sites where your ads are displayed.

You can also target display ads within Google AdWords if you put in the time, and AdSense ads are constrained to a specific list of sizes.

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I was going to recommend BuySellAds as well, started by Todd Garland, who is also an ex-Hubspotter. – Brian Karas Mar 23 '11 at 11:13
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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say... you are approaching advertising in the wrong way.

Assuming that you're looking for ROI from adveritisng, the formula is very simple:

  • [Cost Per Mili] * [Total Budget] = Number of Impressions
  • Number of Impressions * [Click-Thru Rate] = Number of Clicks
  • Number of Clicks * [Conversion Rate] = Number of Sales
  • Number of Sales * [Average Sale] = Total Return

The square-bracketed items are the variables that you can change, either by finding a different venue, improving your banners, tweaking your landing page, etc. That is how how you achieve a positive ROI from ads. You don't do this by trying to find a network where you can put hastily-made 125x125 banner ads.

Instead of looking for "dozens or hundreds of targeted blogs" look for a small handful of large sites (three or four tops) and invest in A/B (and even A/B/C/D/E/F/G) testing on different banner designs, landing page designs, etc. Once you find the sites with the right CTR and CPM, just keep throwing more money at them until the ROI starts to drop off.

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Great point but missing mine. Yes: don't buy ads on an ad network! (I do believe your math is too narrow though; add time spent, indirect and latent sales, & influenced search behavior). I'm looking for helps selectively buy advertising on the right sites, directly, rather than contextually. Say you've developed an iPhone app. You can run on an ad network against "iPhone app" & you'll show up everywhere. But a web service could help you buy on the few hundred relevant sites that are right for you. The former does what you caution; the later is like having an extra marketer on your team. – Paul O'Brien Oct 16 '09 at 23:28

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