Thread

I’m really looking to use EE for a medium-sized editorial/magazine site. We’ll need to have some kind of advertising network to run ads on the site, but this is something I have no experience with. Does EE have some kind of ad management service built in, or would we need to go to a 3rd party for this? Are there any ad networks that are known to work well with EE? Thanks!

Hi, ericcarl - welcome to the forums!

ExpressionEngine does not have ad management built-in.  I have seen people use a weblog with entries for the ads, and entry hit tracking for the impression tracking; others use something like Google’s various ad options, or OpenAds, to have more robust advertising methods on their sites.

Thanks Lisa!

You’re welcome, and ... interesting avatar.  I’m torn between amusement and fear * grins*

ericcarl,

Google AdSense is very easy to use. Just create a template for the javascript and paste in the code. Then, embed that AdSense template in any other template that you create. Google’s Ad Manager (similar to OpenX) works the same way, but allows you to use Ads from any provider (even those that you sell directly), with AdSense as a backup.

Google’s Ad Manager (similar to OpenX) works the same way, but allows you to use Ads from any provider (even those that you sell directly), with AdSense as a backup.

Similar only in that both are database driven, serve ads, and are free. OpenX you host on your own server (or, use OpenX Hosting, which is free). Google’s AdManager, which originated from Double Click is a management nightmare compare to OpenX. I use both. Google AdManager is more stable, but difficult to set up. OpenX, managed on your own server, is similarly robust but easier to use.

I’m in the market for ad server software to start running heavy advertising campaigns.

Based on this link, and searches I am interested in openx. but is this terrible website that can’t even locate stylesheets what I’m suppose to trust? you can’t even download the software.

http://www.openx.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/viruseater/3556838885/sizes/o/

Based on this link, and searches I am interested in openx. but is this terrible website that can’t even locate stylesheets what I’m suppose to trust? you can’t even download the software.

Two clicks and it downloaded fine for me.

http://www.openx.org/en/products

Or, one click:

http://www.openx.org/ad-server/download

Click on the “No thanks. Just download” link.

I’ve been using OpenX (before that, it was OpenAds, then phpAdsNew, then something else) for about six years. It works fine.

is that awful layout what the site is suppose to look like? i looked at the source and it’s referencing files that aren’t there (i think, didn’t spend a lot of time).

Thanks for the link! when I tried to download it i was directed to an XML page that wasn’t able to render.

is that awful layout what the site is suppose to look like?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. The site appears to be of a rather standard layout for a business/product site. Certainly not overly confusing.

i looked at the source and it’s referencing files that aren’t there (i think, didn’t spend a lot of time).

That’s rather common on larger sites. I suppose their developers have similar probems—keeping track of where everything goes. Or went.

I did a quick check of Apple, Mozilla, and W3C sites. Apple’s is prettiest by far, but doesn’t validate. Mozilla is attractive and straightforward, somewhat similar to OpenX, but with a few warnings here and there. W3C won’t win any design awards, but validates. Go figure.

Thanks for the link! when I tried to download it i was directed to an XML page that wasn’t able to render.

Seems to be working now.

OpenX is loaded with features and scales very well (dependent upon hardware configuration, of course). Installation is similar to EE, as is maintenance, though it’s more complex to update/upgrade.  With few exceptions, I’ve found it to be commercially stable. The OpenX Hosting option is attractive (if you can get accepted). They recently upgraded servers and problems persisted for a few weeks, but are gone now.

What I like about Google AdManager is that you can set it and forget it. OpenX requires typical MySQL DB maintenance, care, feeding, and watching. However, OpenX can be set up and running in minutes. Google AdManager still requires the Google AdManager for Dummies book (it’s a geeky, non-intuitive mess, but once it’s up, it tends to stay up). It’s difficult to beat the price of either product.

I’ll respond to the rest later. watching a dvr event 😊

But you’re missing my point. that is not the way that site is suppose to look lol. NOBODY would create a site that had 10 pages to scroll down of menu links.

it’s suppose to use stylesheets but something isn’t working. just link to one of the stylesheets and look. They arent working

by missing what i meant was it’s almost like the stylesheets they are calling are missing, but they aren’t. they’re there.

http://www.openx.org/sites/all/themes/openx3/style.css?v=2009-05-06.v1

and the stylesheet references files for backgrounds, headers etc
http://www.openx.org/sites/all/themes/openx3/images/bg_header.png

Found the problem. They use IE for both developing and browsing clearly.

The site doesn’t work at all in Firefox, but works fine in IE. I don’t use IE

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3332/3558273031_db66d985eb.jpg

Full size
http://www.flickr.com/photos/viruseater/3558273031/sizes/o/

ok back to the topic.

Currently I’m just using google adsense. But we have developed a whole new client base website that is ee based. We currently get about 25 million visits per month. So I don’t want to use another ad company. I want to sell advertising directly on my site. But think about it. if I put 4 ads on the page, and have 25 million visits, that’s 100 million impressions per month if each person only hits the site once, for one page. it’s probably more like 500 to 700 million.

That’s why I need an adserver. AFter looking through this, installing it and dinking around with it, this is perfect for what I need. It can hald enterprise level ad serving. We’re probably going to dedicate a server to this app. Right now we have 8 HT core, 16GB Ram to handle the one website. a reasonably small adserver would be ideal.

I honestly didn’t know there was an open source enterprise level app for this out there. I’m very thankful for the recommendation made here, because this is precisely what i need.

The site doesn’t work at all in Firefox, but works fine in IE. I don’t use IE.

Neither do I. With that in mind, site looks fine in FF, Opera and Chrome for me. Didn’t test with IE. Also, I am moving this thread to The Lounge. It’s no longer a Pre-Sales issue, really 😊

Yup, I was wrong. This is strange.

It was adblocker plus. I disabled it and everything popped in. but if it’s turned on NO images, and NO styles are allowed through

Found the problem. They use IE for both developing and browsing clearly.

The site doesn’t work at all in Firefox, but works fine in IE. I don’t use IE

Sigh. I hear you. I checked it in Safari and it was fine. And in IE and it was fine. For all the effort we put into creating sites that adhere to ‘standards’ of XHTML and CSS, the defacto ‘standard’ is whatever IE version a user has running at the moment.

I hate IE.

But think about it. if I put 4 ads on the page, and have 25 million visits, that’s 100 million impressions per month if each person only hits the site once, for one page. it’s probably more like 500 to 700 million.

I’ve done the same math with a few clients, JT. Those numbers can grow quickly. Plus, the conversion rates, with that many hits and pages, can be pretty steady, which is attractive to advertisers.

We’re probably going to dedicate a server to this app. Right now we have 8 HT core, 16GB Ram to handle the one website. a reasonably small adserver would be ideal.

With those numbers that’s what I would do as well, though set up some kind of back up system for the ad server so you can switch quickly if there’s a hardware problem.

I honestly didn’t know there was an open source enterprise level app for this out there. I’m very thankful for the recommendation made here, because this is precisely what i need.

I think you’ll enjoy using OpenX. On some heavy hit sites I’d used phpAdsNew for a couple of years after OpenX came around because it was just so darned dependable. Like EE, there are quirks, but as a powerful ad server, it’s one of few choices. Let us know how it works out.