Affiliate marketing network Avantlink has launched a new Paid Placement Bidding System which will allow publishers to streamline and automate placements of display advertising and give merchants the ability to bid on and reserve placement for specific dates on premium sites.
The system was developed in response to a user's request for an efficient ad serving system that would help manage paid placements from AvantLink merchants according to Scott Kalbach, CEO of AvantLink.
Avantlink members in both the U.S. and Canada - both publishers and advertisers - now have access to the system. Publishers specify their available ad unit sizes and locations, set a minimum 24-hour bid amount for each placement and then place the deployment code (HTML) where the ads will be displayed.
Merchants are then be able to search available paid placements from publishers, select compatible ad units and choose how many days to secure the placements, then bidding on the offer. More than two advertisers can bid on the location (so expect bid prices to increase). Publishers can then manually accept or deny bids. Should no advertisers bid on the placement, Avantlink is offering default display ads that can be run while the process plays out.
"Sale referrals are great, but there is also inherent value for merchants in targeted branding. Merchants on our network can now secure premium placements on high-value publisher websites, even outbidding larger competitors in the process," said Kalbach.
AvantLink is listed as #23 in Website Magazine's upcoming list of the Top 50 Performance & Lead Gen Networks -