The Ad Network is Underway

It’s Tuesday morning, January 1st 2008. As a new year dawns I shake of the dust from staying up too late, try to remember to write “2008″ on checks, and read the 1,000 blogs about it being New Year’s Day.

And January 1st, 2008 also marks the official launch of the Youth Ministry Ad Network. Starting today you will begin seeing our network ads on some of the most influential blogs in youth ministry.

The Youth Ministry Ad Network exists to connect highly influential bloggers to high quality products for the youth ministry world.

Opening day notes:

• The network is in a pilot phase for 3 months. This means that we’re testing our system, establishing rules that are fair to our bloggers, and seeking to build a portfolio of high quality advertisers. During the pilot period, expect to see some changes as we get smarter.
• The network is now, and will always be, as transparent as we can about how it works. If you read through the Apply to the Network page you’ll learn all about our revenue sharing and blogger expectations. Likewise, our group of bloggers is transparent in sharing with us.
• While our pilot group of bloggers is set, (look to the right for our list of bloggers grow as they get set-up) we are always accepting applications to join the network. Head on over to the Apply page and fill out the contact form.
• Is there a need for this? Yes. While Google Adwords and other PPC advertising options are great, it simply cannot deliver advertising exact enough to be effective for youth ministry. From both the advertisers, Adwords lacks the ability to target ads to the right places to maximize impact. Likewise, from a bloggers perspective Adwords is difficult to solidify a good stream of ads to the blog. This leads to many things being displayed that are irrelevant for the bloggers (doesn’t pay) and the advertiser (people don’t click). The ad network is not inventing a new market of online advertising for youth ministry, it is merely acting as a conduit to connect high quality products to highly influential bloggers.
• The network is managed by Youth Ministry Exchange. We are an established youth ministry company launched in December 2005. Read more about us. YMX is providing the engine which places ads, accounting, start-up funding, and management support to establish the first ad network exclusively for youth ministry on the internet.