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Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

Publisher Formed Ad Communities

Marketplace and Pricing

Tracking and Reporting

Getting Started:

How much does it cost to use Adroll?

It is free for publishers to set up a profile, list their ad spaces in the marketplace, and use Adroll.com's inventory management tool. It is also free for advertisers to set up a profile and receive offers for free test traffic from publishers who believe that advertiser's brand is a good match for their site's audience.

How does Adroll.com make money?

Adroll.com keeps a fraction of what advertisers purchase through our marketplace. Publishers always make more than their preset minimum.

I already have a relationship with Google AdSense or BlogAds. Why should I use Adroll.com?

Adroll.com allows you to earn more without giving up these relationships. Adroll.com uses the ad code from your existing ad networks, so you continue earning as you do today. Set your reserve at whatever your existing ad networks deliver, and Adroll.com will beat it.

How about handling direct advertisers and ad buys targeting my website? Do I need to give these up?

Not at all! In the same way that Adroll.com can continue serving your existing ad networks, Adroll.com can also serve direct advertisers who find you in the marketplace, or want to buy off a link from your site. Just set the reserve price for a given ad space, as you do with an ad network, and we'll sell ads that meet or beat your reserve.

What does "wrapping around my existing ads" mean?

Adroll.com works behind the ads to help you manage your space. Having Adroll.com manage your ad spaces gives you control to display the ads you already have, but also gives you access to the upside found in the Adroll.com marketplace. With Adroll.com's management tool, you decide which ads you'd like to display, and when.

What ad formats does Adroll.com support?

Adroll.com can serve any ad network, text ad, and graphical ad in GIF, JPEG, or Flash. We currently support most of the IAB sizes.

Can I remove the "Managed by Adroll" link?

Yes, but do so carefully. Those links send interested advertisers to your site's profile on Adroll so they can easily buy your ad space. If you do want to remove that link for specific design reasons, it's recommended that you link back to your Adroll profile from another area of your site such as an "advertise on this site" link in your footer. To remove the link, simply remove the portion of your ad code after <!-- Start: Your Profile Link -->, but be sure to include the </div> at the end. So, you're new code should look like this:

    <div style="text-align: center;">
    <!-- Start: Ads -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://c.adroll.com/r/XXXXXXXX.../">
    </script>
    </div>

Are there special considerations for using Flash ads?

Flash ads must be 50K or smaller in size and utilize Flash version 4 and up. It is also imperative that Flash ads support the clickTAG variable. This ensures accurate click data, and will enable you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. You will set the redirect URL in the ad upload process, so you do not need to set a redirect URL within the Flash ad code. For example, see below:

   on (release) {
       if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") {
           getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");
       }
   }

It is sometimes necessary to prepend _root. or _level0. to clickTAG above, resulting in _root.clickTAG or _level0.clickTAG. Just to make sure everything is handled correctly, it's best to upload the ad and then check to make sure it's working properly on your My Ads tab.

Publisher Formed Ad Communities:

What are these Ad Communities?

Ad Communities are aggregations of inventory with common characteristics across multiple sites. The websites have done the work of forming these for you, and explain in their Ad Community profile what makes this inventory unique.

Why would I want to run ads on an Ad Community instead of buying individual sites?

Buying across an Ad Community saves you the time and money it would take to find a group of relevant sites and approach each one individually. Let our publisher community do the work for you.

Are Ad Communities more expensive than buying the inventory one site at a time?

Ad Community pricing reflects the blended CPM of the individual sites, with a small premium to account for the added convenience of this feature. Also, when buying an Ad Community we will automatically optimize your campaign to address fluctuations in individual site volume, therefore filling your order most efficiently. This saves the manual work of shifting budgets between sites to account for shortcomings and over delivery.

Really? How do you do that?

Magic... and software.

What are the benefits of joining an Ad Community?

Ad Communities make your inventory more valuable to advertisers. You can offer advertisers both greater reach, and targeted inventory by inviting friends and similar sites to partner with you. Ad Communities make it efficient for advertisers to find inventory on sites that they would normally be unaware of, or overlook because of their smaller scale. And when you have a key advertiser relationship in place, you earn more selling the packaged inventory, instead of just yours alone.

What are the benefits of creating an Ad Community?

By creating greater reach and scale, while preserving the targeted nature of your inventory, you make your inventory more valuable to advertisers. Ad Communities make it efficient for advertisers to buy inventory on sites that they would normally be unaware of, or overlook because of their smaller scale.

How should I pick the sites for my Ad Community, shouldn't I just get as many sites as possible?

The idea of an Ad Community is to make your collective inventory more valuable than it would be on its own. You want to pick sites with spaces similar to your in such a way that it makes putting it together interesting to advertisers. If you just add sites willy-nilly (yes, I said willy-nilly), that actually makes the inventory less valuable.

How is revenue shared by members of an Ad Community?

Revenue within an Ad Community is shared to each participant based on their contribution in terms of the amount of impressions they deliver for a campaign, the advertisers they bring in, and the other publishers they've added to the group. It's a simple concept with plenty of logic, data, and smarts behind it.

What if an advertiser wants to appear just on my site, and not across the Ad Community?

That's fine, they can do that. Participating in an Ad Community doesn't prevent advertisers from selecting your site specifically. Adroll.com will always price your inventory at the best possible price for you independently. After all, the more you make, the more we make!

Can I include various ad sizes in an Ad Community?

Yes! When setting up, or joining an Ad Community, you'll be asked which spaces you want to include. You can also always add or remove spaces in the future.

What if a site in an Ad Community changes their reserve eCPM?

Adroll.com's market pricing algorithm continually adjusts to spread campaign impressions most efficiently across publishers. If a site increases their reserve above what inventory has already been sold for, that inventory will be reallocated to other sites.

Can other publishers in my Ad Community see my reserve eCPM?

No, your reserve information is kept entirely private, and is only visible to you.

When I run my ad across an Ad Community, how will my impressions be distributed?

Our algorithms work to distribute impressions in the most efficient manner to fulfill your campaign goals while also spreading the impressions as evenly as possible across the sites. Adroll.com provides detailed reporting so you can see detailed statistics for every site where your ad runs.

When I run my ad across an Ad Community, can I exclude individual sites?

Not yet. Ad Communities are currently sold in their entirety. You can consider buy across a tag.

What is buying across a tag?

Adroll can put together an aggregation of ad spaces where publishers have assigned the same tags. This is an easy way for advertisers to deliver campaigns across a collection of targeted sites. This is a good alternative if a publisher-formed Ad Community aimed at your target audience doesn't already exist, or is too expensive for your budget.

I formed an Ad Community, why isn't appearing in the marketplace?

Your ad community will need at least two members before it appears in the main marketplace. Until then, your ad community will be listed in the "In Development" section of the marketplace.

Marketplace and Pricing

Where does my profile appear?

Your profile appears in the marketplace. You have control over what your profile states helping advertisers find you. When you place the Adroll.com ad code, we will help track your impression data, and report this in your profile.

How does Adroll.com determine prices?

Adroll.com uses algorithms to price the inventory in the marketplace similar to what airlines use to price seats on airplanes. We take into account variables in determining the optimal price, including:

  • The publisher's predetermined reserve. We price inventory above the minimum set by the publisher based on what they make with other less targeted networks.
  • The demand by advertisers for a particular ad space. This is simple supply and demand. More popular inventory is more expensive, less popular inventory is cheaper.
  • The size of the package the advertiser selects. Advertisers receive discounts for buying more impressions.
  • The amount of inventory available compared to how long it will be available for. Adroll's algorithm aims to sell as much of a publisher's inventory as possible above their reserve, and achieve stable results over time.

Ok, so how much money does Adroll take?

Adroll.com earns a percentage of the overall sale and that percentage depends on the method of buying used and the relationship between the advertiser and publishers.

  • When an advertiser purchases from the publisher that issued the initial invite into Adroll.com, Adroll.com only earns 15% of the total sale.
  • Adroll.com earns 30% of the total sale when an advertiser places a direct buy on an individual publisher site.
  • We believe in the value of communities which is why Adroll.com earns a reduced 20% of the total sale when an advertiser places a buy on an ad community.
  • When an advertiser buys across a group of sites with the same tag, Adroll.com earns 25% of the total sale.

Can I change my reserve once I set it?

Yes, you can change your reserve at any time. If you increase your reserve above a price at which a package has been purchased on your site alone, that campaign will complete its run at the agreed upon price above your original reserve.

What is the longest period of time that an advertiser can reserve my inventory?

Every site has a rolling one-month window. Advertisers can buy packages for periods of one day, one week, two weeks, and four weeks within that window.
If you have special needs for when to sell on your site or your Ad Community, an account manager can help. Contact us.

Why should I set a realistic reserve?

By setting a realistic reserve, you create the highest likelihood of generating upside revenue. If you set your price too high, or significantly higher than you genuinely expect to make through other avenues, fewer advertisers can buy inventory on your site.

OK, so I'm being realistic, but why should I honestly represent what I'm making with other ad networks?

We seek to serve the least expensive impression across every participating site for any given campaign to ensure that advertisers end up having the most effective ad spend. If you set your reserve above other publishers, it's likely your site won't be priced as competitively, so you may receive fewer impressions, and less upside revenue.

Can you set my reserve to match my eCPM from my current ad network?

Not yet, but we're working on it. We love features that automate manual work, and make the lives of our publishers and advertisers easier.

Can I use Adroll for insertion orders?

That's a great idea! If you want to have advertisers buy on your site in a self-service fashion, and have the inventory and prices reflect fluctuations in the most efficient manner possible (and I think you do), then go for it!

Can a publisher reject an advertiser?

Yes. When an advertiser buys a package of inventory on a site, we send an approval email to the publisher. If the ad creative is not appropriate or doesn't follow the publisher's guidelines for acceptable ads (or is racial, sexual, hate, etc.), publishers can reject the ad.

Can I make money inviting publishers into Adroll.com?

Absolutely! Adroll.com aims to share back a portion of its income with the communities that are formed, and most active. With Adroll.com, when you help someone else make money, Adroll.com gives you a share in any income it earns. Here's how our program works:

  • When a new publisher comes to Adroll.com through an invite you sent or from a social badge or promo ad you placed, you receive 30% of every dollar Adroll.com earns on that new publisher for the first 6 months the new publisher is on Adroll.com.
  • In addition if a publisher that you invited then brings in another publisher you will get 10% of Adroll.com's profit on that new site for six months!

Wait, so if I get invited by someone I am sharing my profit with them?

No the money comes solely out of Adroll's profit, nothing is taken from the publisher and the price is not inflated to the advertiser. Adroll shares its profit with you.

What if I invite an advertiser into Adroll.com?

When an Adroll.com publisher/partner brings a new advertiser into Adroll.com through an invite, social badge, or promo ad on their site they receive 10% of every dollar Adroll.com earns on that advertiser for the first 6 months the advertiser is on Adroll.com.

As a publisher what if I have one of my existing advertisers buy on my site through Adroll.com?

When a publisher invites a new advertiser into Adroll.com and that advertiser buys on the publishers site Adroll.com will take a reduced margin of 10% for the first 6 months that the advertiser is part of Adroll.com.

Does the six months start when I first sign up with Adroll.com?

No, the six months starts when whatever publisher or advertiser you invite into Adroll.com first registers and creates a profile, so you can continue to invite new publishers and advertisers for as long as you are on Adroll.com and we will share our profits with you.

Does Adroll support international users?

Yes! While our system does not yet support international Tax IDs, if you are an international user and wish to sign up simply enter all zeros ("000000000") as your Tax ID and we will handle the rest.

Tracking and Reporting

What type of performance and traffic reports do you provide?

For advertisers, Adroll.com provides reports on each campaign detailing:

  • Impressions
  • Unique users who saw your ad
  • Unique sites on which your ad appeared
  • Clicks on your ad
  • Click through rate (CTR)
  • Your cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
  • The total cost of the campaign

For publishers, Adroll.com provides reports on your inventory detailing:

  • Total impressions served
  • Impressions served for Adroll.com sold ads
  • The eCPM of Adroll sold ads
  • Revenue earned from Adroll.com sold ads

We also provide a number of graphs to make the above information easy to view and report.

Why does Adroll.com's stats not match the statistics of another program?

You may find that the statistics within Adroll.com might not match the statistics you see when counting the page impressions of your websites or the statistics listed in a 3rd party application. This can happen for a number of factors, and can be known to add up to about a 10-15% difference. There are many variables involved in comparing statistics, here are a few of the most influential:

  • Adroll.com's reporting is based on your local time zone. Make sure this matches to whatever 3rd party application you're using.
  • If you are placing a 3rd party ad tag inside Adroll.com, it might take the 3rd party longer to record an impression than it takes for the user to navigate away from the page. When a user views your website with an Adroll.com managed ad space on it, we count an impression as soon as the page loads. If the banner is a 3rd party ad tag, it may then take additional time for the 3rd party to choose a banner, deliver it, and count an impression.
  • Ad blocking software. Many internet users install software that blocks the appearance of ads on websites. These programs are not consistent in what they block and how. Therefore, one ad delivery system might be effected differently by on ad blocker versus another, and thus obscures overall statistics.